Sunday

Yesterday was our library book sale day. It was the first sale for which I was sole coordinator, not that I didn't have gobs of help. Calvin was bent on helping me, so we left home at 8:30 in the morning and he worked with me until noon, offering bags to shoppers and helping direct those who were lost. In between he would sit and read. His dad picked him up at noon, then they came back at three and helped clean up. We a handful of new books, of which Robin Hood, The Frenzied Prince, Household Stories, and The Nightingale (beautifully illustrated by Eva Le Gallienne), are likely to be our favorites.

But that was yesterday. Today was Legos.

That's quite a collection of people at the train station.

They might be headed to the Natural History Museum.

Or to the game.

Wizards vs. Musketeers?

And cinnamon rolls.

And naps, then Snap Circuits.

11 days: Christmas stories

We collect Christmas books. Every year for St. Nicholas Day we give a book to Calvin for us to share together year after year. We write in them each year, inscribing the opening pages with a message of love and a date. We're only up to six books at this point, but we also have a few favorites from our own childhoods that transport us to those early days of Christmas joy.

2006: The Snow Tree, by Caroline Repchuk

2007: The Night Before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

2008: Amazing Peach, A Christmas Poem, by Maya Angelou

2009: Good King Wenceslas, by John M. Neale and Tim Ladwig

2010: The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

2011: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Charles Santore and the full version, too.

Endings

Yesterday, while Calvin enjoyed the air conditioning at his Gram and Grampa's house, Jon and I made it to the Art Fair for its last couple of hours this year. Though we missed our usual rendezvous with family on the opening day of the fair (because we were up north enjoying cooler temperatures) we couldn't let the year go by with walking through street upon street of booths.

While we were downtown we also made it to the downtown Border's store—the flagship store. Borders started here about forty years ago and though it hasn't been the family owned company it once was for the last twenty of those years, it is still looked at as a part of our community. It has been a part of our downtown longer than anyone else's, and it will be missed. I am torn when it comes to the debate on physical books versus e-books. I understand that e-books are an ecological plus, but I love the feel of a book in my hand—the smell of the paper, the softness of the pages and the way their weight shifts as I turn them. Reaching the end of an e-book has never been as fulfilling to me as turning the last physical page of a novel and plopping it down in front of me with a sigh upon finishing it. And you can't loan an e-book to a friend, or donate it to the library. Have I mentioned that we buy most of our books used? Maybe I'll have to set a new rule for myself—if I can't buy it used, buy it as an e-book, but oh how I will miss dog-eared pages, notes in the margins, and sharing with family and friends.

Log Cabin Weekend

When I think of log cabins I think of prairie trains, and bad Westerns and tall, tall waving blades of grass. And just thinking about that era makes me feel tired, hot and dirty. This past week Calvin read a book about the Western prairie. He'd picked out the book, Twisters on Tuesday, because of his recent obsession with tornadoes, but the story was about the pioneer days, a coincidence that turned out to be fortuitous because this was Log Cabin Weekend at the nearby Waterloo Historical Society farm grounds and museum. The weather was beautiful, so after garage saling (side note—we got a telescope!), of course we drove out to Waterloo.

There was a bit of period mixing going on. While the original log cabin was built in the 1830s, the rest of the house was finished 20 years later, and the Civil war encampment on the grounds was not only physically misplaced, but also another decade on down the timeline. That's okay, knowing that the war motif was part of the weekend, and having luckily picked up a copy of Civil War on Sunday at one of the garage sales we read it on our way to the farm (side note again—I love garage sales).

Strangely enough I didn't take a single picture of the actual log cabin while we were there, but the German family who lived in built this house directly onto it, and later is was removed to further away.

Then a tour of the inside of the house...

Back outside we watched the creation of a wooden mallet with a really old engine. And in the background, a blacksmith hammering out hooks.

The Union soldiers were camped just down the hill...

And when we were done on the farm grounds we drove around the corner a few miles to the one room school house, which was in use as an area school until 1963. Really, 1963! That's just two years before my parents graduated from their large and age dedicated high schools in larger cities elsewhere in Michigan. I find that fascinating.

This had been our first trip to the Waterloo Historic Society grounds, and we'll go back for a few more events this year. The buildings are as well kept as those at Greenfield Village, which is farther away and more expensive, and I enjoyed the quiet of the day, wandering through history without fighting crowds. In fact, there were only a handful of visitors like ourselves there, while the rest of the people wandering around were reenactors taking advantage of a beautiful weekend to hang out with other reenactors. There were times, in fact, when it felt as though we may have been intruding on their foray into the past, like when we went down to talk to the Union soldiers in their camp.

We took the scenic roads both to and from Waterloo and stopped for more Michigan strawberries from a stand on our way home. After dinner we had a fire and roasted s'mores and talked about living in a time when fires were the only way to cook, myself decided that the gas stove with electric start is worth having. And that rounded out a nice Saturday.

A card and a camel

This is about as close to a first day of school portrait as we're likely to get. Funny that it's the first week after school let out around here, then. Since this is the first week of summer vacation for the school bound this was also the summer reading program kick-off at our library. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and likely again and again): we love our library. This year they have so many activities planned that the calendar is too abbreviated to read easily. We started our own kick-off earlier in the week, though, when Calvin got his own card. I'd told him weeks ago that as soon as he could fill out the form by himself he could have his own card. That was like dangling a carrot, I guess, and on Monday he filled out his form and got his card. I'm sure it helps that we are there several times a week and are very active volunteers, but the librarians made a wonderfully big deal out of the occasion, and that was fun. The president of the library even came out and shook Calvin's hand and asked him what he would check out first. Unfortunately, the book he wanted was already out, but he used his card to put it on hold, and today we were notified that it was available for pick-up, so we got it when we went to see the camel. The card has now been broken in.

It's these little milestones that are so much fun. Obviously we did not take part in any preschool graduation like other kids his age did this year, and there were no school photos or class parties. Instead we celebrated a first library card, which to me was more authentic anyhow. It's opening a door of knowlege! It's almost as good as a drivers license! Well, maybe. And I'd promised Calvin that when he got his card I would make him a special library bag, with material of his choosing, in which to keep it. He held me to my promise, he picked his fabric, and he is almost as excited about the bag as about the card. Almost. In fact, his adoration of the library card reminds me of Jon wanting to wear his brand new shoes to bed as a little boy.

But back up a bit. Did I say "when we went to see the camel?" Why yes, yes I did. It was summer program kick-off day today, complete with magic tricks and a camel. I actually had to stay behind at the garage sale but Jon was able to come home long enough to take Calvin to enjoy the party, magic tricks, camel, cake, and all. I think I already mentioned how much I love our library.