Archives
22/01: A Return to Life More Scheduled
Tomorrow classes resume once again, and so these weeks of small projects and sleeping in end abruptly. The gaps between semesters fill in with all the little chores that the busy months find neglected. It seems we never get to all of the project we intend, but we did at last get to the hall. Painted an awkward beige color it has stood the same since we moved in, with white stairs and brown carpet - we repainted the walls, pulled the carpet and stripped the paint off the stairs, Much to the delight of the girls - who love the effect of the echoing hall. With the new color Lizzie declares it is like "climbing up into the sky"Zoe found a gummy eraser on the couch this morning - and proceded to sculpt some rather sophisticated figures starting with a cat, then a fish, and then she moved on to a chicken. I watched her as I sat next to her. She built a beautiful little body and then started to add legs - one, two and then three.
"Zoe" I asked "why does your chicken have three legs?"
She replied quickly with just a glance in my direction "because I haven't put the fourth one on yet."
"Zoe" I asked "how many legs does a chicken have?"
She answered "Two.....OH MY GOSH!"
15/01: Presenting, her Majesty.....
Happy birthday to Lizzie. As we lay in bed last night I said "lizzie turns four tomorrow, and you're six Zoe, how many years does that make together?" "Ten, dad" said Zoe, "together we make ten." But then Lizzie interjected "but if we were together we would have two heads."Lizzie had a wonderful birthday. Tory made a beautiful cake, and the house was filled with a lot of laughter and good friends on this bitter cold January day. Yesterday morning it was 48 here - this morning it was 8, with a bitter wind that blew last nights snowfall into dunes. But with homemade macaroni and cheese, punch, balloons and streamers we had a cheery afternoon with a full house. The cold came in handy, making a good number of icecubes on the backporch in the matter of a couple hours.
Tara sent Liz beautiful beweled boxes, full of yet more jewels, which were a big hit. Thanks to everyone for making Lizzies birthday special.
12/01: A Sad Day
I was working in my office when my attention was pulled away from my work by loud sounds from a rooster outside my window. looking up I saw a strange dog in the backyard with one of our plump barred rocks in it's mouth. I sprang out the door and yelled at the dog, who dropped the chicken and ran, but it was too late. She lay lifeless in the snow among scattered feathers. The dog ran into the woods across the street, and after checking on the rest of the chickens (who were fine) I hopped into the car in pursuit. I was mad, and I was ready to give someone earful. I circled the block, in the direction I saw the dog run. After I circled the block twice I noticed I wasn't the only one circling. I stopped, and talked to the car, it was our friend Harmony and her daughter Chloe, looking for their dog, and then I realized it wasn't such a strange dog I had seen after all. though it was quite a ways from home. Suddenly I wasn't so mad anymore, and I told them the direction that Killian had run.We decided to tell the kids, Zoe would have found out soon anyway, she goes to school with Chloe. There were a lot of tears from both the girls and they insisted on seeing the chicken. they knelt in the snow over the quiet body of the black and white checkered chicken, pet her downy feathers and said good-bye.
