Ba-Ba-Bass

Posted on 02/02/2015 by chick

Livia heard the song “All About That Bass” for the first time. She loves it. She sings it sometimes on her own. Her version goes like this: “Ba-ba-bass, ba-ba-bass, no trouble.”

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Best & Worst

Posted on 02/01/2015 by chick

One day I fed the kids pancakes for breakfast and then took them outside to play in the snow. Livia told me later that I was the best mommy. It was nice to hear that. But on another day, when her daddy and I had to force shoes onto her stubborn feet so that she wouldn’t miss the bus, she got mad and cried, “You’re the worst mommy and daddy I ever had!” Just in case we hadn’t heard her, she repeated again and again, all the way to the bus stop. That wasn’t as nice to hear, but at least I know now how to begin my memoirs: “I was the best of moms, I was the worst of moms.”

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Foot-Loose and Camera-Free

Posted on 01/30/2015 by chick

My camera started malfunctioning a few months ago. Even when the battery was fully charged, the camera sometimes wouldn’t turn on. Even worse, it would occasionally turn off while I was using it.

At first I thought the battery was at fault, so I bought a new one, but the problems continued. Then my husband looked on-line to see if other people had posted about similar problems. They had. It was a known defect for my camera model. The inside of the camera doesn’t make good contact with the battery, so the camera assumes the lack of power is caused by a low battery.

One thing I like about Canon is that they’ll fix known defects for free, even if the warranty period is long over. They’ll even pay for the shipping. They did this for me once before. I was very pleased with the customer service and with the repair work. They probably made me a Canon customer for life. It’s why my current camera is also a Canon. And sure enough, when I called them earlier this week, they offered to fix this problem for free, too.

We shipped the camera to them Thursday. It had been gone only a few hours before I missed it. I saw the cutest bird on my doorstep. There are always adorable birds nearby, but they’re hard to spot unless they move. They’re small and well-camouflaged. But this one was adorably plump and he was standing against a snowy background, easy to see. I reached for my camera and was crushed when I remembered that it was gone.

It would not be the last time I’d miss my camera that day. Later I went outside with Marshall to play in the snow. He was digging a zigzagging path across the front yard that he called his “maze.” I asked if he wanted any help. He ordered me to keep the animals off the path, which was not exactly a demanding task, since there weren’t any animals around. So I was free to do other things, but there was nothing to do!

My feet freeze faster when I’m bored. I needed to move around, so I decided to play a game of What If I Had a Camera? I thought the nearly monochromatic landscape might make it tough to find subjects, but it didn’t. Had I been able to, I would have snapped pictures of the half moon in a frosty winter sky, a thorny plant with blue (!) fruit, animal tracks in the snow, and later, Livia gleefully digging a tunnel into the snowbank.

I’m astounded at how dependent I’ve become on my camera. I don’t always take good pictures, but I still feel the need to keep trying. I feel like I’m missing a limb now, or a good friend. Thank goodness I only have to wait 5-7 business days to get it back!

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SITY: The Big & The Small

Posted on 01/29/2015 by chick

Perhaps it may seem silly to write about the little snowstorm we had last week given that we’re still digging out from the blizzard of 2015. But small snowstorms are wonderful. They’re a lot less trouble than blizzards and often more beautiful. It would be a shame to overlook them.

This particular snowstorm was lovely until the snow turned to drizzle. Then the day turned gray. But the kids really wanted to play in the snow, so I took them out, and we stayed outside until we were thoroughly soaked.

While the kids were playing, I tried to take some pictures, a real challenge when the rain is spotting your eyeglass lenses and trying to do the same to the camera lens. But I needed something to do while the kids were up in the observation post of their swing set making snowballs to lob at me. So I gave it my best shot (or shots, as it were). Here are two of them.

First, something big and tall.

big

Pine Tree Weighted With Snow

I love the way these pine trees grow. They grow so straight, so tall, but keep all their branches at the top. The snow is distorting this one’s shape. It looks like a giant feather duster.

Now for something smaller and closer to earth.

lichen

Lichen Growing on the Swing Set

Lichen can be beautiful or hideous, depending on the type and the growing conditions. This one is pretty, like a green snowflake.

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A Case of the Blahs

Posted on 01/28/2015 by chick

Livia came into my office one day and picked up my pocket dictionary. I thought to myself, “Here is the perfect opportunity to teach her something.” That’s the kind of mom I am. So I explained what a dictionary is and how it’s used. And do you know how she responded to my attempts to impart my knowledge? She said, “I’m going to read it to you in Blah-Blah Language.” “Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah,” she began. I thought she’d eventually get bored and stop, but she didn’t. She went on and on. “Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah.” I finally had to give her a treat to get her to stop.

Served me right. 🙂

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Snow Power

Posted on 01/27/2015 by chick

Last year, Marshall really wanted to build snowmen and go sledding, so he wished for snow. He kept on wishing, and we got snowstorm after snowstorm. We even joked that he was causing the snowy weather (ha-ha!). Then the winter ended, and we forgot all about it.

This winter, we’d gotten so little snow, and the kids were so bummed that I suggested we all wish for snow. I thought it would cheer them up. So together we chanted, “I wish for more snow. I wish for more snow. I WISH FOR MORE SNOW!”

Now there’s a blizzard outside, a storm so big and powerful that the media were calling it “crippling” and “historic” before it even hit. Five states have declared a state of emergency.

My apologies to the entire Northeast. I really am sorry, but it’s not as if we could have known that we wielded the power of snow and storm and that our combined efforts would have led to this. I mean, that’s not normal.

Yeah, I know you’re all thinking, “No way. You’re deluded. No one controls the weather.”

And all I can say is that you better hope that’s true, because you know what Marshall said this morning? “I wish for more snow. I wish for more snow. I WISH FOR MORE SNOW!”

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Winter Walk on a Pretty Day

Posted on 01/26/2015 by chick

On Saturday night, after the kids and I were done playing in the snow, we went to bed thinking that the snowstorm was over. Not so. The rain gave way to snow again during the night. When we woke up, everything was covered with a fresh layer of the beautiful white stuff.

I decided to go for a walk in the woods, my first since before my knee surgery. The sun was bright and the sky was a stunning shade of blue. It was such a pretty day that it would have been something akin to a crime to stay inside all day.

1 walk

Such a Pretty Day

I had hoped to get out before the snow melted off the trees. My timing was good. There were still layers of snow and ice “jewels” on many of them. I tried to capture the glittering glory on film and failed, but at least I got some pictures of the snow melting.

2 walk

Snow Melting off Pine Needles

I reached the scenic overlook and rested for a moment.

3 walk

Scenic Overlook

I wanted to continue on to the area that I think of as the Pine Forest. It looks so pretty in the snow, and I hadn’t been there in ages. Even though I was afraid of overexerting myself, I decided to go for it.

I’m glad I did. There are two distinct sections of pine forest. There is a denser, more mysterious part that’s dominated by young trees.

4 walk

Dense Pine Forest

Then there is the part with the older growth. It’s less mysterious. You don’t get the feeling like you might be wandering into Narnia. But you do get the feeling like you’re in a holy place. The trees there are tall.

6 walk

Tall Trees

But some of them are approaching the end of their lifespans. Look at this mess of a tree trunk.

7 walk

Rotten Trunk

You’d think the whole tree was dead, but not yet. Only half of it is gone. There it lingers (though I wouldn’t be surprised to find that recent high winds had since knocked it down).

8 walk

“I’m Not Dead Yet!”

The ground there is covered with princess pines. I used to think they were baby pine trees, but they’re actually a totally different type of plant, known as a clubmoss.

5 walk

Princess Pine

On the way to the Pine Forest I had noticed that there were black specks all over the snow. I hadn’t given them much thought. But as I was trekking back home, I discovered that some of my footprints had filled up with flecks. I bent down to examine them and felt suddenly very itchy.

9 walk

Snow Fleas!

I was almost certain that snow fleas weren’t really fleas, but I really did feel itchy. So I called my husband and asked him. He even knew the answer. He said that snow fleas are springtails. They eat stuff in the woods, not people. Thank goodness!

I was almost home when I spotted a single beech leaf on the snow. Beech leaves aren’t exactly exciting, but I just can’t seem to help loving them. Even though they’re brown, they are a reminder that summer will come again.

10 walk

Beech Leaf on Snow

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Three Books on My Nightstand

Posted on 01/22/2015 by chick

These are the three books that I’m reading now.

  1. How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, And More!!! by Neil Zawacki: I found this in the humor section at the library’s used book store. I was in the mood for some light-hearted reading, and it sounded like it would fit the bill. So far it’s consistently humorous, if not quite laugh-out-loud funny.
  2. Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer: I noticed this book at the library as I was browsing the nonfiction section for some potential puzzle themes. It sounded interesting. I didn’t know then that the author had been accused of plagiarism and other literary no-nos. I’m about halfway through the book and will probably keep reading, though perhaps with a more critical eye.
  3. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: The first few pages of this book really pulled me in. I admire Foer’s imagination. The book is worth reading just for some of the main character’s inventions, like the ambulance with a device that can detect your loved ones nearby and flash messages to them stating the severity of your injury (like “IT’S NOTHING MAJOR!” or “GOODBYE! I LOVE YOU!”).
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Mysteries from Long Ago

Posted on 01/21/2015 by chick

I remember loving two series of books when I was in grade school. I knew one of them was the Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston. I didn’t remember the name or author of the other series, though.

I’ve often wondered about that series. All I could recall was that there were some siblings who visited an island, and that there were treasure hunts and puzzles for them to solve. Not much to go on, huh?

But I found a reference to a series called the Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries by Peggy Parish (who is best known as the creator of Amelia Bedelia). The name “Jed” sounded right to me, and some of the stories took place on an island. So I borrowed the books from the library. I read all of them except for The Ghosts of Cougar Island, because it was published in 1986, at which point I would have been too old to want to read it. The others were published in the late ’60s and early ’70s, making them exactly the right vintage.

  1. Clues in the Woods, B
  2. Haunted House, B+
  3. Hermit Dan, B
  4. Key to the Treasure, B+
  5. Pirate Island Adventure, B+

Are they the right books? Yes, I think so. There were many familiar scenes. I am certain that I read these books as a child. The only problem is that I have memories of a couple of specific types of puzzles that weren’t in any of the books. I can only guess that my memories of another book got lumped in with my memories of these.

These books are a little piece of the story of me, about what I like and who I am today. I’m glad to have recovered it. Consequently I am feeling a little guilty about giving them all B-level grades. But I could only judge them on the scale of what I like today. They are simple books intended for young readers, not a woman my age. I think they’d be perfect for, say, an 8-year-old.

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Pacedos and Other Things

Posted on 01/20/2015 by chick

Dear Kids,

We took down the Christmas tree on Saturday. As we removed the ornaments, Marshall kept commenting on how the tree was looking less and less beautiful. He didn’t seem unhappy about it. On the contrary, he enjoyed the whole process, but particularly taking the branches off and piling them by size. He was also eager to use his new vacuum cleaner on the area where the tree had been, but he had to wait until everything had been cleared away. He was impatient about it, asking over and over again if he could vacuum yet. Finally, I said, “Is that all you care about?” He considered this question carefully, then replied, “No. I care about TV, too.”

As for the TV, you’ve been watching a lot of movies on it lately. ET did not impress you. Marshall said that he only liked “the good parts” of The Wizard of Oz. You both adore the Barbie version of Thumbelina, though. After watching it, Marshall hunted all over our house for Thumbelina, insisting she must be here somewhere. He even resisted going to bed that night, because he wanted to keep looking for her. He never did find her, but now, when anything is amiss in the house, he throws the blame on her. “Thumbelina did it!” he exclaims.

Livia was not feeling well over the weekend. She didn’t have much interest in food or moving around, and her forehead was warm to the touch. We figured she had a virus. This morning she was in a terrible mood, which we took to mean that she hadn’t gotten enough rest, so we decided to keep her home from school. It’s a good thing we did, because about fifteen minutes after she would have gotten on the bus, she threw up all over the kitchen counter. She’s a kid, though, so she was eating yogurt-covered pretzels and acting like her usual self within a few hours.

But this evening she complained that she still wasn’t feeling well.

Livia: I need medicine of some kind.
Daddy: How about jelly bean medicine?
Mommy: Yes, a jelly bean pill would help.
Livia: Is that real?
Mommy: Yes, it’s called a “placebo.”
Marshall: Can I have a pacedo, too?

I hope Livia will feel better after taking her placebo. I just asked her how her tummy was and she said, “Kinda good.” Then she asked for some Cheez-Its. I think she’s going to be OK.

Love,

Mom

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