the weather and the state of the roads Archives | Page 1 of 2
| 1 2 | next ten entries
Friday, March 05, 2010
springing
Winter is going out in lush, uplifting loveliness, like it always does here. When I was a schoolgirl and I read the Anne of Green Gables series for the first time (cue heavenly chord), I was bewildered by Montgomery's unfavorable description of late winter. Late winter is quite possibly the most beautiful thing in the world in central California, because what it really is is spring.
Fiddleneck, always the first wildflowers that can be seen from your car as you go down the highway.
Lambs! Squee! I wonder if the rancher would miss just one little lamb if I put it in my hatchback and brought it home with me?
This is a roadside weed with its best clothes on, lit from behind by grass-filtered sunshine reflected off a pondy puddle (or a puddly pond; cattle pastures in the valley are dotted with them after a rainy spell).
Monday, October 27, 2008
It's here!
Well, sort of. (Autumn, that is.) At least we're getting back down into the 70's this week, with (fanfare please) a chance of rain on the weekend.
Friday, October 03, 2008
yes again! an entry consisting of many small snippets on various topics! I am SO ORIGINAL OMIGOSH.
I have spent the past five days studying madly and feverishly for a Human Development exam. (The teacher has us scheduled to take an exam every three weeks. Fun times!) The first one took me by surprise with its brain-bending difficulty, so I was determined to be more prepared this time, and I made myself a very nerdy fill-in-the-blank study guide based on my notes and then studied it until my eyes nearly bugged out. (You would never, ever have caught me doing this in high school. In fact, I had no real concept of studying for tests back then, and I don't think I ever actually did it. However, that was before I lost those neuron pathways in my old age, not to mention the synaptic pruning that's been going on for all these years. Gee, what do you think these Human Dev. chapters were about? You'll never guess.) At any rate, I think the studying paid off, or else the instructor had pity on us and made this test a whole heck of a lot easier, because I just took the exam and I feel pretty good about it. Now I have to study equally madly and feverishly (and nerdishly) for the Communications exam I have to take by Tuesday. The fun never ends. Until mid-December, that is, when I (hallelujah) gleefully sell my current textbooks, and put this semester behind me with much rejoicing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We went to the library book sale today and spent more than we meant to. But it's on books, and books really matter, so that's OK, right? right? I mean, that's an investment, right? (I can't even remember offhand what I bought. A handful of children's books, I think, and maybe a book of plays, or did I put that back? And the kids got... lots of stuff too. But rest assured it's all very important and well worth blowing the budget a little bit.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
So. Politics. Anyone have any life-changing moments during the debate? Didn't think so. I think both parties did fine. I also think it was extremely boring. Next time let's have some mud-wrestling, please. Or at least a few contentious issues. Or, barring that, a serious gaffe along the lines of telling a guy in a wheelchair to stand up so that people can look at him, or discussing FDR getting on TV when the stock market crashed in 1929. Bring on the funny if you're not going to bring any passion, please. (And while I'm at it, can I please request that we ban the word "maverick" from any further public political discussion? There are synonyms you can use if you need to. Thank you. Oh, and Sarah? I still want to be your pinky-swear new best friend, and the accent is cute, and the lack of political polish is refreshing if a little scary, but please do remember that the word CLEAR is inside the world NUCLEAR. See it? Right... there. After the "nu". HOW HARD IS THIS, PEOPLE.)
I'm too sick of the subject to do any real justice to the whole not-a-bailout-but-really-it-is thing. (But watch me keep talking about it anyway.) I think it's time to let the economy correct, but that's not Politically Expedient and also it could be kind of disastrous, so whatever, bail us out to the tune of $2,500 per person if you really want to. Just stop placing all the blame on Republicans, please. We weren't the ones forcing banks to lend to people who really shouldn't have had mortgages. (Wait. That's RACIST, as Rachel Lucas would say. Nevermind. Carry on.) There are plenty of causes for this mess, but don't we all have a great time assuming that our side has no responsibility and the other side has all of it? Isn't it just inspiring? Aren't human beings awesome? Election years just make you glad to be alive, don't they?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
O-K. Moving on.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
C had her birthday on Tuesday. She is now nine years old, oh my gosh. (I so remember being nine. I was just like her, only without the good hair.) I just realized that I missed doing the traditional birthday post. Did I skip LT's this year too? I think I might have. I AM A BAD MOTHER. I'm very sorry, kids. A good mother would never do this; in fact, she would bore the entire Internet with intimate details of your development over every month of your lives, something I'm sure you'd relish reading later on as well. Maybe for your children, I'll do that. No? You don't think? Oh, OK.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WHAT book was it where the mother was constantly teasing her kids about what a Good Mother would do? Oh, yes. Izzy, Willy-Nilly. Please read this now. This means you. Thank you. (You must admit it's more polite than my usual style. I'm trying.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It is raining -- the first real rain since May. (Three minutes of tiny sprinkles last Monday do not count.) I am SO SO HAPPY about this, especially since we went ahead and moved C's birthday party from tomorrow to Sunday so now we don't have to worry about the beautiful, wonderful rain keeping all sixteen of us indoors for the entire afternoon. I am, however, supposed to bury a treasure tomorrow and construct a map course for the kids to follow to find it, so I'm hoping that I get some gaps between the "afternoon showers" after the "rain in the morning" that we have been promised. Either way, THANK YOU, GOD AND NWS. KISSES.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And thatisall. Goodnight. I'm going to go get into comfy jammies, lie in my bed with the window open, listen to the rain falling in our little woods, and read Wives and Daughters until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Feel free to envy me at any time. I can take it.
Monday, February 04, 2008
four things
Thing one:
Crate training proceeds apace. I can see a tiny light of sanity at the end of the tunnel. (This dog, T points out, has cost us more than a vacation to the beach would have. More than we spent on our first child in his first, oh, three or four years of life. More than I could have reasonably spent in an absolutely dizzying expedition to a bookstore. Or, to get all practical and also to tie in a reference to my other current obsession, possibly more than it would cost to have our driveway graded. She had better plan on saving someone's life, Lassie-fashion, at some point.)
She has just emerged with a very guilty expression from my bedroom. I had better not find any dog-logs in there, missy.
Thing two:
C is sick. She is puky, and flushed but so far not feverish. Poor princess. Here's hoping it's a 12-hour bug. (And also that I don't get it, because tomorrow is a Very Important Night in history class, and also who would take the dog out to poop?)
Thing three:
looklooklooklooklooklooklook:
Not even a single solitary chance of rain. BLISS. I am no longer a person who loves winter. I cannot wait for spring. Heck, I cannot wait until I'm taking the dog for a walk at 8:30 in the evening in a tank top and capris, instead of freezing my toes off in my jammies, jacket, and canvas shoes taking her out for her morning potty. (seriously, we will need some more moisture before the annual drought sets in or we'll all catch on fire around Labor Day. But a break is going to be very very nice.)
Thing four:
HEE.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
is this... heaven?
First the dog, and then THIS:
I mean, what more do kids need?
(This was before breakfast. It's pitiful and patchy and ugly now.)
(Also: holy cow, that boy is growing.)
Saturday, January 05, 2008
to answer Susan's question
Dearest Susan, yes, we are wet wet wet. Also, it was windy enough last night to blow our wellhouse-shed-thingamabob away from the well and end over end a few times. (Granted, it was not anchored down at all; we had just moved it to cover the well so that people wouldn't drive over it and we could offer it SOME protection from freezing weather). Also, our roof leaks, just a little. All in all, nothing to complain about, especially compared with what some people have going on (or, say, with what Charley dealt out to Susan a couple of years ago).
You may have noticed a lack of photographs. This is because I haven't made the curtains yet; that's planned for Monday. The phone people are hooking up our line on Thursday, so next weekend is slated to be the time when we officially begin, you know, LIVING in our house. With BEDS and everything.
Friday, June 15, 2007
hee!
Guess what happened not an hour after I posted that last post! You will never guess in a million years! It got... CLOUDY! and FOGGY! tee hee!
The sun still pokes out now and then. And the coolness is actually nice. And as long as none of that wet stuff actually starts dripping from the sky -- you know, that stuff whose name I daren't mention because our tent is super dilapidated and a new one is definitely on our list for next year because the one we have would let that wet drippy stuff RIGHT INSIDE I am thinking -- as long as that doesn't happen, the vacation is still totally A-OK. Not that we'll be here much longer, O creepy Internet stalkers. (Our landlord is at our house painting all this week anyway, and he would slay any CIS with his terribly green -- and I mean terribly, terribly green, oh my gosh I am so glad we don't own our house -- paintbrush anyway. You know Miss Cornelia Bryant's house in Anne's House of Dreams? At least it's just the trim. I hope.)
You may wonder why, on our blissful beach vacation, we continually haunt the library and access the Internet. It is because T chose the week before we left to order some stuff on eBay and he needs to make sure it has been shipped and arrived at his place of employment and all that fun stuff. So meanwhile I sit here and look at my pictures full-size instead of just in the back of the camera, and blog (sorry) and who knows what all.
Also, until yesterday I was rather avidly checking the UPS tracking page myself, but my NEW LENS ARRIVED YESTERDAY AT CAMP WOO HOO (actually a replacement for my sad broken 70-300mm macro) so I don't have to do that anymore.
Now I must go. The natives are restless. Or else C is getting bored. One of the two.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
it's a beautiful life really.
Don't mind me; I'm always a little bit this way when summer starts to end. I went for a walk with the kids yesterday. It was about 65 degrees, blue sky, puffy white clouds, bright sun on a clean world, with brisk clean air that felt good going into my lungs. I literally shouted what a wonderful day! as we were walking. More than once. It's a good thing I don't have to care if people think I'm crazy. Or maybe I should say if they know I'm crazy. A little bit anyway.
I made apple pork for supper. The oven warming the house during the afternoon was a good thing for a change, and the hearty food was exactly what we all wanted.
We split wood in the evening -- 'we' being mostly LT and myself, because T is still on light duty (although he feels better than he has in ages). LT is actually quite good at splitting wood. He's getting really broad shoulders and a deep chest, and now instead of standing as tall as the level of my chin, he's up to my nose (and I'm tall). I'm putting my money on him passing me up in height when he is... twelve. And I foresee plenty of maul-swinging for him in that time and beyond; the reason we started this particular job yesterday was that he was having, shall we say, anger issues, and I remembered how when I was his age, a little bit of woodshed time had been an excellent vent for the kind of pent-up frustration that would otherwise have caused much intrafamily conflict*. LT found the technique equally effective, and I think we will probably be using it rather a lot over the next, say, eight years. Good thing we have a woodstove.
* (Plus when people had been mean to me at school I could come home and do a little bit of imaginative play. Quite satisfying really.)
Next week we're supposed to be in the low 80's again, so I'm going to take the kids to the valley today while it's still brisk and lovely, and we'll do some necessary shopping (I need new clothes, and I actually feel like shopping for new clothes, and we actually have the money for some new clothes, so I am going to capitalize on this rare confluence of events), and we may walk along the creek too, and look for turtles and trains. life. is. good.
Monday, March 08, 2004
spring, and kid questions
This is the day which comes at some point during the late winter every year.
Humans: Um, it's barely March. And last week it was really cold. What's up with the eighty degrees? I'm sweating here! I'm getting in slap-fights over the shady parking spaces at Costco! This isn't supposed to be happening. I don't even have my shorts out yet.Foolish people of North America (that is to say, "me"), DO NOT BE TAKEN IN by the capricious weather. KEEP YOUR SWEATERS WITHIN EASY REACH. In the middle of April you'll wish you had, as your frozen purple knees knock together in your cute little khaki skort. I mean it.
Weather: What are you talking about? It's SUPPOSED to be eighty degrees now. It's the normal state of things from here till November.
Humans: Um, no. Last week I KNOW it was under sixty degrees. I was wearing a sweater.
Weather: Um, YES. But I'm telling you, it's spring now. I'm the one who'd know, right? S-P-R-I-N-G. Eighty degrees. Like that. Every year.
Humans: No. Wait, really?
Weather: [emphatically] Yes.
Humans: Oh. OK. Yeah, I guess you must be right. Eighty degrees, hmm. I guess I'll take my kids' shorts out of storage and put my sweaters away now.
Weather: [snickering, sotto voce] Sucker.
My children and I walked two miles today -- a mile outbound to the park, then an hour playing at the park, and a mile walking back. The first mile is basically all downhill, which means of course that the second is all uphill, with the worst and steepest stretch being the last hundred yards before reaching our house. You can imagine the mood my four-year-old was in by the time we reached the top. Oh yeah. Now add more whining. Mm-hmm. Add in two or three more dramatic declarations of "I give up!" followed by a pathetic collapse into the grass by the side of the road, and I think you pretty much have it. Surprisingly enough, this is her favorite part of the day in retrospect, as is evidenced by her answers to the ten kid questions for this week (the website where I originally found this concept seems to have stopped putting up sets of questions, so I made up my own this week. Her answers follow "C"; her 7-year-old brother's follow "LT"):
1. What does the president do?
C: He talks.
LT: He rules the country.
2. What does it mean to vote?
C: Go to the fairgrounds when it's not fair time.
LT: Well, give our things to the president and then the government will get them and see what we vote for.
3. What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
C: A walk.
LT: Launching rockets and playing with Legos.
4. What happens at a circus?
C: Animals walk and people ride them.
LT: Somebody goes and goes on a wire and goes across.
5. How does a person train an animal?
C: By using it nicely.
LT: People do it like Grandma and Grandpa trained Droopy.
6. How old should a person be when he or she gets married?
C: Ninety ninety ninety. [but is Mommy that old?]. No. [So I shouldn't be married?] Yes, you should. (Nobody ever said a 4-year-old had to be logical, I guess).
LT: Nine thousand years old. I'm kidding. About twenty.
7. What would be the most fun job ever?
C: Spending the night at [her two nearby cousins'] house.
LT: Launching rockets and learning science and being an Awana leader.
8. What part of Mommy's job do you think she likes best?
C: Sewing together the quilt.
LT: Watching our stories and things.
9. What part of Daddy's job do you think he likes best?
C: Doing rockets. (Those are a family hobby, not his job).
LT: Coming home.
10. What is your favorite part of the day? Why?
C: Launching rockets and going for walks.
LT: Going for a walk.
--------
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Elizabeth Berg and rain
Elizabeth Berg books should come with warning labels. Something like the following:
DANGER. This book may cause sleeplessness. May cause reader to remain awake until 2 a.m. in order to finish in one sitting, even when reader began intending only to read one chapter and go to sleep as reader must get up early next morning for something very important. WARNING. These pages contain sentences which will zing the reader with their eloquent truth, causing reader to re-read said sentences repeatedly just for the painful pleasure of letting said eloquent truths sink in. CAUTION. May cause reader, in 2 a.m. haze, to ponder the meaning of life, love, friendship, marriage, or other topics, with such joy and depth as to induce soppy diary entries which, if written for a public forum, must be deleted before the rest of Western civilization gets out of bed or cause extreme head-shaking and ridicule.
They'd be much safer then.
Also, so much for "sunny California", huh? These are the days they don't show on postcards. It is raining absolute torrents outside, and since our lovely red clay foothill soil reached the saturation point after the first few drops, everywhere the eye can see there is water moving downhill, pushing past grass stems -- "scuse me, scuse me, pardon me, gotta find my own level, scuse me" -- making little creeks on our street, gathering in a small pond at the bottom because the drain grate thingie is always, ALWAYS covered with debris after about three minutes of precipitation. I like it for a change of pace, and because it's cozy inside, but it does cause minor craziness in my kids, so generally I catch that and we end up putting on boots and taking our umbrellas to go outside and stomp in puddles. Sometime right after we got back from Florida, when we were still under that state's 75-degrees-and-sunny envy spell, T heard from one of his friends that the almanac says it's supposed to rain into and possibly through March. Ha ha, we said at the time. DANG! we are saying now, because so far it has come to pass. Yesterday was a rare break from the rain, and it was still cloudy and windy; the forecast says rain rain rain. Good thing I have a quilt to work on and some books on CD, I guess.
later....
the weather and the state of the roads Archives | Page 1 of 2
| 1 2 | next ten entries
