Orion likes baths and smiling for Grandpa Joe's camera.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Free-Range or Not, He's Dead
A late Thanksgiving post
Dan insisted that I post the poem I wrote for Thanksgiving. Read it with veiled eyes and for the silly parody that it is.
Free-Range or Not, He's Dead
a sonnet (in Shakespearean form)
O thou organic bird of local charm,
With praise we braise thee for tradition's taste.
We cannot say we meant to do thee harm,
Although your free-range days are shortly past.
Thou ruest the morn that bent thy wattled head
(Under the nutmeg farmer's axey blade)
And long for the fresh wind, and grassy bed
Where memories of turkey-hens were made.
Consider now our Thanks, and simple hymn
Of ritual harvest in autumnal days
Because they fathers died for ancient whim.
Gravy ablutions now to thee we raise.
And pardon our strange ways--for us 'tis meet
In giving thanks, to have too much to eat.
notes:
1 it is now considered the moral choice to eat a turkey that led a presumably happy life and was purchased at the local store (Whitneyville Food Center) which procures such birds from farms within the state and run by families whose grandfathers fed the Pilgrims
6 we live in the Nutmeg State
12 A reference to a traditional thanksgiving hymn
Dan insisted that I post the poem I wrote for Thanksgiving. Read it with veiled eyes and for the silly parody that it is.
Free-Range or Not, He's Dead
a sonnet (in Shakespearean form)
O thou organic bird of local charm,
With praise we braise thee for tradition's taste.
We cannot say we meant to do thee harm,
Although your free-range days are shortly past.
Thou ruest the morn that bent thy wattled head
(Under the nutmeg farmer's axey blade)
And long for the fresh wind, and grassy bed
Where memories of turkey-hens were made.
Consider now our Thanks, and simple hymn
Of ritual harvest in autumnal days
Because they fathers died for ancient whim.
Gravy ablutions now to thee we raise.
And pardon our strange ways--for us 'tis meet
In giving thanks, to have too much to eat.
notes:
1 it is now considered the moral choice to eat a turkey that led a presumably happy life and was purchased at the local store (Whitneyville Food Center) which procures such birds from farms within the state and run by families whose grandfathers fed the Pilgrims
6 we live in the Nutmeg State
12 A reference to a traditional thanksgiving hymn
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Letter from Dan
Welcome Home DAN! Dan was gone for two weeks, so boy did Orion and I miss him. Here's a letter he wrote home during his travels:
After catching up on email, I spent yesterday walking around
Vancouver. It's a beautiful city, surrounded by mountains and the
ocean. The cloud cover changes constantly, and it rains frequently.
It's not too cold (light jacket weather), a nice change from
Homestake, where I was last week [and at home there was snow! see previous post]. There is a large variety of languages being spoken all around, and every kind of restaurant you
can think of.
The famous anthropology museum was closed for renovation, so instead I
visited the aquarium, located in a large park just north of the
harbor. The aquarium is one of the best I have seen, rivaling Chicago
and Monterrey. Some highlights: a big exhibit on frogs, lots of
jellyfish, humungous fish from the Amazon, a big but surprisingly
lively tortoise, an enormous sea turtle who shared his (her?) tank
with sharks, four white-sided dolphins who did lots of tricks, and 3
beluga whales. As usual, the belugas were my favorite, especially
since one of them was a 6-month-old baby beluga who followed its mama
all around the tank. It was grey instead of white and already knew how
to beg for fish. Adorable. [Of course, he must have been missing us as well. I would have liked the frogs and jellyfish and sea horses, myself.]
Then I walked a couple of miles back to the hotel, did some online
research on local restaurants, and walked down to the Gastown
neighborhood (the oldest part of town). I saw the statue of Gassy
Jack, a portly fellow standing on a whiskey keg, known as the founder
of Vancouver. The story is that he showed up at a mill where
Vancouver is today, with a minimum of belongings and a large keg of
whiskey. He offered the mill workers as much whiskey as they could
drink, if they would help build him a tavern. The town then grew
around the tavern, later spurred in growth when the Canadian Pacific
railroad was completed. I also saw a steam-powered water clock, which
played a tune when the clock struck 7, spewing lots of steam in the
process. I ended up eating at a nouveau-cuisine Latin American place,
called Cobre. I had cornbread, fish tacos, and a set of three tamales
(pork, clam, and cheese), all gussied up with various sophisticated
ingredients.
Today I spent the morning in phone meetings, and the conference has
begun, with first a few talks on the cosmic microwave background. I
don't know many people in this crowd, since it is a real astrophysics
meeting. Two of my Yale colleagues are here, so perhaps they can
introduce me around; one of my main goals is to meet people and
network. My talk on dark matter detection isn't until Friday, but I
better get writing it!
[the talk was widely acclaimed I'm sure! Dan can write talks faster than anyone in my field for sure.]
After catching up on email, I spent yesterday walking around
Vancouver. It's a beautiful city, surrounded by mountains and the
ocean. The cloud cover changes constantly, and it rains frequently.
It's not too cold (light jacket weather), a nice change from
Homestake, where I was last week [and at home there was snow! see previous post]. There is a large variety of languages being spoken all around, and every kind of restaurant you
can think of.
The famous anthropology museum was closed for renovation, so instead I
visited the aquarium, located in a large park just north of the
harbor. The aquarium is one of the best I have seen, rivaling Chicago
and Monterrey. Some highlights: a big exhibit on frogs, lots of
jellyfish, humungous fish from the Amazon, a big but surprisingly
lively tortoise, an enormous sea turtle who shared his (her?) tank
with sharks, four white-sided dolphins who did lots of tricks, and 3
beluga whales. As usual, the belugas were my favorite, especially
since one of them was a 6-month-old baby beluga who followed its mama
all around the tank. It was grey instead of white and already knew how
to beg for fish. Adorable. [Of course, he must have been missing us as well. I would have liked the frogs and jellyfish and sea horses, myself.]
Then I walked a couple of miles back to the hotel, did some online
research on local restaurants, and walked down to the Gastown
neighborhood (the oldest part of town). I saw the statue of Gassy
Jack, a portly fellow standing on a whiskey keg, known as the founder
of Vancouver. The story is that he showed up at a mill where
Vancouver is today, with a minimum of belongings and a large keg of
whiskey. He offered the mill workers as much whiskey as they could
drink, if they would help build him a tavern. The town then grew
around the tavern, later spurred in growth when the Canadian Pacific
railroad was completed. I also saw a steam-powered water clock, which
played a tune when the clock struck 7, spewing lots of steam in the
process. I ended up eating at a nouveau-cuisine Latin American place,
called Cobre. I had cornbread, fish tacos, and a set of three tamales
(pork, clam, and cheese), all gussied up with various sophisticated
ingredients.
Today I spent the morning in phone meetings, and the conference has
begun, with first a few talks on the cosmic microwave background. I
don't know many people in this crowd, since it is a real astrophysics
meeting. Two of my Yale colleagues are here, so perhaps they can
introduce me around; one of my main goals is to meet people and
network. My talk on dark matter detection isn't until Friday, but I
better get writing it!
[the talk was widely acclaimed I'm sure! Dan can write talks faster than anyone in my field for sure.]
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
10 months!
At ten months, Orion is on the move. He gets a little glint in his eye when he sees the cat, to put it into "super-turbo-crawl-mode". He also would rather be exploring than posing for his 10 month documentary picture.
Orion takes after his parents in his love of books. Seriously, books are his favorite toys and he definitely has preferences...right now Grün und Blau and Doggies and Moo, Baa, La La La and Dov'e' lo Spot? and Orso, orso, che cosa vedi? and Kitten's First Full Moon and a puppy-puppet book. He also enjoys pulling them off the shelf, no matter what their content.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Things I say that make Orion laugh
For Dan, and anyone else who is amused by my antics as a Mama. (I'm the tickle monster in this house, just like my daddy was.)
"blah, blah, blah" (Dan started this one, months ago.)
"blue, blue, blue,
"smelly, smelly, smelly"
"zzzzzzzzzip!" (when zipping up p.j.s)
"Mooooooo"
"Moo, Moo, MooMooMOOOMOOMOOMOOO"
"I don't know, do I? PIU PIU PIU PIU" (me imitating Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin. I don't think he gets the satire, just the funny ending. For that matter, I don't know if I get it...)
The eensy weensy spider and animal sounds are HUGE right now; peekaboo is a bit passe' but still fun
"aaaaaiiii pow! pow! pow!" (me being a boxer)
"gallopagallopagallopa gallop!"
"loco mama! loco mama! loco mama!"
I think that last one just about sums it up.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Orion's first Thanksgiving 2008
Grandma Susie came for Thanksgiving, along with my brother and sisters. Orion was happy to see Grandma, until she picked him up--that was suddenly way too familiar for him. (Don't worry, mom, he fears the immersion blender much much more. A new and fearsome development--I don't know if I can make potato-leek soup for a while. He also fears "what does a lion say?" I think those are all the frightening things for our li'l O.) Aforementioned siblings, some of whom are captured incriminatingly:
And le fam. Thanks for coming out to visit, and cooking and entertaining!
Now, who's that handsome guitar-pickin' devil? Orion remains fascinated by the guitar, climbing all over the case, where he especially likes the buckles and clasps.
He also loves piggyback rides. Here I am a-ridin' too close to the camera--it's an action shot. Yee-haw! Gallop-a-gallop-a-gallop!
Grandma Susie solidifying the initially uneasy friendship.
And in a break from tradition, I made a cherry pie for Thanksgiving. No pie I make is the same, but I think this is the first floral. (Plaid, of course, is most common, but maybe the concord grape pie was moire, and maybe I'll try houndstooth next, or perhaps toile de joie.)
Before, above, and after oven and dinner:
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