let the rains begin...

i just knew that mentioning the sun would make it go away! (sigh) as soon as i posted, it turned gray and has been raining off and on for days. before i even packed away my summer dresses, i've been pulling out my wool socks. it's official. summer is over! but it's been a good run, i must say, and there are things to look forward to... fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. besides, our neighbor's plum and pear trees are finally ripe, and he's fond of francis and lets us pick. it really does give me a little twinge of the olden days, a rarity in this city life: picking only enough fruit that we can eat for that day. every day we walk inside with a little handful, and enjoy them fresh from the tree. wonderful.



francis and i walked to school today, in the morning gray... i mentioned that this is the last year that we will be walking this walk, for next year he is off to middle-school. (as yet to be determined where.) he is already extremely excited for middle-school, he can hardly contain himself. and then he went on to tell me how he and some friends were "googling in the dictionary" for the definitions of some words, during school, and i said: "hold up! did you just say "googling in the dictionary?" and he looked at me confused, like: yeah, duh! he totally didn't get it. googling, apparently, has jumped the ship of the internet, and become it's very own word. our children are growing up ultra-modern.

the sunday before last, it was scheduled to be sunny and hot. ( the last rays and days of sunshine...) in one of our many efforts to keep our kid a kid as long as possible, we took him to the puyallup fair. it really was just for francis. we haven't taken him there since the first time we took him, when he was 5, if that's saying anything. but i started to feel selfish, because the only reason we haven't gone is because we didn't really like it, or rather, the reality outweighed the nostalgia if you know what i mean. couldn't be bothered to go again. the long drive. the crush of people. the expensive rides. the noise. but this year, something hit me, maybe it's sinking in that we don't have much longer with him, where he actually wants to be with us; we have little of his childhood left.

so in a feeble effort to make up for past years, we bit the bullet, made the trek, and took him to the state fair. and he absolutely loved it! and i must confess, we had a blast too. dana jill came with us, the sun was shining strong, and we took delight in his delight. everything is still magical to him. his eyes and ears were dazzled by a monkey show, a draft-horse competition, a cannonball man, a crazy dangerous juggler, "mutton-bustin'" (our first time ever even hearing of such a thing, let alone seeing it firsthand! go ahead, google it! we were laughing our butts off, only francis was a little sad we haven't come to the fair earlier, when he was younger, so he could have done it too, because now he is too old) and then of course, all the farm animal exhibits, the rides rides rides, lemonade, elephant ears, and the futile games that suck up your money quicker than you can drop it on the ground. (more pics on flickr.) for a kid, a glorious day, you wish it would never end.





and then last sunday, (i know, i know, we're really cramming in these last ditch efforts of summer) we hit the race-tracks. it's end of the season for emerald downs and i've been meaning to go since last summer, but this was our first time ever going. i'm only bummed we didn't do it sooner. this was in the week of gray, but the rains stopped, and the sun came out for the afternoon. as soon as the races were over, i'm not kidding, we didn't even make it to our car yet, where we were hit with a torrential downpour, the likes of which seattle doesn't usually see. (i don't mind THIS kind of rain!)





and of course, back to school again. this month has been so crazy busy, stuff going on almost every single day... i'm already looking forward to october, because nothing's on the calendar, except: my sisters wedding! (we'll be flying to chicago the first weekend, and it's gonna be a blast!) and then...

curling up for the long hibernation...

september sun

well, here's counting. a seattle record, i believe. it has to be. has it really been two weeks of daily sun? too good to be true! and "blazing hot" 72 degrees? oh joy! i would have preferred it in actual summer, (our summer was so gray) but i'll take it whenever i can get it. a good dose of vitamin D is always welcome... and it's making me a little lazy on the homefront. chores are being neglected in favor of a good book in the sun. or a walk. or a nap in the grass. or even indulging in happy hour with greg while francis is at soccer. anything! just anything! get it now, while it lasts!

london: day 3

monday: june 30th, 2008
francis and i take on the city, or try...

9:30am: we've become so used to the tinny bling of cell-phone rings; we hardly ever hear the grating ring of a real land-line phone anymore. well, i heard one, right next to my ear, blaring like a fire-alarm, at 9:30 am, jolting me out of sound sleep. alarming! francis, on the other hand, not only didn't even blink, i could not rouse him. so i went downstairs to acquire our breakfast and bring it back up on a tray.

he was still hard to wake, and slow to rise. i realized we weren't going to make the 11am changing of the guards, so we slowed down a bit and decided to enjoy our meal and not rush it. i made tea, and we ate our breakfast of cereal and rolls with marmalade, and blackcurrant jam (francis' new favorite.)

we decided to hit the british museum first, only a stroll thru russell park and a few blocks away. the building itself is amazing, -huge, crowded, and daunting. the inside foyer alone, i could look up and stare for hours. i said: pick your favorites, we can't see everything. we spent a good two hours staring and gaping, francis full of wonder at all the ancient egyptian relics, truly fascinated, and taking pictures of everything.



we wandered the surrounding neighborhood, got a sandwhich to go, and i tried to figure out the bus system, determined, but, hot and frustrated, could not, so we ended up taking the tube only 2 stops (which, when i told ruth later, she had a good laugh about it. apparently, it was only a ten minute walk!)



we took the tube to charing cross for trafalgar square, only to find out it was closed off for a canada day celebration. so we sat down on the steps, hot, tired, and blank. where shall we go now? i looked down at our map to get our bearings and realized we were only blocks away from the thames and parliament, so we decide to walk down the thames. we passed a tesco (grocery store) and popped in to buy a snack: smoothies, bananas, and smarties (like m&m's), and then sat on a bench along the river to rest and watch the world go by.

we spent the afternoon in a slow meandering crawl, enjoying the sunshine and the sights. we crossed the jubilee bridge, with views of the london eye (ferris wheel) and big ben and parliament. francis wanted to sit and watch a street performer, (which we did) and he watched him, mesmerized for ages. then he saw a playground, and wanted to swing, so i rested for awhiled longer, while he played, a kid still, even when you're a tourist in the heart of london. i was glad to give him that time, because all we've been doing is walking and looking, for days. it was nice to just be somewhere, instead of going somewhere, and watch everyone else about their day.







we crossed back over the thames, this time by way of westminster bridge, to gape at big ben and the parliament buildings. i told francis the story of guy fawkes; we talk about government and the queen.

we looped back along the river to where we started, and beyond, to covent garden, to meet up with ruth for a dinner of fish and chips. i thought it would be a long walk, but this is where i finally realize it only took us minutes, and how close we are to our hotel. it was only a 10 minutes walk back, with ruth leading the way, and we sat in russell square for the sunset, and let francis play in the fountain, while we talked.



finally, cold to the bone, and francis wet thru, we parted ways: us to our hotel, ruth to bike home thru the streets of london, before it got too dark.

9:30pm: a much earlier night. no tv. baths. figuring out tomorrows plans. tidy up for checkout tomorrow (back at ruth's for 2 more nights), journal, bed...

francis can not wait for wednesday, for meeting up with greg.
neither can i!

go take a hike!

you know, i just realized i never blogged in august what we actually did in august. oh well. too late now. i was too busy blogging about our europe trip, and haven't gotten very far. i think i'll have to make them a bit shorter, or it's gonna take me forever, or at least until next year. so for august, pretty much, if it was sunny, we were outside until the sun went down. greenlake. alki beach. baseball. reading. swimming (or trying to), hanging out with friends, etc... regular summer relaxing sort of things, taking it easy, just like everyone else. and it ends all too soon. now we've reached september: which means: back to school, and schedules, and soccer games...



but to kick it off, this year, we did something totally new and different: we got out of town with karen and kevin and friends for the whole long labor day weekend. rented two little cabins near the north cascade national park, and lemme tell you: that was a whole lot of fun!





we relaxed! reading in a hammock, playing badminton, cook-outs, capture the flag, staying up late, sleeping in, waffles and coffee, listened to old-time radio programs, played scrabble, baked and ate brownies... greg and francis did their first fishing together (which unfortunately i have no pictures of: cellphone died! but did take some with greg's camera), the sun came out, went away, rained, came out again,(which made me very happy!) we picked blackberries, K & K took us to the lake diablo overlook (spectacular by the way), and on the last day (monday) we all went for a hike. let me tell you a little bit about that. they, the other cabin, said it was just an "easy" hike, "only 3 miles" there and back, so-and-so's "60 year old parents did it", so, ok, fine, i thought. plus, francis really really wanted to go with them. he would not be left out! going around greenlake is 3 miles and takes about an hour. so i thought we might be gone a few hours...thought it might be a nice stroll thru the pretty forest, etc, etc, etc...



i think maybe i misunderstood their definition of the word "hike", which actually meant: UP THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! TO THE TOP! TO SEE THE GLACIER ON THE OTHER SIDE! suffice it to say: i was dying! so out of shape and so out of breath, but francis was a little mountain goat and kept up with all the super-hiker-backpacker-people up front, while i labored and lagged behind at dead last. (however, i DID stop to smell, and take pics of course, of the flowers!) greg kept me company, and took a whole lot of pictures too. when we reached what i thought was the top, (you'll see, more pics on flickr) it was only the top of that part of the mountain,



and then the trail traversed the tip of the ridge into the distance where you could see it no more, and our friends were little specks on the horizon, and francis with them! which was fine for me, except that on the other side of the mountain we had just climbed up, was a very steep and very long rocky hill of death or severe maiming, awaiting you, if you fell down it.



so that was a little nerve-wracking. and it was very windy up there. and bitterly cold. i had a bit of vertigo and some real fear. i wondered how much i would embarrass greg if i crawled on my hands and knees, but the trail was too long. so i just walked VERY CAREFULLY and eventually got used to it. i was doing ok until the trail we were on DISAPPEARED into the mist. then i got a bit panicky and thought the view was sufficient from where i was. but greg wanted us to stick with the group, besides francis was with them, so on we went. and on and on... luckily the mist cleared a bit and on the other side we could see again, (which is always nice)and they were all parked at this outcropping, overlooking the glacier, which was even bigger close up. it was literally right below us.



so we quickly ate, and froze, and got all stiff, and then commenced the hike back down, which actually wasn't any easier--my legs were shaking before we even got off the ridge. i felt like my legs were pulling along the dead weights of my feet and was afraid i might trip on them, and perhaps induce the long long roll to my death. felt much better on safe ground, where grass grows on both sides of the trail, and again, was dead last, but karen was kind and kept me company. they had asked me "how was it?" when i had got to the top, and i said cheerfully: "you know, it kinda reminded me of that time i gave birth, when the doctor said "almost there!" and then i had to push for 2 more hours!" hahaha. so, it was pretty hard, but it was good, and very beautiful. we even saw marmots close up, both on the way up and back down, and could hear their whistles, calling and answering. it took 6 hours round trip, and francis was amazing. he had so much fun. he skipped along ahead of us, with the rest of them, all the way up and back; i barely even saw him on the hike at all. but, in the car ride down the mountain, it caught up with him; he was passed out before we even got out of the woods...