The Lost Childhood

Things I want my children to be able to do in no particular order:

1. Make Hollyhock dolls with clothespin legs
2. Dye Queen Anne's Lace with 7-up and food coloring
3. Climb trees
4. Stay out until the street light comes on
5. Play dark tag in the summer
6. Play Andy-Over around the house or barn
7. Play lawn games
8. Ride bikes
9. Catch Salamanders and Frogs
10. Build forts
11. Play Fox and Goose in the snow
12. Use their imaginations

Where were you when...?

In my life, I remember only a few major moments in history: the challenger disaster; fall of the Berlin wall; September 11th; the Tsunami. There are others of course, but these stand out at the moment.

In 30 years, I may not remember exactly what I was doing the moment President Obama was sworn into office. But I will never forget walking door-to-door in the rain, talking with neighbors about the hope he could bring to our nation. I will remember the mounting joy election night, watching the results from each state roll in with fellow campaign volunteers and watching his acceptance speech with Barry- both of us keenly aware of history taking place before us. I will mark the passage of my own life around this time.

I am not articulate enough to put my joy in words. Simply, I feel the dark cloud that has hung over our country for the past number of years is finally lifting. I can be proud to be an American again.

Going Local

I've been doing some reading lately and have been inspired to be a more conscientious consumer. Specifically, I'd like to start finding some good local sources of food. Last night, I found a farm in North Manchester that raises Heritage Turkeys for Thanksgiving. While that's a drive from our house, we could make a trip up to see Jonathan play in a football game and pick up our turkey while we're at it. Hopefully, we can host Thanksgiving this year.

There are a couple of CSA programs that deliver to the farmer's market in Greenfield, but it's about $300-$400 for May 24-October 18. For our modest budget, those are some pricey veggies. I think I'll wait until spring to see what the products are like. They are all organic, free range, etc. So, it may be worth the investment for some good fresh food.

Some favortie sites I've found:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ Check out the Ark of Taste section
http://www.localharvest.org/ My favorite farmers' market is on this one. And we can bring Duke!
http://www.foodsecurity.org/Fueling_Disaster.pdf This is a different perspective on Agro-fuels. Not specifically food related, but I like it.

Barry's Birthday

Barry celebrated his 40th birthday last Saturday. We had some friends and family over to celebrate and spent the day visiting, kicking around the soccer ball, and playing bean bag toss (I will not call it 'corn hole.' What a ridiculous name for a lawn game.). The barbecue wasn't too bad, either.

Although I neglected to take pictures for most of the afternoon, I did get a couple of pictures of the families with little ones. My favorites are of Brandon, Kate, and Audrey (at right) and Janet & Daniel (below). Beautiful people, inside and out.

Grandma loved the babies, of course. I think she carried Audrey around for an hour.

Normally, I don't notice the age difference between us, but this birthday seemed to highlight it more than usual. 40 seems so far away for me, and Barry doesn't seem like a guy in his 40s, so it's almost like we threw a party for someone else. An older brother or uncle or something. In my mind, we're both still 20. :) I think he feels that way, too, for the most part. Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon. It took a week to get the confetti cleaned up, so it felt like we celebrated all week.