Hands full

It’s Friday night and I’m still somewhat under the weather, needing to go to bed.  I thought I’d share this photo from the recent Fall Festival at our church.  This little girl had her hands full and she was having fun.

Furry frolicking

Glancing out the window a few days ago, I saw the six or seven squirrels that call our yard home frolicking madly around the yard. But I became concerned when I noticed one squirrel lying unmoving on its stomach. I had visions of it dying there, which would mean I’d have to pick it up and throw it out, not something I was looking forward to doing. Finally, I opened the window and made some noise until the squirrel moved and in a few more minutes, it was up racing madly around the yard with the rest of them. What a relief!

Trekking on the tracks

There’s something magical about train rides, something that transports me back to the days of my childhood, when we used to take the San Francisco Zephyr from Omaha to California to visit my grandparents. The train station, a vast, cavernous structure, filled with echoes of the life surging inside. I don’t remember, but I imagine it was also beautiful in a way that so few buildings are these days, due to a lethal combination of cost, lack of care in building, and indifference to architectural beauty or, possibly, different ideas of what constitutes that beauty.

Surprise boxes or how to survive travel with children

We’ve gone to Wyoming every summer since we’ve been married (and I’ve gone every summer but one since college).  When the girls were small,  Bill didn’t have much vacation time, so we flew but eventually the girls couldn’t travel for free in our laps and paying for four seats didn’t figure into our budget.  But no matter the mode of travel, there are two necessities for travel with children to go well–plenty food and drink (and not at airport prices unless in dire need) and something for them to do.

That takes the cake!

Cleaning the attic today, I came across a box of things from my past–journals, pictures, souvenirs. I immersed myself in history for a time, ending with the most recent event–our wedding. 

Flying cranes and gorgeous flowers

Home-cooked Japanese food isn’t found everywhere outside of Japan but today for lunch, we stopped by Flying Cranes on Larchmere and indulged.  The food was wonderful and the atmosphere completely relaxing.