This post is mainly to test the new, wider format of the Eugenious weblog. I’m hoping that we can post bigger pictures right in the posts, instead of having to use the tiny little thumbnails we’ve been using.
OK, here goes nothing:
Julie and Sylvan walk in front of a rainbow and the Kienzle barn at Mt. Pisgah, 3 Oct 2009
Yep, that works. Nice.
Standing on one’s roof, aiming a leafblower at the tree above, still bright with yellow leaves.
On Wednesday, I stepped out of class to sunny skies and a street fair with yummy-smelling pahd thai, so I headed to an indoor ATM and came back outside. It was pouring, so I bailed on the tasty food and went to pick up Sylvan, grateful that I’d brought full raingear. As Sylvan and I biked home, the sun emerged, blinding me with the glare off the street. I really enjoy these autumn and spring days, fickle with their weather. I figured the rest of the day would shape up in similar fashion, so, after carrying my already-sleeping child up to bed, I put the camera in my pocket to show you what 10 October 2007 looked like in Eugene.
1:18 p.m., looking west from bedroom window
1:19 p.m., looking south from bedroom window, through screen. This is the last of the blue sky I encountered on my ride home.
1:27 p.m., looking south from office window
4:26 p.m., looking west from front porch
* With credit to Andrew Sullivan, of The Atlantic, who publishes “The View From Your Window” on his blog, The Daily Dish
This morning, Sylvan and I made a brief stop on the way to school to gaze longingly at a concrete mixer (mixah duck!) disgorging its contents into a big hole in the road. I was on my bike, and Sylvan was in the bike trailer. Four burly guys in fluorescent green vests and hardhats and boots were manhandling the concrete delivery tube and smoothing out the concrete in the hole.
Many bike trailers have triangular orange or yellow flags sprouting from their rears to alert cell-phone-wielding drivers to their presence. Ours did not come with a flag, so Julie mounted a giant plastic sunflower to the back.
As we pulled away from the construction site, we were serenaded by at least two of the aforementioned burly guys. In (possibly unintentional) harmony. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine….”
Yep, that’s where we live.
The bad news: Sigh (If you’re reading this after 5/6 or so, my prediction – hope? – is that I won’t be sighing so loudly.).
The good news: My husband is happy. And my sister. And Uncle John. And Chris’s Dad, Tom. And all of Boston, that scrappy little town.
The good news: Someone has even written a wikipedia entry for yesterday’s inaugural Eugene Marathon. And the weather was perfect. And we cheered on our friends, offering them beer. And Sylvan got to say “runners” and “running dues” (shoes) again and again.
The bad news: Oh, that one guy with the chafing. Ow. And the fact that we didn’t run. A chance missed.
The bad news: I don’t think I’ll ever figure out how my mother-in-law, Diana, can take close-up, active, happy photos of Sylvan when she’s the only one with him. How does she get him to smile instead of running away, chasing the pigeons?
The good news: Sylvan’s cute enough that it doesn’t matter if I merely record quick snapshots of our experiences. Here, Kenny, a fifth grader and new friend, offered Sylvan the chance to touch the screeching lorikeets. Sylvan did, with some coaxing.
The good news: The Children’s “Museum” in Portland is the World’s Greatest indoor playground: outrageous indoor water play, a dig pit filled with shaved rubber instead of diaper-finding sand, climbing structures, clay sculpting, train sets, crannies in which to hide, and a pint-sized supermarket. Yippee!
The bad news: We could have just spent $3.50 and rode around on the light rail all day. Sylvan needed to sit in his own seat, flailing his arms for balance when the train braked in a manner that would have made even his grandparents laugh. Highlights included tunnels and young women with pink cell phones.
The best news: Zzzzzzzz.
The news: Tephra has “naked feet.”
The good news: She doesn’t seem to mind.
The bad news: $1800 for plane tickets to Italy!?!
The good news (with the bad): We need to see Glacier National Park before all the glaciers melt, anyway.
The good news: Mommy’s running again!
The bad news: Mommy’s running again.
Hey, check this out before someone scoops it up! Gosh, I love this town.
5/1 Update: Ah, you’re too late! It was a hovercraft for only $800. Sitting in a pasture, covered with blackberry vines, and looking like something your bright little cousin would have built with some plywood.