Luffing

Who uses it: Sailors
What it means: A sail flapping in the breeze, not driving the boat, because you're sailing too close to or far from the wind.
How you can use it: When you're not getting anywhere.

Taking yesterday off was a great idea. The Bragdons had a cookout, and the lake was beautiful. Dizzy likes to wade in the water but doesn't feel confident about swimming in water over his head, so he stood on the shore and whined while the rest of us swam. Anna and I took the canoe out; I tried to get Dizzy to ride along, but he wouldn't get into the boat. Maybe next time.

Saturday was the Gardiner Arts Festival, which was nice but small. Lots of local artists, a couple of specialty food stands, and the obligatory fried dough trailer. Fried dough makes me a little queasy. I didn't have any, but did have the first corn dog of the season, which I'm sorry to report was disappointing: lukewarm and obviously out of a freezer, not hand-dipped. Then again, I might be getting too old for corn dogs.

Zooming around again this morning, with my brand-new, space-age, state-of-the-art pedometer. The goal is 10,000 steps a day; so far this morning, I've got 4,374. I'm going skating at lunch, and it'll be interesting to see whether the pedometer picks up blade strokes.