we

I have a pal who just got married.

And he just 'we'-d.

By this I mean that he is now referring to himself and his new lovely spouse as 'we.' Before it was just '[her name] and me' or 'I' or, well, you get the idea.

I think it is adorable: it is one of those things that you start doing without realizing it. But it is this insignificant thing that seems to signify...something. That everything has finally clicked into place, somehow? To test the waters? But, then again, I make too big a deal of words and phrases and such, so this could easily just be me.

I think Chris and I - we! - started doing it when we finally stopped doing the break-up-and-get-back-together dance. I noticed it one day, that he had said the 'we', and the next thing I knew I was spending time with his family on a regular basis. For me, the 'we' usually precedes the 'I love you.' Just my way of trying out stuff, I guess, seeing if it feels comfortable to be associated with this person, but before I start giving that ol' heart away.

Anyway. 'We' are pretty thrilled about 'us' so that's good. And my new pal seems all flush with happiness, which is awesome.

winter

it is here. finally.

Winter.

and admittedly i have been dreading the coming of vermont's main season. everything here revolves around winter. we have winter, and not winter, and mud season. and mud season is really just an off shoot of winter, since it is the product of the still partly frozen ground starting to thaw, and not being able to absorb the run off from all the snow.

but i digress.

it is snowing, and now just a little. there are tiny flakes piling up on the ground making snow banks. there are normal everyday items whose edges are blurred, color is covered, and that are becoming only identifiable as fluffy rounded soft things. and it is beautiful in it's softness and strangeness.

but i haven't had to start moving it yet. i don't like it much when i have to move it.

Empty Bowls

My favorite charity event was this past weekend: Empty Bowls. How can you not love a charity event where your donation gets you a beautiful, handmade bowl and yummy, handmade (?) soup.

These are the two we picked out: These are also the two my Dad would be proud of. Although even they are a little 'fancy' the one with it's shiny black glaze on the bottom, the other with the fancy little swirl on the inside. I love bowls. I get so very

excited when I see all the bowls, can barely contain myself! I just simply marvel at all the quirky little creations.

And of course my obsession leads to excess donations to charity, in the form of additional purchases of bowls. These my Dad will consider a little to precious, to which I say: Hey! At least I know they made little transfers for those precious little drawings which somehow redeems the fact that I Love Them. I LoveLoveLove them and will eat all of my meals out of them.

Oh, and the soup was good, too.

I forgot about the bugs

Living in the middle of no where means there are less people.

But, that does not mean there are less living entities. Rather, it means there are more bugs. I have been home less than 24 hours and have found: two ticks on the cat, an caterpillar in the bouquet of flowers that I left on the table, a centipede in the sink, and mosquitos in the house.

I can handle most bugs pretty easily, but the ticks and the mosquitos piss me off - and gross me out - because it has actually been far too cold for both to even exist, but there they are. Stupid wankers.

Chicago

I went to Chicago. Or rather, I went back.

For the first time in a long time.

I've been back to visit, but not really, not in the way where you have a lot of free time to spend in the city...which is not truly the way it was when I lived there, but still. This trip was a lot of free time, almost like living there, if living there meant you were independently wealthy and never had to work. Which would be awesome…

It can be an amazing city. I was staying in my old neighborhood, and was better at getting around than when I have stayed elsewhere within the city limits. As if my Chicago compass has lincoln park as it's center. And buses! I never used buses much in college, mostly because the majority of my trips involved direct routes on the L lines. And they were a hassle. Now they seem speedier, more reliable, and more importantly tell you the streets as you approach so you can actually get off on the right spot. They are also equipped with GPS and if you can find wireless while you are waiting for the bus, it will tell you exactly when the next one is coming – but IF you can find wireless. Most people have wisely secured their wireless, which for us would-be thieves is a big pain in the ass.

Chris did make a friend on one of the buses: a gentleman that would have fallen into the ‘drunken bum’ category, except he was not drunk, didn’t smell at all, had a bus pass that he used successfully, and actually seemed to be fairly knowledgeable, specifically about old cars and air cooled engines. He spied Chris’ t-shirt w/ the Volksrodder logo, and cam e over to chat. But in that uncomfortable way where you’re not quite sure if the person has all their marbles – and he did seem to have lost some along the way, but the ones he kept were interesting. And then the crazy started peaking out, with cars he invented but hadn’t built that would have revolutionized the world. Or maybe it was true, who knows. He seemed cared for somehow – someone was keeping him clean and fed – but we were curious what his story was…

I got to see old college pals, some I haven’t seen in a really long time. It was great to see that everyone was going so well – I feel so proud of all of them. Strangely (?), the majority of my college pals were guys, and they have meet some really amazing women, who also tolerated some nostalgia ridden ‘remember whens’ – which makes them very tolerant people, as well as interesting and lovely.

And I got to see an old gal-pal and her very cool little girl. She and her husband have been married since soon after college, and are so happy together. It made me feel better about the fact that Chris and are still ridiculously happy (almost three years of marriage!) especially amid all the recent splits that we’ve heard about. They make me nervous, like I should be looking over my shoulder at some mysterious thing creeping up.

And I got to see one of my dearest college pals get married to a beautiful and brilliant woman. I felt truly lucky to be able to be there, and celebrate the two of them.

Ah, Chicago. Why don’t I live there? There are so many good things about it. I sometimes forget, though, until I am there how - as one person put it – isolating and expensive it can be (sometimes those are the same thing). I do want to move back one day, but it is unlikely that it will actually happen. I like the amenities of living rural-ly – like big dogs, quiet, actual darkness at night, big gardens, and landscapes and vistas made from trees and mountains instead of buildings.

But good god it was nice to visit.

Back in VT

The garden has gotten a little overgrown this week, but still looks good. The cabbage worms are still winning the battle, and therefore the brusselsprouts look like crap. No worries. The beans are in, and the basil is huge: beans and pesto will be eaten and put up tomorrow. Can't make the stupid underliney stuff stop, so this looks a little odd...

























It isn't hot here. Which is one of the things I like about the north. I think a comparison list - north v. south - is coming soon. It was lovely being home, even under sad circumstances.

NOLA

I got sent to New Orleans on a business trip. It rained/stormed in the afternoon, and then cleared up. It was beautiful: I only really saw the warehouse district and the french quarter. So, to answer all the questions, no real apparent damage from the hurricanes in those areas. I mean, there were some building with windows still boarded up, and strips of closed shops, but nothing more that is typical in any big city.






I'm not used to big southern cities: big cities are usually places where I walk with purpose, don't make eye contact, put up walls. But, this is the south. It doesn't matter where you are or what time it is: you smile, you make eye contact, and you say 'hello.' Ah, the south.





Being in the south was nice: the heat, the light, all the things that are summer. New England summer is like a weak-ass version of summer. In some ways, it is lovely - I hate the heat, really, and it is nice not to drip sweat all day every day. But you miss the heat. The light, the way the late day sun slants. And northerners have a fear of showing skin, born of the constant coolness, i think? There was an abundance of skin. It looked like it was summer. People looked summery.

Exactly.

Local strawberries, picked up at a Walker's on the way home. Still warm, 'cause they were picked that day. Ah, spring. You sure do taste good.

Cows!

Cow butts! I love the Strolling of the Heifers parade. What's not to love? We quadruple out population. There are cows on Main Street. Free dairy products (cheese, ice cream).


Oh, and a petting zoo. The picture is blurry, but you get the idea: teeny spotted baby pigs. It is a miracle I didn't bring one home with me.

Poppy

We went to Kentucky for Memorial Day, which was lovely. So many things were flowering that was just starting to bud in Vermont. It was like a preview of the spring that hadn't gotten to us northerners. I was also a little sad, because I thought that we would miss the explosion of spring in our garden. Luckily, we got back to find the very very beginning.

I do love poppies: they are such fascinating and fragile flowers. The color is fantastic. They are architecturally interesting. If only they lasted longer. I wouldn't mind having poppies all summer long. Our are doing better this year, though. After the first year when I ripped a number of them out of the ground thinking they were weeds...

Oh, Flying Squirrel

Last year, near the fall, I was sitting on our couch. Behind the couch is a window, which looks into the woods and our 'back yard', which really is just an area we put a fence around so the dogs could have a place to run around and do their doggy business. Behind my head, I hear a noise, so I tilt my head back and OH MY GOD THERE IS A BAT ON THE SCREEN CHRISSSSSS!

Our landlady and Chris decided I was crazy. It was certainly not a bat. That was not 'bat' behavior. So I said "What about a flying squirrel?" I mean, it was fuzzy, and had wing-like flaps. If it is not a bat, then it Has to be a flying squirrel. This suggestion was apparently funnier than the idea of it being a bat. SO I dropped it. Well! Guess who came to visit:



That's him alright. Sittin' atop our shower. God, was he cute. And he was in fact a Northern Flying Squirrel. I wanted to keep him forever and ever, even though he was a total party animal, and when we locked him in the bathroom over night - with the window open, hoping he would find his way out, he trashed the place.

Of course, he did not leave. In fact he camped out in a toiletry bag that I had not yet unpacked from our trip to Boston the weekend before. I didn't realize it until the next morning, when the cat is Very interested in the toiletry bag. The next thing I know there is squealing and thrashing and there is a squirrel up on top of the shower curtain again.

Later that day we came home to find the poor guy curled up and deceased: the cat's morning terrorizing had done him in. Over 24 hours we had become so attached to our little buddy that we buried him. Poor guy.

Food Bag

Dear Food Bag
I love you. Even though you are empty (which is the only reason I am not chewing on you), and they put you in the back room. I will lie next to you until they take you away. Then I will be sad.
Signed
Sebastian "Steve" Dog

unproductive weekend

At least he's cute. However, please note the copious amounts of animal fur on the floor. Actually, why do I even need to mention it? Look at it! Ew. Okay. I was successfully being lazy all weekend, eating yummy food, playing on internets, reading bits of things. But now I need to vacuum. Of course, the dog is not going to be happy, but really, does he he want to be lying in his own filth? The answer is yes - but I do not want to be walking in his filth. It could be worse. He hasn't started shedding out for summer yet.

Summer, is that you...?

I can feel it: the sun is actually warm! Okay, there is still over a foot of snow...It is not just light any more, the sun is actually creating Heat. It is glorious.

Remind me of this when I am complaining about the heat in August.

oooooooooo mommy

I have recently developed a theory that southern food is lacking in umami. Ya know, the OTHER taste? Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, aaaaannnnnd UMAMI!

Umami - for those who aren't obsessed with reading food blogs and listening to NPR - is mushroomy. Meaty. GOOD. MSG is Umami.

Anyway, as Christopher has been trying new things, I think that the ones he never 'liked' have all been umami-ish. This is just a theory....

Bad Sign

I've been noticing references to 'spring' - on people's blogs, emails, conversations. Even the news, or at least more southern climate's news, is also mentioning it.

Spring. Granted, things ARE melting. The temperature IS above freezing for at least part of every day.

But:
Brattleboro is having a Winter Carnival.
Yes folks, that's right. WINTER carnival.
Winter. It is still winter. And we will continue to see ice heaves on our roof and sickles from out gutter.

The Frigid North

This is how winter makes me feel....

I am posting in honor of the fact that it has been above freezing for three days...in a Row! And. AND! Tomorrow it will be firmly in the 40 degree range. Remarkable. It has been in the low twenties and teens all the time for months now. I was almost accustomed to it being so cold.

(That is a lie: I complain bitterly. Chris then always, with out fail, quips, "Hey - you Wanted to move North!")

Anyway: here is what it has looked like:
Okay. So it is kinda pretty. But, damn it has been cold! Spring is almost here, right? Oh wait, not for several....months....