Tracking

The sun has been out for days, for longer than it seems we've seen it all winter in fact. The Himalayas in our front yard are starting to look more like the rolling landscape of Vermont. My Panda is increasingly disappointed by his habitat loss. The best thing about this weather, aside from the warm sun flooding our front room every evening and Jon getting home before dark, is the hiking situation; with compacted snow covering what will soon be muddy fields there are animal tracks to be found everywhere, and it's warm enough to go looking for them. There's rain lurking around the corner and with rain the opportunity will be lost, so we struck out into the fields today to look for signs of four legged neighbors.

We've been tracking before. Calvin's pretty familiar with the tracks of humans, dogs, and deer and he found lots of deer tracks today.

Deer path through the stream.

And a new treat, raccoon tracks.

And we listened for birds.

Chickadees (we heard all three calls)

And a tufted titmouse.

So now we're ready for the rain threatening the rest of the week, and maybe for a return of the rain boots.

Happy Valentines Day

Make believe

A wizard is a fantastic thing. There's almost nothing he can't do, and you're wish is his command. The wizard in our Oz books has done everything from creating an entire campsite and meal from nothing to saving a poor man from spending his life as a mable statue.

I think a wizard could be a lot of help around the house. Laundry, sweeping, cooking...what about paying the bills? And I Have a veritable library I'd like to read by the end of the year, do you think he could help me with that? If nothing else, my wizard seems completely capable of making snacks appear, of erecting amazing Lego creations, and losing anything and everything he lays his hands on.

Is there really anything better for the heart and soul than a good dose of make believe? We open all the blinds, we put away all the technology, we done our self-chosen personalities, and sometimes we even unplug the phones, then we live the magic.

Legos from the past

While having dinner with my parents last night Calvin, with those sharp child eyes that can spot fun and mischief from miles away, caught sight of my old Lego castle which was down in the basement. We'd been cruising the shelves down there looking for games from my childhood when he happened to see the logo on the side of the yellow box. Before Christmas he wouldn't have even known what a Lego logo looked like (alliteration anyone?) but at this point the jig was up. Being more complex than his lighting truck it took him a bit longer to assemble, and being designed for an older age bracket than his train he needed a little more help, too. But not much. And now he's happily flying witches all over the kingdom and scaring unsuspecting knights with the trap door skeleton. I had almost forgotten those joys.

More snow

We've had plenty of it. Calvin is fondly referring to the snow mounded up on either side of our driveway as the Himalayas. A few days ago he was meandering his way along them, and up and down them, and along them, and up and down them, and all the time he was snuffling and snorting and whispering to himself. I asked him what he was doing.

"I'm a panda. I have to find food because most of my homeland is gone."