Here's me and Cousin Betsy Howard on the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a gorgeous day, beautiful to be up on the bridge with lots of boats and helicopters about (it's Fleet Week), and I didn't freak out in the least walking across it. How come I spazzed every single time I walked over the George Mason bridge on the Potomac and didn't fear this one at all?

Betsy, her husband Thad, and I proceeded to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. So, so beautiful, urban oasis, etc. While I don't think anything affected all three of us at the same time, in each area, there was something to set one of us to coughing or sneezing, though. "Apparently I'm allergic to something in the rain forest," Betsy said. Thad coughed all through the Rose Garden. As for me, I started sneezing when we got in sight of Prospect Park. But that's like complaining about living a block away from a big, beautiful park, so shut up, Janet.

Mmmmm, rijstaffel!