The Stocks

The stocks. During the early days of America, if a man kissed his wife on Sunday and he was caught, he served time in the stocks. Reverse jail body for him, undoubtedly. I am certainly not guilty of that crime since I am not a man and I don't live in the early days of America, but it was fun to imagine what stocks would have been like back in the day.

The ride. It is unequivocal (adj.: leaving no doubt : clear, unambiguous) that squirrels have an agenda. Whether they are on Capitol hill, in your backyard, or in the middle of rural Virginia, they have plans. As we were cruising under a beautiful canopy of trees that covered the Prince William Forest Park road, Russell observed that we were being ambushed by acorn-pelting squirrels from the trees above. Thankfully, we made it out safely without casualties.

A Bedouin wife. In Jerusalem, Andrea told me I would make a fantastic Bedouin wife. I think it's true. But how to make this happen . . . Amazingly enough, I learned from Andrea today, who learned from NPR, who learned from a girl who signed up for a vacation where she was kidnapped by Bedouins, that I, too, can sign up to be kidnapped by Bedouins. My next vacation is a Bedouin vacation—for sure.

But what made me the happiest today? Conference. Oh, yes.