Stretching it further

And following vacation, how about vacation? Harbor Springs. Possibly my favorite place away from home on earth. Although Jon had to go home and get back to work (I felt sorry for him, I really, really did), Calvin and I spent the rest of the week staying with my Godmother, Lonnie, and soaking up sun, love, good food, and fresh air. If camping hadn't been so relaxing, and it was, the rest of this week would have done the trick. We built a sort of routine, spending a little bit of every morning on school stuff, the afternoon at the little local beach in the water and sand, and the evenings at some activity together.

We read some books, we watched some TV, and Calvin's Aunt Lonnie kept him busy with a couple of crafts and playing with her pup, Blue. We played putt putt (who can ever get enough of putt putt?), walked the cemetery looking for Ghoul Gates (you'll know them if you've ever read The Graveyard Book), and drove over some rather forsaken road to middle-of-nowhere lake in search of loons (where we found a tern and a yellow-rumped warbler, but no loons). We had dinner once at Noggin Room and once at Keyhole, two of our favorite places, and twice at home, just the three of us lounging on the deck watching the bay and the birds and listening to the wind in the trees. And we were happy together and having fun.

The hardest part about being there, is the coming home (except that this time, of course, Jon was waiting there for us, and that made coming home pretty okay this time).

17—really 17, they didn't all fit in one picture—turkeys in the yard

Pirate's Cove Golf

arrrrr, he's a pirate

arrrr, he's giving Nonnie golfing lessons

Sand pants

walking to the cemetery

ghost turkeys!

possible ghoul gate

sand, sand, and more sand

Sturgeon Bay

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Springing into action

We saw a play this morning: Strega Nona, as performed by our favorite local theater troupe. We laughed uproariously, and when it was over we emerged into a world that was bright and warm, so we took a picnic to a nearby park. 

Driving the pharaoh's ship

Scaling the mountains of Tibet

Flying on a dragon

An archaeologist at work

Imagination is a fantastic thing.

Fire and ice

I have no pictures from today—it was too dark and dreary.

We watched it snow from the comforts of a house warmed by our newly installed, very efficient furnace. And thanks to the new thermostat I was also able to see that while we were a cozy 68 degrees inside, it was a chilly 32 outside. The snow makes Calvin giggle.

For a meaningful juxtaposition we spent the afternoon mapping the journey taken by our earliest ancestors—the journey that started in a desert-like Africa and spread to the rest of the earth during the rising and falling of oceans. If this inquiry into our past has taught me anything it's that there really is some good TV out there. To BBC, National Geographic, and PBS, I thank you.

We discovered The Incredible Human Journey, a series of BBC specials on the human migration out of Africa. We watched it in small bits we could find on YouTube and we've only watched the first of five episodes so far, but Calvin loved it, and we'll be watching the others in due time. We also used a variety of book and internet sources to map the possible migration and create a timeline of human evolution (like watching Beringia disappear,or some of the graphics on this college syllabus). I have yet to make the neanderthals out of felt. We'll see how that goes.

There was also piano practice, and another section in math (and I ordered the next book because he's only five lessons away from finishing the first), some playing with Legos (the farm had to be put into winter mode), some playing with felt, and a lot of playing "caveman" all over the house. At one point I found a variety of items piled up in the middle of the floor over which the little boy was striking two imaginary rocks.

And so we have fire.

Monday...gone in a flash

We got up for swimming, we sorted books at the library, we attended drop in story time, we played Carcassonne, we watered the trees, we ate popcorn on the porch while reading books, Calvin played a lot by himself, because that's what he wanted to do, we ate dinner on the porch while watching the birds, and just like that Monday was gone. When days fly by at that speed there just isn't that much to write about. My little boy triumphantly filled out his book sheet for the summer reading program, and came home with a plastic zebra I think we could have done without but which now has a name and shares a close affection with the other favored animals of the moment. That was neat, zebra notwithstanding. And so was the moment after all that alone playtime he'd asked for when he showed me the blacksmith hut he'd made to go with the Lego Windmill. He'd fashioned it, out of the barn that usually goes with the windmill, after the blacksmith's shop next to the windmill at the farm we visited for Log Cabin Weekend.

During dinner the male hummingbird came and sat in our very expensive bird perch, as Calvin and Jon call our biggest tree. I've seen the hummers land briefly on the feeder before, and even in our bush out front, but never in spot so exposed as this. He even stayed there long enough for me to sneak into the house for the camera. Just look at what the sun does to that ruby throat. And while you're at it, just look at the new growth on the branch ends of our tree. It looks like he might make it after all.