Thanks to Uncle R.

Grene and Grandstan and Uncle Richard and Auntie Lynn came to visit a little while ago. It was beyond wonderful to see them all, and it was beyond wonderful to walk around my farm with my Dad and show him what I've done with the place since he last saw it (ummm, when there still weren't even walls inside, and outside was utter chaos - I don't think the windows were even in yet).

We also played tourist and visited our local Jail Museum, where Uncle Richard snapped this shot of the kiddos with Grace. Just had to share it with you all.....

Yeah, baby.
And it tastes spectacular.

Sunday morning was a brilliant day of sunshine and promising warmth, with nothing on the docket. So, I made an executive decision to haul the urchins and the visiting good friend Chad off for a little local berry-picking. Since we still haven't figured out the "best" places to go to pick-our-own produce, I simply googled, took a wild guess, and set off to find a nearby berry patch. We have utterly missed strawberry season(which means, sniff, no strawberry jam this year, sob, sniff) but we found raspberries and blueberries at a little spot about half-an-hour west of town. Enough for raspberry jam and several bags of frozen blueberries, whose destiny is almost certain to be the crowning glory of our homemade pancakes...

Yum.

Chad also found this absolutely fascinating little chrysalis. It looks for all the world like a little gold and silver jewel - extremely beautiful. It also started to jig and jump most mysteriously after we brought it into the car with us for the journey back home.
This morning, as we sat down to breakfast (toast with LOTS of homemade raspberry jam being the centerpiece), the urchins suddenly realized that the chrysalis was now a butterfly!!!! How cool is THAT?
While Chad and I had hoped to have discovered a whole new species of butterfly (and thus enshrine our names in the annals of scientific journals for all time) I am afraid further research reveals it to likely be a Variegated Fritillary butterfly.

I tried to download my pictures to the most awesome website "www.whatsthatbug.com" but couldn't seem to get my computer to obey my commands...so my bestest-googled-guess will have to be the Fritillary. Which I am now struggling to pronounce.

Is it three syllables, like, frit-till-larry? Or more like a two syllable word, like "fri-tillery"? Anybody? Any ideas?

Summer Swim

I don't remember the exact moment I learned to swim. I am told by my mother that, when I was barely a toddler, I fell into the swimming pool at home and - despite all expectations - failed to bob to the surface...instead, apparently, I curled up in the fetal position at the bottom of the pool and just hung out there. Until my panic-stricken Mum jumped in - fully clothed - and hauled me out. Ummm, thanks, Mum.

But there are many amazing memories of swimming that I DO carry with me...from the countless lakes in Algonquin Park to the Eel River in Humboldt County...from the USVI turquoise warmth to the intensely mind-numbing water in Alaska, with lots of territory in-between. So you might say that swimming is an important part of my life experience.
And I want the urchins to share that. I want them to experience the joy of splashing around in the waters of the world. And of course, I want them to be safe around the water - if they fall in, I want them to be able to swim like a little fish, and get to where it's safe. Right? Right.

Hence our Second Summer of Swim Lessons.
Sigh.
It's modestly epic in that Big C. isn't at ALL keen to get his face/eyes/ears/hair wet. At all.
Period.
This, as you might imagine, makes Swim Lessons a tad challenging.
For ALL concerned.
Kindly send your most potent Learn To Swim Vibes our way this summer, won't you?
I'd be ever so grateful.....

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

-william carlos williams




So, when your life starts to reflect back to you in poetry, that's a good thing, right?
(Well, ALMOST, but not quite....the chickens weren't agreeable to having their photo shoot with a wheelbarrow...they're kinda cranky that way...).

Front row, second in from the left, with the up-swept dark hair, looking a little like Audrey Hepburn?...that's Chelsea. My niece. She's amazing.

She's graduating from high school this year, and we had the opportunity to go see her final production - singing and dancing the night away - as a high schooler. Her solo was brilliant. What can I say? She's headed to college in the fall, and although I've only known her for 8 years, I stand in awe of the little girl who has grown into this incredible woman.

Also? Ohmigod I'm feeling old.....