October 16, 2020

 Blast from the recent past. Cartwheels at our farm stay in June. Piano by Halina.

September 30, 2020

Hello, fall.

September 29, 2020

Kids couldn’t find any birthday paper, so my gifts came in Christmas wrapping in front of a tree.

Along with sweet presents, we had birthday soup (like Little Bear) and cupcakes. It was a really nice birthday.

September 28, 2020

 

My birthday week started with the magical gift of biking in the arboretum two days in a row. Part of the gift happened to be mild, lovely weather.

Day 1 - East Loop

Day 2 - West Loop

September 27, 2020

After more than 6 months away, Halina recently returned to aerial silk lessons at her studio. To do this, she needed to bring her own silk (because, Covid). She can't practice anywhere but a studio. Hence, 20 yards of emerald/teal gorgeousness to call her own.

She also has to wear at mask at the studio, even on the silk. She's gone back twice so far and has a super nice teacher. I'm glad it's something she can keep practicing. 

 

 

September 19, 2020

After Ani and Wyoming, returning to regular life was hard on Halina. So that’s why we ended up going to an event to walk shelter dogs at a park 45 minutes away. And that’s probably why we ended up coming home with Alex for a 3-day foster sleepover. He stayed for 9 days until he had to return to the shelter for a vet check and potential adoption. During his time with us he tried to play with a very defensive Cinnamon, had a few accidents on the dining room floor, ate a Birkenstock sandal, school artwork, and a stuffy, humped the couch cushions until we had to put them out of reach, and snapped his big jaws open and shut like a gator while playing and leashing up. He also liked to cuddle and he slept on Halina’s bed for hours during her first day of back-to-school zoom calls. All in all, he kept us so exhausted and entertained that the transition to school hardly registered. Which is to say, he really helped. 

September 17, 2020

Tonight was the first evening in many months where I got a bit chilled in the house and couldn’t shake it. Out came the down jacket, followed by a steaming shower and thoughts of the hot water bottle—a winter trifecta from what feels like another life time. Lynda’s sugar maple is turning golden. We’re already on our third week of school. Time is just trucking along.

But it was only a few weeks ago that Halina and I drove to Wyoming to meet Kate and Ani. We found a perfect spot with a couple of sweet, comfortable cabins located nearly exactly halfway between our houses, in Elk Mountain. A two-day drive for each pair of us, one way. 

Every morning, the girls would walk the dogs (dogs definitely remembered each other). And in addition to the pleasure of seeing old friends, and seeing Halina happy, I registered the familiar fawn-colored, open skied, rolling geography of the West as a kind of relief in my body. 

We went to a muddy hot spring along a river and to a pristine lake at the edge of a forest. We’d often hang out in the small courtyard outside our cabin. At dusk, the girls were visited by a moose at the creek, where they’d go to draw or eat dinner. 

There were no mosquitos. There was gentle, balmy weather. We caught Wyoming at just the right time.