Month: August 2017

by

Reading Round-Up: August 2017

Reading Round-Up Header

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for August, 2017…

Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue – I quickly rushed to my library website to reserve a copy of Behold the Dreamers after the news broke that it was the next Oprah Book Club pick.  (I got in just in time, because I was able to get a copy fairly quickly, but the holds queue is now a mile long.)  It was a wonderful, heart-rending, riveting story and I was glued to the book, reading feverishly and fighting the temptation to skip ahead and see what would happen in the next few chapters.  Mbue tells the story of two marriages – Jende and Neni Jonga, Cameroonian immigrants working to carve out a place for themselves in America, and Clark and Cindy Edwards, wealthy New Yorkers whose marriage and life is upended by the financial crisis.  Jende works as Clark’s chauffer, and Neni does temporary stints as a maid in their summer home, and both become unwillingly drawn into the collapsing Edwards home while struggling to stay afloat themselves and obtain legal immigration status for Jende.  I won’t say much about the ending, because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who has not yet had the pleasure of reading it – other than to tell you that there are a couple of surprising twists, and the book ends differently from many others in the immigration narrative sub-genre (but still in a satisfying way).  Go read it!

A Room With a View, by E.M. Forster – I was in the mood for a classic, but not something too terribly long or challenging, and A Room With a View fit the bill perfectly.  I’ve been moving my Barnes & Noble Classics edition from house to house since high school and I finally made the time to acquaint myself with Lucy Honeychurch, Charlotte, the Emersons, Mr Beebe, and the rest of the gang.  The book opens with Lucy traveling in Italy, chaperoned by her older spinster cousin Charlotte (who is a bit of a wet blanket and not a very good judge of character).  In Florence, they meet the Emersons, a father and son traveling together who have, for some inexplicable reason, been shunned by the rest of the guests at their small hotel.  As Lucy gets to know the Emersons, she begins to realize that her own social circle leaves much to be desired, and she starts to develop feelings for George Emerson, the son.  Of course, she can’t acknowledge any of this, and so she winds up engaged to a man of her social class and previous acquaintance, who happens to be a big jerk.  (SHOCK.)  Lucy’s journey toward shaking off social expectations and learning what will make her truly happy is fun to read, even if I did want to smack her from time to time.

Anusha of Prospect Corner, by A.M. Blair with Maram Ken and Samira Ken – Full disclosure, first of all.  The author is a blogging friend of mine (who I recently had the pleasure of meeting for the first time in person!).  I assure you, however, that my affection for the writer has not at all clouded my judgment.  Anusha of Prospect Corner is a delight from the first word to the last.  A modern, diverse and multicultural retelling of Anne of Green Gables, Anusha introduces Anusha Smyth, who leaves her father’s house in a cookie-cutter suburb she calls “Camazotz” (love the L’Engle shoutouts!) to live with her mother, Pramila Carter, and uncle Manoj in a big, old, rambling house in Philadelphia.  Like Anne, Anusha is a redhead and a dreamer.  Anusha likes her red hair, but is sensitive when questioned about how she could be a redhead and also have Sri Lankan heritage.  Pramila – the Marilla character – is a doctor who has spent most of her time working abroad after her divorce from Anusha’s father, but who agrees to move home and live with her brother Manoj so that Anusha can move in with them.  Anusha’s exploration of the neighborhood, her friendship with sweet Dee Brooks, and her touching relationships with her mother and “Uncle Manny” are a joy to read – and even the side characters are delightful; I absolutely loved the update that Amal and the girls gave to Thomas Lynde (who becomes Thomas Lowry, the son – not husband – of the neighborhood busybody and a teacher at Anusha’s school; I was hoping he and Pramila would fall in love!).  I’ve been reading about this project on Amal’s blog since she and her twin daughters first started working on it together, and I’m so very glad that I finally got to sit down with the book.  (And inspired to do something similar with Peanut when she is older…)

Only three books this month… a very slow month for me, indeed.  I blame summer!  It was a busy month of running around, working, and spending time with family and friends on vacation, which didn’t leave much time for reading.  What I did read, however, was all great.  The highlight was Anusha of Prospect Corner, and not just because the author is a friend.  But I enjoyed everything I read this month – and I’m looking ahead to a fun and productive September in books.  Check back each Monday to see what I’m reading, and at the end of the month for reviews.

by

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 28, 2017)

Happy new week, y’all!  So, I have a little secret.  If we’re friends on Instagram, you already know this, but – for the last week and a half, I’ve been on vacation in California!  (My Instagram account is set to private, so I feel a little more comfortable sharing real-time updates when we’re traveling, but on the blog, Facebook and Twitter I like to keep mum about trips until we’ve returned.)  We left on Wednesday, August 16th and returned to D.C. on this past Friday.  It was an epic trip and we had some amazing adventures and a lot of fun with family and friends.  The trip was to celebrate the wedding of my oldest friend, Adam, and since we were buying four plane tickets and my parents, brother and sister-in-law were also attending, we turned it into a family reunion and spent a week in Santa Barbara together with my aunt, uncle and cousin – who live there – after the wedding.  I have many, many stories and pictures to share, naturally, starting on Friday!  Meanwhile, we spent a quiet weekend after getting back home late on Friday night.  Steve had to work full days on Saturday and Sunday, so my weekend was about vacation recovery and reentry, getting the kids off Pacific time (not an easy task) and preparing for the week ahead.  We have another week-and-a-half to go before Peanut’s school starts up for the year, but I’m already getting into back-to-school mode – thinking about getting organized, planning, and getting routines down for the coming school year.  Plus, I’m starting a Whole 30 today (one month to go until I’ve got to wear a Maid of Honor dress…) and I’ve learned after many rounds that failing to plan is planning to fail.  So anytime I wasn’t wrangling children this weekend, I was grocery shopping, meal planning, and vegetable prepping.  We now have a fridge full of fresh and roasted veggies, and I am ready.  So let’s do the thing!

  

Reading.  Kind of a slow last two weeks of reading – wish I had more to report!  I left London War Notes at home when I went on vacation, taking only my kindle (luggage space being at a premium with all the kid gear we had to tote).  Now that I’m back, I’m back into it and loving it as much as ever.  On vacation, most of my time was spent (1) adventuring; (2) enjoying time with family and friends; and (3) squeezing in work – so I didn’t have much time to read.  The only book I finished was Anusha of Prospect Corner, which was written by my lovely friend Amal and her twin daughters.  It was every bit as charming and delightful as I expected it to be and I enjoyed every moment spent with Anusha, Pramila, Manoj and the rest of the Prospect Corner residents.  After Anusha, I turned to Coronation Summer, also on kindle, but didn’t have many chances to read it – right around that time, work really heated up and I was spending every free moment trying to stay on top of things.

Watching.  Very little TV, since – duh! – we were on vacation and I was usually working in the evenings.  I think the only thing I’ve watched in the last week and a half has been cartoons, on the iPad, over the kids’ shoulders.  They, however, have totally overdosed on screen time – between the plane, and all the restaurants, they need a serious iPad detox.

Listening.  I’m deep into the back-to-school episodes of all the parenting podcasts in my podcatcher.  Absolutely loved the discussion of routines on The Home Hour, and the “new year for moms” goals chatter on The Mom Hour.  At some point I need to go back into Audible and finish up my Classics of British Literature course.  Maybe this week…

Moving.  No formal exercise to report this time around, but I’m coming off of a super-active vacation that included multiple days of hiking, sea kayaking, and chasing kiddos around three different beaches.  Plus yesterday, I took them to the zoo.  The National Zoo is set on a deceptively steep hill, and pushing two 30+ pound kids, plus a stroller, from Lot E to the Pachyderm Plaza is no joke.  Looking ahead to this week, I can’t wait to get back to the yoga studio, and I’m scheming up some MCM 10K training runs, too.

Loving.  Vacation!  I really needed the escape, and it was so great to spend time with family members that we don’t see nearly enough (we only manage to get together with Dan and Danielle once a year at the most – I’m trying to figure out a way to change that) and with dear friends.  And of course, watching my oldest friend – our moms started putting us in playpens together when I was only six weeks old – marry the love of his life was one of the highlights of the year.

Blogging.  August reading post coming to you on Wednesday, and the first California vacation recap on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

by

Garden Update: The Slightly Tart Edition (August 2017)

Time for another garden update!  Things are continuing pretty much along the same trends I’ve been reporting all season.  If you’ve missed my previous garden posts, here they are:

The Early Bird Catches the Rosemary (April 2017)

Garden Update: The Don’t Be Like Me Edition (May 2017)

Garden Update: The Good News and Bad News Edition (June 2017)

Garden Update: The I Have Questions Edition (July 2017)

Bringing us to today!  The tomato plants are still producing, I’m watching like a hawk to stay ahead of the squirrels (I saw one perched on my fence rail the other day, brazenly eating a ripe tomato as the kids and I watched in outrage from the kitchen window) and the basil is basically a tree.

We’re actually on top of the tomato harvest, thanks in large part to – yes, the squirrels – but also to a little boy who cannot get enough tomatoes eaten straight off the vine.  I love that he’s so into the food we’re growing – Peanut is happy to participate in the gardening process, but wants nothing to do with a sun-warmed tomato, freshly plucked straight from the pot.  Break my heart.  Anyway, at the moment we’ve got a big crop-in-waiting, but nothing ripe.  But recently I picked a huge harvest, and it was more than we could eat out of hand (yessssss!) so I cooked the tomatoes down in a little organic olive oil and fresh herbs (also from the garden) – rosemary, thyme, parsley and basil, and set the mixture aside for a special project.

As longtime readers know, Peanut just had a birthday!  Stick with me here.  One of her favorite things to do – aside from garden (and watch cartoons) – is bake with me.  So as a special birthday present, I ordered her a personalized kids’ apron and “Junior Chef” tools from Williams-Sonoma.  I let her open the gift early so she could use it to help me make a tomato-and-herb tart from the garden haul.

She was quite pleased with her new chef accoutrements!  She insisted I call her “Chef Lily.”  I pointed out that that’s not what her apron says, but she was unmoved.

As fun as it was to bake a blueberry pie with Peanut, I didn’t feel like messing around with pastry this time, so I decided we would make a crumb crust using Ritz crackers.  My cracker/cookie crusts never come out, but who cares – right?  It’s about the process.  Peanut enjoyed the heck out of the cracker crumbling.

So did someone else.  Yikes.  Who gave him a Junior Chef spatula?

Crumbs completed, it was time to stir in melted butter and pre-bake the crust, then move on to the rest of the baking process.

Doesn’t get fresher than this – picked moments before the chopping.  I love gardening!

Mixed in mascarpone… And at this point, I forgot to take any more pictures, because Nana and Grandad FaceTimed us and we were chattering while we baked.  We mixed the herbs and a little olive oil into the mascarpone, spread it over the pre-baked crust, and then distributed the pre-cooked garden tomato and herb mixture over the top.  The finished product:

Not too bad looking!  Peanut is a good sous-chef – or maybe I’m the sous-chef, because she seems to be the one doing all the work!  As with the blueberry pie, she participated actively in pretty much every stage of baking.  All I did was the hot stuff (taking the tart out of the oven, and of course cooking down the tomatoes a few days ahead).  I love that we have an activity to do together that we both enjoy so much!

And the verdict?  The adults love it.  The crust hung together better than I was expecting, and the creamy herbed mascarpone is a perfect counterpoint to the flavorful garden tomato jam.  The kiddo… not as big of a fan.  I think she was expecting it to be sweet – even though I told her several times that it’s not sweet – and was surprised by the savory flavor.  Well, I wasn’t actually expecting her to eat any of this one – as long as she had fun with the process, I’m happy!

What’s your favorite thing to bake with summer produce?

by

Peanut is FIVE!

Dear little lovely,

I can’t believe you’re five years old!  Neither can you, by the way.  The jury is still out on when you’re going to stop telling people you’re four-and-a-half.  But although I’d love for you to stay my little bunny forever, there’s no getting around it – you’re growing up way too fast.

You’re chock-a-block full of personality.  (No change there.)  Your favorite thing in the entire world is mermaids.  If a good witch came around and offered to turn you into a maiden of the sea, you’d take the deal in a second and never look back.  Anything mermaid-themed or mermaid-adjacent is fine by you.  You still love The Little Mermaid – over a year now, and that movie hasn’t gotten old.  And you still wear your mermaid costume from last Halloween around the house on any random Tuesday, because why not?  (You’re in good company.  Your best friend, S, changes into a ball gown and tiara every day as soon as she gets home from school.  You two kindred spirits really found each other.)

In addition to mermaids, in no particular order, you love: pink; Disney Junior; waffles; sea lions; the splash pad; tutus; books; Finding Dory; Batgirl; your almost-life-sized stuffed Tiger, Shere Khan; Sofia the First; your Color Wonder markers; performance art; Princess Jasmine; baking with Mommy; and snuggling with Daddy.  You also love your little brother, although you wish he would stay out of your room and keep his sticky little hands off your stuff.

You’re very into gender roles right now, and you can be quite rigid about them.  You insist that any person or animal with eyelashes is a girl, and pointing out that Daddy and Nugget have eyelashes does not move you at all.  You refuse to wear pants because “girls don’t wear pants.”  (S told her mom that you don’t own pants.  I had to explain that you do, in fact, own a pair of jeans and a pair of pink cords, but you won’t wear either of them.)  You’ve also become enraged on more than one occasion because Mommy or Daddy read the “wrong” gender in a book (a.k.a. the unicorn is a boy according to the story, but you know better).

You have the heart and soul of a performer.  You are always dreaming up your next musical number, and your entire life is basically a Broadway show.  We often find ourselves watching in amused awe as you prance around the playground, belting out Disney standards (often edited to be about whatever you want them to be about today) and waving your arms to your fans.  Of course, sometimes you can still be shy.  When the “Chipmunks” performed “This Land is Your Land” at the camp talent show, you hid in the back row.

You’re my bright, brave, beautiful girl, my greatest adventure and my dream come true.  Happy birthday, bunny.

Love, Mom

by

It’s Monday… And It’s Someone’s Birthday! (August 21, 2017)

Happy Monday, world, and happy birthday to my Peanut!  I can’t believe this gorgeous, funny, smart, imaginative girl has been in the world for FIVE WHOLE YEARS today.  Seriously, wasn’t it like two minutes ago that she was only five pounds?

No reading post from me today, because I’m taking the whole day to celebrate our big girl.  We have lots of family fun on the agenda, and I’ll tell you all about it soon.  For now, I have to go give some good-morning snuggles to the birthday girl.

Check back on Wednesday for a big birthday post dedicated to my girl, and on Friday for some more chat about our favorite outdoor activity to do together – gardening!

Happy birthday, Peanut!

by

Duffing in D.C.

As my friends no doubt know, I am an avid kayaker.  I’ve loved the sport since I got my first kayak, when I was fifteen years old, and Steve is into it too.  Together we’ve kayaked down the Potomac past the monuments, through Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and around the Adirondack lake where my parents have their camp.  But in recent years, it’s been harder to get out, because – well, for obvious reasons.  And if you’ve been reading here for awhile, you’ve certainly seen me write wistfully of my kayak and of happy hours spent gliding along the water, and days I thought were long gone in light of my two little non-swimming munchkins.

That dim outlook on kayaking, I am glad to report, no longer holds true!  Over the Fourth of July weekend, I took both kids out for a spin around the Sacandaga, and they did so well in the kayak that I returned to D.C. determined to seek out the best family-friendly paddling options around the DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia – for the uninitiated).  A quick spin of the Google machine led me to Kid Friendly D.C. and their excellent paddling resources.  On their advice, one sunny Saturday, we headed into D.C. to check out Fletcher’s Cove.

Fletcher’s Cove is part of the C&O Canal National Historical Park, which is managed by the National Park Service.  Before reading the Kid Friendly D.C. posts, I’d never heard of it – and I was really missing out.  You can rent canoes, kayaks and rowboats, and the park is conveniently located on the C&O Canal towpath and near bike trails.

After some confusion at the entrance, we found parking and headed across a cute little bridge into the park.

The process of renting a kayak was as simple as could be.  We filled out a short waiver form, let the guys working the rental kiosk know we wanted single kayaks for about an hour, grabbed our paddles and life jackets, and we were on our way.

I was glad they allowed us to rent single kayaks.  Both of the kids were duffing, which is paddling lingo for riding along without helping (but hopefully also without hindering).  Most duffing families were renting double kayaks, and seating the paddler in the back and the duffer in the front.  But since our munchkins can’t swim, we wanted them within arms reach – in our laps, really.  The staff at Fletcher’s Cove totally got it, and since the kids are so tiny, they let us forego the double kayaks.  (Although we may change up the arrangement on our next excursion – read on.)

Down to the dock, and ready to go!

Fletcher’s was perfect for paddling with young kids.  Just upriver from Georgetown, it’s in a quiet and sheltered spot, where the current isn’t too strong and the water is peaceful.  Our first paddling excursion was on a very warm and not-too-breezy day, so we saw a lot of like-minded folks out on the river.  Plenty of families were out enjoying the morning together in kayaks, rowboats and canoes, and we also spotted fishermen in boats and on shore, and even a few hikers on trails just next to the river.

Such a gorgeous day.

I loved looking around at the beautiful riverbanks, but of course the best view is always this one:

That’s a happy little duffer!

Peanut rode along with Steve and I’d say she enjoyed the outing, too.  She was a bit apprehensive about the plan until she learned that she wouldn’t have to paddle – ha!  She spent the entire paddle kicked back with her sunhat and shades on, reclining on her Daddy.  Bit of a diva?

Over in my boat, I was having a different experience from Steve.  Far from reclining and soaking up the summer sun, my duffer was eager to help – to the point of snatching my paddle and demanding his turn to “drive.”

We spent a lot of time going in circles.

While Nugget and I lagged behind, zig-zagging along and arguing over the paddle, Steve and Peanut were zipping on ahead.  Eventually Nugget and I caught up.

We made it all the way to the Chain Bridge, which is the boundary beyond which the Fletcher’s kayaks are not permitted to go, then turned back and headed for the dock to turn our boats in.

Saw some gorgeous rock formations on the way back!

Waved goodbye to the piles of canoes on our way out…

Happy days.

I was so glad that kayaking worked out!  I have missed being out on the water more than I can tell you – it felt wonderful to not only be back in a kayak, but to be sharing one of my favorite water sports with my three favorites.  We were slow, and we didn’t go very far, but I think Steve and I were grinning the entire time; we were just so happy to be out there.

 

So happy, indeed, that we were back at Fletcher’s just a couple of weeks later to go out again.  We would have loved to kayak every weekend, but weather and other plans intervened – but we were back at the dock as soon as the circumstances allowed us to be.

(Worth noting – Fletcher’s, and in fact all of the D.C. boathouses, have life jackets available from infants on up.  We brought our own, but borrowing is certainly an option if your kiddos don’t have PFDs.)

Everybody into the boats!  Peanut did really well with standing on the dock and waiting patiently until it was time for her to clamber into Steve’s lap.

We both got flame-colored kayaks the second time!  So pretty.  And nice, because it was a grey day and the bright kayaks were a beautiful counterpoint to the muted river and sky colors all around us.

Same experience the second time around…

Steve’s duffer enjoyed reclining gracefully against his life jacket while he paddled unencumbered.  (He did say that she put his leg to sleep, though.  So we may try out a double kayak for Daddy Team next time.)

While mine insisted on “helping” the entire time.

One last treat as we turned into the cove – a couple of ducks!  Nugget spotted them first and was so excited I thought he might try to join them in the water.

Thanks for a perfect couple of mornings on the water, Fletcher’s!  We’re going to try to come back a few more times before the kayak rental shop closes up for the season.  It’s such a delight to know that we can enjoy one of our favorite activities again, with our two little duffers along for the ride.

Are you a kayaker?

by

It’s About the Journey: In Praise of Peakbagging

Peakbagging.  When you mention that you’re into it, you are almost guaranteed to get one of three responses:

  • That’s so cool!  Which mountains?
  • What on earth are you even talking about?
  • Oh, peakbagging.  No, thanks.  I hike because I love nature, not to check things off a list.

I count myself lucky that I’ve never gotten response number three.  As luck would have it, pretty much everyone I know either has no idea what peakbagging is, or they are themselves peakbaggers.

To start with a definition, for my non-mountain-chasing friends, peakbagging is a crazy hobby involving challenging oneself to summit every mountain on a particular list.  Think Colorado 14ers.  South Beyond 6000.  Fire Tower Challengers.  Saranac 6ers.

Adirondack 46rs.

I’ve mentioned before that Steve and I are very, very slowly working our way through the Adirondack 46.  So far, we’ve been at it for three years and we’ve summited three peaks: Cascade and Porter, and Giant.  At the rate we’re going, we will finish in 2060.  (We’ll have to step up the pace at some point.)  I suppose we could have started with a kinder, gentler peakbagging chase, like the Saranac 6 or the Fire Tower Challenge.  But go big or go home, right?  And the Adirondack 46 is definitely going big.

So, like I said, I’ve been lucky enough not to run into the anti-peakbagging crowd.  I have hiking friends who aren’t interested in bagging peaks, but they don’t look down their nose at the pursuit, either.  And I have several friends and relatives who’ve already finished the Adirondack 46 or are well on their way (and considerably further ahead than Steve and I are).  But there is a contingent that likes to sniff and act superior.  Or at least I’m told they’re out there.

As I understand it, the anti-peakbagging argument is that hiking should be about communing with nature and growing as a person and celebrating the journey and all of those worthy pursuits, and treating mountains like bullet-points to be checked off is disrespectful or amateurish or something along those lines.  To which I say: pffffft.

There are lots of good lists of reasons why peakbagging is cool.  (A moment’s appreciation for the splendid irony of defending hiking-by-list with… another list.)  My favorite is this one from SectionHiker.  I’m not going to make a list, even though that’s amazing.  Instead, I want to respond to the “it’s about the journey, not the destination” critique of the peakbagging pursuit.

Peakbagging is about the journey.  It’s about deciding to do something big and audacious and then trying, maybe failing, bouncing back, learning as you go, and descending every peak a different person than the one who signed in at the trail register.

It’s about building endurance, starting with the “friendliest” mountain and working your way up to the biggest, baddest summit in your sights.  It’s about brushing off the naysayers and believing in your own capabilities.  (If someone asks you “are you sure you can…” – well, no one’s ever sure they can climb a mountain.  You have good days and bad days and the mountain has something to say about whether you’re summiting or not, too.  But you can give it your best effort and you can ignore the negative voices, whether they’re in your head or outside of you.  As long as you’re smart.)

It’s about views and burning quads and scrambling over granite slabs and climbing waterfalls and calling it Saturday.

Peakbagging is about having the guts to go exploring in the great unknown.  And no, you don’t need a list to go hiking.  (Most of my hikes are not Adirondack high peaks.)  But when you decide to work toward a huge goal, it can’t be about anything but the journey.  Because you’ll reach the destination once – eventually – but you’ll be on the path for a long time before you get there.

Are you a peakbagger?

by

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 14, 2017)

Morning, friends.  First of all, let me say, I hope you’re all okay.  It feels like we are living in a horror movie and every day a new terrifying ghoul pops up.  I never know quite what to say after awful events like what happened in Charlottesville over the weekend (of course, I’m not the President, who should know what to say).  To my friends who feel targeted by the kind of hate that was on parade this weekend, please know that you are safe and welcome in my space (both my internet space and my physical space).  To Nazis, white supremacists, bigots, and racists of all stripes – you are not welcome; get the hell out of our country.

Anyway.  It seems weird to talk about our weekend now.  There wasn’t much to tell, anyway.  Steve and I went out for an anniversary dinner on Friday night (our actual anniversary was Sunday).  We toasted twelve years of marriage, ate a ridiculously delicious multi-course tasting menu, debated Rey’s parentage in Star Wars, reminisced about past travels and fancy meals, and talked about the kids.  The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet.  Steve had to work on Saturday morning, so I took the kids into D.C. to pass along some hand-me-downs to a pregnant friend.  The rest of Saturday was pretty routine – yoga, then making the fire station – library – playground circuit.  We ended Saturday night watching Star Wars Episode IV with Peanut (who got to stay up late as a special treat).  On Sunday, we laid low at home.  I would have liked to go out for an anniversary hike or paddle, but there was so much to do around the house.  I had to do a little work, and the rest of the day was spent doing laundry, cleaning and getting organized for the rest of the summer.

 

Reading.  Bit of a quiet week on the reading front.  Mid-week, I finished A Room With a View, which I’d been meaning to read for years (literally, years) and carting from house to house.  I really, really enjoyed it, and now I can’t wait to watch the movie.  After A Room With a View I was still craving a classic, but something a touch more modern, so I picked up London War Notes, a collection of the weekly “Letters from London” that Mollie Panter-Downes wrote for The New Yorker for the duration of World War II.  The letters are beautifully written, and alternately funny, sarcastic, sad, and foreboding.  I absolutely love them and am battling between competing impulses to tear through the book and to read slowly and savor.

Listening.  More podcasts this week.  I’m alternating between parenting podcasts and book podcasts.  Best thing I listened to this week combined the two – it was Sarah McKenzie’s discussion with a children’s librarian on how to maximize your use of the library, for The Read-Aloud Revival.  I also listened to a back RAR episode all about G.K. Chesterton, which inspired me to make my two August book purchases be Volumes I and II of the Folio Society’s Father Brown Stories.

Watching.  Still loving my one night of TV per week.  This week, as mentioned above, it was A New Hope with Steve and Peanut on Saturday night.  We had movie snacks – Steve and I had zinfandel and popcorn; Peanut had pink lemonade and Pirate’s Booty – and Peanut stayed up for the entire movie and watched with big eyes.  Both of our kids love Star Wars (Nugget walks around humming “Darth Vader’s Theme”) and I could tell Peanut felt like an extra-special big kid getting to stay up late and watch the movie.

Moving.  Lots of yoga again this week.  I went to power hour on Tuesday and Friday (it’s hard to get up for a 5:30 a.m. class, but once I’m out the door I’m never sorry) and to vinyasa on Saturday afternoon.  I can already tell that it’s having an effect, because I’m looser and more comfortable in general, and I’m getting deeper into the poses in class.  Soon I will need to add some running back into my schedule – I’m doing the MCM 10K in October and I want to be trained for that one – but for now, I’m just really pleased to be back at the studio.

Loving.  We didn’t make a huge deal out of our anniversary this year – other than the very fancy dinner on Friday night – but that’s about right for our current stage of life.  We’re busy, life is busy, and the kids keep us running around.  Still, I think twelve years is darn impressive, and there is no one else I’d want to be in the parenting trenches with.

Blogging.  I have an outdoorsy week coming to you – my thoughts on peak-bagging on Wednesday, and a new favorite kayaking spot on Friday.  Check back!

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

by

Happy Birthday, ADK!

Happy belated birthday to my favorite state park!  The original Adirondack Park was created on May 20, 1892, when New York State Governor Roswell P. Flower (yes, really) carved out protection for 2.8 million acres of the North Country.  The park has more than doubled in size since then, and now covers some six million acres.  It also contains some of my favorite places in the world.

The Great Sacandaga Lake is just “inside the blue line,” as New Yorkers refer to the Adirondack Park.  It’s one of the largest lakes in the park and is located in the southernmost corner of the protected area.

I basically grew up on the Sacandaga – sailing, paddling, swimming, running and playing.  I pretty much had the ideal childhood, and the Sacandaga was a huge part of it.

Not far from the Sacandaga – Lake George!  Lake George is one of the iconic Adirondack places, and it’s awash in beauty.

So many Adirondack icons can be found here.  Like the Sagamore Resort…

And the Minne-ha-ha…

I have fond memories of cruising Lake George on the Minne-ha-ha with my grandparents.  And last summer, my friend Seth and I got up close and personal with it – in kayaks!

Lake George is not “my” lake, the way the Sacandaga is – but it’s still special to me.  It’s where I enjoyed my first ice cream cone (I don’t remember this, but my parents love telling the story), the scene of many wanderings with high school and college friends, and a favorite day trip from Albany.

More recently, Steve and I have fallen in love with the high peaks region.  In this section of the park, most of the 4,000+ foot mountains cluster – beckoning climbers, trekkers and day-hikers alike.  So far, we’ve climbed three of them.  Progress toward becoming 46rs is sloooooooow.  But it’s about the journey, not the destination.

Cascade and Porter.

Giant.

There are so many Adirondack places I’d like to explore.  We haven’t even scratched the surface of all the iconic spots in the park – there’s the rest of the 46 to explore, for one thing, and the quintessential Adirondack non-high peak hikes, like Indian Head and Mount Jo.  There’s Lake Placid, which has always been a special place for me – for kayaking in the summer and fall, and skiing Whiteface in winter – but to which Steve has never been.  There are childhood places I visited with my grandparents – like Blue Mountain Lake – that I haven’t seen in decades.  There are new challenges to tackle, like the Saranac 6 and the Fire Tower Challenge, and waters to explore, like the St. Regis Canoe Area and Tupper Lake.  We could spend a lifetime combing the park and never uncover all of its secrets – and we live hours and hours away.  But no matter how far we live, we’ll always keep coming back to these places.

All that is to say, happy, happy, happy birthday to the ADK.  You’re a gift to the world and you’ve been a gift to me all my life.

What’s your favorite state park?

by

Summer Spaces

Hello, August!  (Well, it’s been a little over a week, but…)  The other day, an Instagram post popped up in my feed with the caption “August is the Sunday of summer.”  In some ways, here in Virginia, it’s more like the Saturday evening – we’ve got another few months of warm weather and long days (which is just fine by me).  But there’s no denying that August is the last month of high summer.  Back-to-school is only a few weeks away now – and we’re on the later side; we go back after Labor Day.  We’ve still got plenty of summer fun, including our big vacation for the year, ahead of us.  Still, I’m also finding myself nostalgic, looking around me and trying desperately to remember the little things about this season that will escape me, that may be different next year.  (At the very least, the little water shoes and sandals will be another size or two bigger, even if everything else stays the same.)  And because this blog is at least partly about capturing the small things that are mattering to me right now, here are the places that have meant “summer” to me this season.

This back step is where so much of the business of summer happens.  Beach towels and water shoes dry on the mat out here every weekend.  I snapped this picture earlier this summer; all three pairs of water shoes – the kids and mine – are considerably more faded now.  And the back step is covered with a film of sunscreen, since I like to use my Pacifica spray out here on the way to the pool.

Reach out a hand from this spot, and you’ll open the back door.  Just inside is another of my summer spaces.  I call it “the command center.”  It’s actually a key rack, but it’s become the gathering place for all of our summer essentials.  The basket holds three bottles of sunscreen – my Pacifica, mentioned above; Steve’s Coppertone Sport (no chemicals for me, please!); and the kids’ Babyganics.  Hanging from the basket is a little row of hooks where – in addition to our keys – we collect hats (Peanut’s floppy white sun hat, Nugget’s navy bucket hat, and my blue baseball cap), sunglasses (there is always at least one pair of Wayfarers) and Peanut’s camp tote bag, stuffed with beach towel, bathing suit, tie-dye shirt, sunscreen and pine needles.

More often than not, when we head out that back door, lathered up with sunscreen, we’re headed for the neighborhood community pool.  We can walk here, and I cherish our evening strolls to the pool – Steve hand-in-hand with Peanut, me with Nugget.  We have to stop to smell all of the neighbors’ flowers (it’s Black-Eyed Susan season!) but we get here eventually.  The baby pool is the preferred splashing spot.  Peanut has learned all kinds of water skills at camp, and she loves to be independent in the water.  When did she get so big and grown-up?

The pool is only open in the afternoons, so for morning water fun we’ve been loading up the car and driving about fifteen minutes away to our local splash pad.  Splash pads are hugely popular in the D.C. area, and we have found one that we love.  We’ve been here nearly every weekend since it opened.

With the splash pad discovery came the discovery of a new playground.  Of course, the kids love our neighborhood playground most – but the nature and pirate themed playgrounds next to the splash pad have been big hits.  Sea monsters were just made for climbing on, right?

Another summer favorite – we’ve recently discovered Fletcher’s Cove, which is the perfect boating launch point for our family of kayak enthusiasts.  More to come on this soon, but we’ve driven into D.C. twice now, duffers in tow, for serene mornings paddling the Potomac.  Fletcher’s is already becoming one of “our places” – and I look forward to many more summers watching my little paddlers grow into their boating skills.

Further afield, this summer wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Eric in Virginia Beach.  They’re moving soon, so I don’t know if Virginia Beach will be part of the fabric of our summers after they depart for sunny Florida.  But this summer, and last summer – it was.

Of course, at the end of the day, there’s no place like home – right?  I’ve spent quite a few afternoons and evenings relaxing under my big market umbrella, watching the kids dig in their sandbox and the bees buzz around my mint plant.  Living in an area where the summer season is so long, we’ve been able to use our patio as an outdoor living room – and plenty of living has happened on these bricks.

What are your summer spaces this year?