For the last week, I’ve been playing hostess/aunt extraordinaire. Since this is Philip’s third summer out here, we’ve pretty much covered all the tourist sites, so he didn’t really want to go anywhere. Being the good nephew that he is, he actually volunteered to help me shovel rocks out of my back yard! No really, he volunteered, even without the threat of food deprivation! For 4 hours, we shoveled rocks and pulled up landscaping fabric. It was a lot of work, but we cleared an area big enough for Dave and I to build a pergola in a couple of weeks when he comes. This weekend, I still have to dig a trench for drainage and level off the land a bit so we can lay down portage stones.

Although Philip has seen all the Colorado Springs tourist attractions (except for the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the Figure Skating Hall of Fame, I don't know why he's not interested in either!), the one thing he always wants to do is have ice cream at Michelle’s! Michelle’s is a Colorado Springs landmark- a chocolate and ice cream parlor from the 1950s. So tonight, for the fourth time during Philip’s visit, we went to Michelle’s for dessert and he had an ice cream concoction called the volcano. I had a little flashback to Torino as his ice cream came out topped, with of all things, a flaming sugar cube!!! There was no coffee bean on top of the flaming sugar cube like at Gaspare’s in Torino, but it was on fire nonetheless!! After the second night of watching fire being served to my 14 year old nephew, I finally had to ask what they put on the sugar cube to make it combustable. EVERCLEAR was the answer! Granted, I’m sure most of the alcohol burns off by the time you eat the sugar cube and they only put a couple of drops anyway, but still- it’s 190 proof alcohol! Being the safety-minded aunt that I am, I made Philip eat the sugar cube while it was still on fire! Hey, if it was good enough for us during the Winter Olympics, it’s good enough for him! Once he figured out that if he closes his mouth as soon as he puts the sugar cube in, it will burn out on its own, he was a pro! Nothing like teaching them good habits young!

Tomorrow, Philip flies back to Louisiana and I’m left alone with my Harley. I’m feeling a road trip coming on. Well, OK, I'll do some yard work first, but then I'm taking a road trip!