bright eyes + blue eyes

jedi T-6 shuttle

Superboy just built a Star Wars Lego kit called the Jedi T-6 Shuttle. He loved building it, and he's really been enjoying playing with it. 

 

 

 

 

dancing with a cute little buggie

Last month we were with our extended family, eating some pizza at my brother's house. The next thing you know, we had a little impromptu dance party. There were three kids in attendance: our two kids plus our sweet little niece, who goes by he nickname "Bug." (or Buggie, or The Bug....) She's a little over one year old.

Here's the question: 

Q: Is there anything cuter than a happy toddler dancing?

A: Nope. 

I love you, little Buggie! 

calico critters

Several years ago, Gingi & GPoppa gave Pumpkin the sweetest new toys. They gave her a Calico Critters house and a few accessories. 

When Pupmkin received the gift, I'd never heard of this line of toys. You don't see Calico Critters on the shelves at Target or Toys R Us. 

However, these Critters are worth searching for!

Calico Critters toys are sold in little sets. You can buy a family set (various cute little creatures: rabbits, lambs, mice, etc.) or an accessories set (kitchen furniture, living room furniture, etc.)

Over the years, Pumpkin has received various sets as Christmas & birthday gifts. We keep the Calico Critters in a special place and only get it out every so often. It's more of a "special event" toy. When the set comes out, Pumpkin spends hours setting up little scenes & doing lots of make-believe play. Sometimes when she's going to have a friend come over to play, she'll ask me if they can please get out the Calico Critters toys. I love to see how much Pumpkin enjoys this collection. 

After several years, our Calico Critters are still in excellent shape. The quality of these toys is high. All the little animal families are SO sweet. For some reason, the characters of Brambly Hedge come to my mind. (...No relation to Calico Critters---but they do have a similar old-fashioned charm.)

Recently when the Critters were all spread out all over our living room floor, I snapped a few photos. In the pictures below, you'll see some of the scenes which had been set up.

Thank you, Gingi and GPoppa for starting such a darling collection! This is definitely a set of toys that I can envision my grandchildren playing with someday. That's how long we're planning to hang on to Pumpkin's Calico Critters set.

d-cot : trafalgar square

Mom & Dad

Trafalgar Square, c.1973

Hunter & me

Trafalgar Square, 1999

* * * *

related: Ban Tourists from Trafalgar Square Lions, Says Report

These are a few of my favorite things: girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snowflakes which fall on my nose and eyelashes. And also....d-cots.

I have an interest I'd like to share with you.

A fondness.

A predilection.

Here's my interest:

I like it when there is a visual (or audio) documentation of change/growth over time. 

I first began to realize my affinity towards this type of thing when I was in junior high. For the first time, I saw one of those baby photo + graduate photo school yearbook features. All the graduating 8th graders submitted a baby photograph. Yearbook readers get to try to match baby pictures with current pictures of the graduate.

I love stuff like that.

Also, at some point in my childhood I saw a photo series that a father took of his daughter. He put her in an adult bathing suit (when she was still a child) and took a picture. He took the picture in the same location, with his daughter wearing the same bathing suit, over a period of years. At some point, the bathing suit began to fit correctly. It was such a cool concept. 

Another example: In the Planet Earth video series, every once in a while they will feature a time-lapse photography segment. I remember one such segment on the Rain Forest episode. They showed a fast-forward version of a flower growing up from the forest floor. So beautiful.

Another example: there's a RadioLab episode called Time. In this particular episode, there's a series of audio clips. An uncle (radio producer Tony Schwartz) recorded his niece speaking each year. After he had over a decade of audio clips, he streamed them together.

You've got to listen to it. Click on this episode (Radio Lab, Time) and fast forward to 6:50 in the broadcast.

(note: First click "listen." A new window will pop up. Let the show get started...then you can click on the little bar to get to whatever part of the program you want. Click on 6:50.)

Audio clips, pieced together. From Birth to Age 12 in just over 2 minutes.

SO INCREDIBLY COOL.

I am definitely doing the audio clip thing with my 3rd child if we have another baby.

I remember when I first heard that RadioLab episode. Hunter and I were sitting in the backyard on a Saturday morning, filling up water balloons for Superboy's upcoming birthday party. Much to my delight, a lot of that particular episode is about documenting change over time. 

* * * *

So: over the years, I've come up with a word which I use when I come across something that falls into this category of interest.

When I encounter another one of these type of things, I like to say I found a new d-cot. 

Yes, I know, that word sounds like it's a bunk assignment in a cozy little hostel nestled in the Swiss Alps. 

However, I can't come up with another word which describes this concept any better. (Can you? What am I missing?)

d-cot = documenting change over time

The only reason the hypen is there is to divide the word into two syllables for proper pronunciation.

I have more to write about my hobby of collecting d-cot examples. Also, I've saved some links over the years fall into the d-cot category. (It seems like this must be an interest for a lot of people....I see d-cot stuff a lot.) So I'll be sure to post about d-cots again sometime in the near future.

* * * *

D-cots can be appreciated at face value (i.e., At first, the person was 3 feet tall. Look; now they're 5 feet tall.) 

Additionally, d-cots can be contemplated on a philosophical/existential/spiritual level. Case in point: If you take a series of photos of a concrete block over a period of years, you're not going to end up with a very interesting d-cot. In fact, the only elements of your series which will capture my attention are the elements which include some sort of life which changes over time. (i.e., is there moss growing over the concrete block over time? Is the concrete block gradually covered by ivy or something?)

Basically, existence = change. I enjoy the process of rolling that thought around on the marble run that is my brain. I also enjoy the process of pondering that type of concept with my resident philosopher/theologian. 

* * * *

For now, I'll leave you with a d-cot which I captured in 2002-2003. 

The first picture is Superboy as an infant. (a few days old, I think.) 

The second picture is when he was 7 months old. We like to call that era his "chunky petite" phase of life. :-)

My, what a lot can happen in 7 months!

And please note: Superboy was the CUTEST infant. This first picture does not do him justice. I think I'll post a cute baby photo at the very end just so you can remember what a cutie pie he was as a little newborn. Unfortunately, in the first photo he looks a bit forlorn. Let me reassure you that the problem was me, not him. Alas, Anne Geddes I am not. 

(also, he's probably thinking, "What's the deal with this hat? Are we about to go catch a few bass out on the lake, or what?!?")

A few comments about this last photo...

a. It's a shame we didn't have our Nikon DSLR when Sprboy and Pmpkn were little. I sure do love the camera we have now. Oh well.

b. Mom & Ellie, this photo was taken out on our townhouse patio. Hunter was sitting on that metal rocking bench. I think it was one of Superboy's first times to be outside. He was a little squinty in the sunshine. 

c. Mom, I think this picture was taken at about the time when you were in the kitchen cooking that dinner: salad, chicken + veg over rice. That was the BEST DINNER I've ever had in my entire life. I think it might've been somewhat related to a post-delivery endorphin surge---but whatever the reason, that was some of the best food I've ever put into my mouth. Thank you!!

d. The blanket which is around Superboy was made by Ellie as a baby gift for Superboy. He still sleeps with it every night. (9 years and counting!) Thank you, Aunt Ellie!

{edited to add}

I've been thinking about this a bit more.

Existence = change is not actually accurate.

Even the concrete block exists, right? (Or does the word "exist" imply life?)

I guess I should say this instead: biological life = change

Thoughts?

Wordsworth & Poetry

When Mom was here, we also spent a lovely couple of days in the Lake District. There is a lot of Wordsworth stuff in Grasmere, the village where we stayed. There’s a lot I could say about our time there, but I’ll start with poetry. I have two points to make about poetry.

1. Reading a few Wordsworth poems in gift shops made me think that I don’t have nearly enough poetry in my life. If you read poetry with any regularity, how do you select the anthologies/books? Do you read a volume all the way through, like a novel? Or do you just dip in from time to time?

2. Just read the poem below, even if you usually skim over copied texts in blog posts. I love the sentiment expressed in this famous Wordsworth poem, about having a beautiful experience, then loving the memory of the experience every bit as much as having had the experience itself.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

 

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

 

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:     

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

 

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

 

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood, 

 

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

 

-- William Wordsworth 1804.

Have You Eaten Warm Today?

One of the things I like about the German language is the expression ‘Warm Essen’. Literal translation: Warm eating. If you spend time in Germany, you’ll inevitably be asked by a German if you’ve already eaten warm? What they mean is: Have you already had your big meal of the day? Some people eat their substantial (usually cooked and therefore warm, except it can also be a big salad) meal at lunch, and some people eat it in the evening. On the other meal, most Germans eat bread topped with meat or cheese. But the general idea is that you eat “warm” once a day.

That’s kind of how we do it, too, but we don’t have an expression for it. It’s very useful. If, for example, you’ve been invited to somebody’s house, they might mention that you’ll eat warm together at lunch. Then you know you don’t have to plan anything for supper that night, because you can just eat a sandwich. Try it next time you make plans to get together with friends, being very clear about the general temperature of the food you’ll enjoy together.

I haven’t been back to Germany since we came over to England last August, but I know that all over Deutschland everyone is enjoying white asparagus these days. It’s eaten (warm, of course) with cured ham and buttered new potatoes. Absolutely sublime.

Royal Escort

My mom was over to visit last week. One of the things that we did was go to the wedding of a family friend in Ireland. In fact, this time last week, we were taking up the very kind invitation of the parents of the groom to celebrate the happy couple on the eve of their marriage. We dined in a 13th century castle tower. It was every bit as amazing as it sounds.

Because Ireland is the mama and papa of low-cost airlines, we could have just flown to Dublin and back for approximately 2p each. But we wanted to take the scenic route on at least one leg of the journey. We took the train to Wales, then spent the night in Holyhead on Anglesey, where we saw a sunset that was too beautiful to even attempt to capture on a photograph. We crossed the Irish Channel by ferry the next morning.

In my opinion, being on a ferry is fun. (Note: I do, though, have strong caveats about the kind of ferry that is enjoyable.) The ferry we were on was enormous and made me wonder what being on a cruise boat is like. For the two hour crossing, you could entertain yourself by watching a movie, eating at the restaurant, sitting in the sports bar, or watching the boat’s contrails from the back deck. We chose to do the latter as we left Wales.

And then, wait! What’s that zooming over from the Welsh horizon!?

Oh my goodness! It’s Prince William’s helicopter! He is stationed on Anglesey, after all.

Doesn’t this look like the Duke of Cambridge to you?

The helicopter tracked with the boat for about ten minutes.

Then they pulled over directly on top of the ferry and maintained that position for a few minutes before peeling away to return to Anglesey. We asked at the information desk if they knew what was going on. They said that they do this about once a week as a training exercise. Whether it actually was PW or not, we – and the other passengers on that side of the boat – had a lot of fun convincing ourselves that we were being escorted by royalty.

 

hydrangeas + gardenias

Oh how wonderful it is to be outside right now. 

Especially in the fresh air of the morning...or the cool, relaxing air of dusk.

We asked our friend Susie to collect our mail a couple of days last week when we were out of town. 

And do you know what she did? 

She got the mail AND watered our withering tomato plants. 

And then? Then she pruned my hydrangeas.

THAT is an awesome friend.

Note to local readers: ask Susie to collect your mail when you go out of town.

The air outside carries the elegant fragrance of these lovelies. Oh, how I cherish them. I believe gardenia fragrance might be one of my top ten favorite scents. I think it's probably #1 of any garden scent. There is tough competition for the #1 spot...that peppery, fresh smell of an almost ripe tomato is pretty wonderful as well, although it does seem to be in a different genre.

Mom, you would LOVE drinking a cup of tea in our backyard right now. I'd pull your chair up right between two gardenia bushes. It would be lovely. 

 

 

poor little izzy

Izzy was spayed a few days ago. For the first 24 hours after her surgery, she was so pitiful. I had to carry her outside to try to get her to "do her business" (as we like to say.) Then I had to carry her back inside. What do people with huge dogs do in a case like that??

She's supposed to be in recovery mode for 10 days. No running or playing. Lots of rest. Only outside for a minute when necessary. Even then, she's supposed to be on a leash so she doesnt' start chasing a chipmunk or whatever. For the first day, she slept almost constantly and had no appetite. So I thought to myself, "well, I guess she'll be sleepy for 10 days."

Nope. 

Now (3 days later), she seems like she's 100% herself again. She has always been a very energetic puppy....she absolutely LOVES racing around the backyard at top speed. 

However, now she's still supposed to be in "rest" mode. (!!! How do I tell her that??) So, I've just been keeping her inside even though I know she must be about to climb the walls. When I take her outside on the leash, she just pulls and pulls...I know she's dying to have her freedom back. 

I don't know how to tell her that it's all for her own good. Having a setback would NOT be fun.

Oh, and the other thing--she has to wear this "e collar" (short for "Elizabethean collar"...a touch of royalty during her recovery phase) for the 10 day recovery period. The e collar prevents her from messing with her incision as it heals.

She is NOT a fan of the e collar.

And can you blame her?