Köpenhamn (again)

Things I’ve taken pictures of:

1. Food eaten
2. Views out of hotel/B&B rooms
3. Streets as we pass through towns or villages
4. Clock towers while ringing (video clips)
5. Local people
6. Manhole covers
7. Bone
8. Signs (road signs, shop signs, etc.)
9. Famous landmarks
10. Windows
11. Door knobs or door handles
12. Roadside poppies
13. The Dolomites
14. The Alps
15. The German autobahn rest stops
16. People riding bikes in Copenhagen
17. The floors, or sidewalks, or the ground (in many various places)
18. Castles
19. and so much more!

The typical breakfast I enjoyed every morning outside while at the Tuscan B&B just outside Fiesole (Torre Di Buiano). The B&B is run by an Englishman who visited 25 years ago and decided to stay.

-

One day while in Tuscany it kind of rained and was overcast, so we took a drive. We ended up at an old Medici castle (Castello del Trebbio) where they also produced wine, olive oil and harvested saffron. That’s part of the castle (the one I sketched while sitting under a fig tree) and there in the foreground is my father’s car.

-

Oh, I have a lot of pictures from our day (Tuesday May 6) in Firenze (Florence) and which one do I show you? The manhole cover, of course. Who doesn’t appreciate manhole covers?

-

After spending most of Tuesday in Florence, we took the bus back up to Fiesole where the car was parked. While my father was in the leather goods shop I walked up to a spot below the official look-out over Florence in the valley below. There was an old olive tree and a stone wall covered with ivy. And the light from the late afternoon sun illuminated the city below. A picture can’t capture the moment, not even with a thousand words.

There are sounds (birds singing, the bell tower ringing down the hill, the voices of passing couples, the wind, clinking cups and tableware at sidewalk cafés, the crunch of gravel under my shoes.)

There are smells (ancient earth and stones, fragrant lavender, woody cypress.)

There are sensations (cool afternoon breeze through my hair and on my skin, warm sun on my face, the weight of the strap on my bag across my shoulder and the resulting discomfort in my lower back after carrying the bag all day, the good tired feeling after walking all day.)

-

On May 7th, Wednesday, we departed the Tuscan region and drove north toward Austria, driving through the Dolomites and the Alps, and into the German border town of Füssen. This was the view from the hotel room window. Those snow capped mountains are the Alps. Füssen is near an old german castle, nestled on a cliff. Lots of tourists do come and visit, in fact, two large tour-bus loads of Japanese tourists were staying at the same hotel that we were. Füssen is a fairy tale town. It’s so well kept and tidy you could probably lay down on of the sidewalks and go to sleep.

-

Thanks to the Garmin GPS we don’t have much trouble finding a place to stay each night. My father always gets off the main highway and finds a place local. After a day of driving all day on Thursday, we made it to Seesen, Germany, and stayed in a non-tourist hotel there. This morning (Friday) as we began driving out of town, to the autobahn again, my father stopped to buy a kilo of fresh asparagus (frische spargel!) from this road-side stand. (Asparagus is in season and it’s on just about every meny in every German restaurant right now.)

-

We eventually made it to Köpenhamn (Copenhagen) this afternoon, around 5:00 pm or so. And here is a lovely Copenhagen manhole cover. Can you see the profile of Hans Christian Andersen in the center?

-

Here is one of many cobble-stoned squares in Copenhagen, before the sun went down. We walked several streets and finally found a place to eat dinner, ending up having Italian food. After dinner we sat outside a jazz club bar type place, and listened to jazz and watched people pass by.

-

You can catch up on Bone’s adventures here!

-

I am tired in a good way, I miss my boys now, and am ready to process this vacation.

Love, Stephanie

Firenze, Buon Giorno

After standing in line for three hours on Tuesday, to get into the galleria academia, where Michelangelo’s David stands, I ended up just rushing through a sketch and then left to go find my dad.  He opted out of this museum and instead sat at a cafe, read a book, and drank cafe americano

A walk through Firenze netted a new paint brush and watercolor paper pad, plus a few new half pan paints.  Here I am painting the duomo, as seen from our spot at the café where we sat down a while for yet another coffee.  I had a macchiato.

—

I am writing this from our hotel in Füssen, Germany.  Tomorrow we get back on the autobahn, northbound.

Fiesole

The best part about traveling with my dad is that he likes to go to places off the beaten path.
That is, after driving like mad on the highway first.

Both Friday and Saturday passed by in a blur, literally.  Except for the night we spent in southern France (Provence) and a couple of hours at a typical French market in the town of Apt, we pretty much were in the car going 130 kmh toward Italy along the “A8″ which follows along the Mediterranean coast.

-

Sunday morning we made it to Pisa for the obligatory photo op.  I also enjoyed my first Italian cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe in Pisa - with a sunny view of the leaning tower.

Half the entertainment in Pisa is all the tourists “holding up” the tower!

By Sunday afternoon, we finally settled into a B&B type place about 6km north of  Fiesole, near Olmo, in the heart of Toscana.
Staying here in Toscana for three days…  We head north on Wednesday morning, toward Switzerland, Germany, Denmark.

I’m in an internet cafe now, in Fiesole, but it could be a few days before I have access again.

I’ve taken over 1300 photos so far…  starting to run out of storage space, with these 12MB images… I can’t decide which ones to show you!!

Yesterday morning I sat on a bench under a fig tree and sketched the facade of a 12th century castle.  Growing on the hill behind me were rows of olive trees.

Today’s agenda (Tuesday):  Florence.  Galleria dell’Accademia.  Uffizi.  Sketching like mad.

Love, Stephanie

Paris, bon jour

- - - - -

The first stop today was the Arc de Triumph, for the obligatory photographs, followed by the 2-mile walk down Champs Elysees to the Egyptian obelisk. Just about everything was closed today since it was May 1, a national holiday in France, and maybe that was a good thing. So we didn’t go up into the arc. I did spot another canon G9 around the neck of a grey-haired gentleman who I found out was from Australia. He showed me the fish-eye lens attachment he has for his G9 and with it I snapped a picture of him and his wife and the arc de Triumph

We also made it to Eiffel Tower (did not go up into it, line way too long,) Notre Dame (did not go up into it, line way too long,) the Latin Quarter, Sorbonne, and Saint Sulpice today. Lots of walking and lots of subway riding. I’ve taken 210 pictures today.

I’ll upload more pictures up here soon, until then be sure to check out the Bone pictures.

Tonight is our last night here, we head south in the morning, on to Provence.

Love, Stephanie

P.S.

I’ve already decided I’d like to come back to Paris again someday.

Paris Jour Deux

Oui! ‘ave beeeen to zeee Louvre!

Pardon the brevity, as internet is limited, but I did get some pictures of Bone up on flickr this evening.

Today was spent walking walking walking: three museums and some of the Latin Quarter.

More to come, but now I am dog-tired and have to sleep so I can go at it again tomorrow!

Paris

The opera house in Paris.  In the rain, from under an umbrella

The umbrella is coming in handy.

I’ve learned how to spell my name properly: Stéphanie. After all these years…

So far, everything I’ve heard about the French being rude has been proved untrue. I have yet to experience anything but extremely friendly, nice and helpful French people.

The subway system in Paris is amazingly simple to use. And so handy.

I’ve only taken 369 pictures so far. Will post soon. I’m having a hard time deciding which ones to show, and they really are so snapsloppy I’m almost embarrassed! The camera hangs around my neck and every time I turn my head I whip the camera up and click. Plus, the wi-fi here at the hotel is slow and spotty tonight, making it frustrating to upload in the first place.

Oh! And I brought Z’s Bone. (If you don’t know who Bone is, you might check out creator Jeff Smith’s Boneville.) And Bone is having a kind of parallel vacation with me and my father. I’ve created a page for Bone. He needs an adventurous story to go along with the pictures…

Yes, everything is expensive. Coffee at a restaurant, €2.50.
€1.00 = $1.50

More later, when the wi-fi is stronger :-)

Bov

Sunday evening here. Spending the night in Bov, Denmark. Tomorrow it’s on to Paris, immediately after breakfast. Here are a few pictures from Day 1.

The moon, looking out my plane window, about 2 hours before landing in Copenhagen.

-

Breakfast at the hotel where Pappa and B stayed the night before. Quite modern. And Danish. It’s Danish modern!

-

This is a bridge between two pieces of Denmark. It’s so long and tall and gigantic, it takes a $50.00 toll and 30 minutes to drive across.

-

Tonight we’re staying at the Bov Kro (built in 1566) and this was the very Danish smørrebrød I had for dinner. (Basically a slice of whole grain bread, topped with a little butter, lettuce tomato, red onion, and marinated herring and capers.) It was delicious!

On tomorrow’s agenda: Driving through Germany and France. And salty black licorice.

Köpenhamn

Hi! I’m in Copenhagen!

Papillons

There are butterflies in my tummy.

My flight leaves at 6:15 am. There will hardly be time for me to go to sleep tonight before it’ll be time to wake up and go.
I already miss the boys.

Pappa called to say he and B are already in Copenhagen. The next time we speak it will be face to face.

The lan cable is packed.

les prix

 

After hearing about the price one of my co-workers paid for a simple dinner in Paris just two weeks ago (€ 43.00) and the price of Starbucks coffee just about anywhere in Europe (€ 5.00) I thought, oh, maybe it will be better to just shop at the grocery stores for sustenance.  Just then I saw that Bodil Malmsten posted (4/24) a handy list of a few items one can currently buy in France for € 1.00.  

 

“I Le Monde 22 april ett uppslag med vad man får för en euro:
3 ägg  [3 eggs]
1 liten ostskiva  [1 small slice cheese]
1 liten hög haricots verts [1 small mound green beans]
1 liten broccoliblomma  [1 small broccoli flowerets]
2 ostron  [2 oysters]
9 jordgubbar  [9 strawberries]
1/2 gurka  [1/2 cucumber] ”

 

Note, the euro will not buy all these items listed, no the euro will buy each one by itself - just 3 eggs, for example.

 

Right now € 1.00 is about $2.50.

 

I think I will find some amusement in noting European prices these next couple of weeks.  Also, I think I’ll make a game out of finding items that are actually less expensive in Europe than they are here in the US.

C’est la vie

I am stalling.

This afternoon I avoided going home. I picked up W, then Z, and for some reason I wasn’t ready to go back to the house. I knew what waited for me there. The backpack.

I’ve packed, unpacked, packed, and unpacked and packed that bag. I think I’m just going to wear all my clothes so I’ll have room for all my electronics in the backpack. Battery chargers times thirty-eleven. The camera. The phone. The laptop. The iPod… oh, I still need to load my iPod. Wonder what’s new in iTunes today? I’ve got a feeling I’ll be up past midnight tonight.

I did clean out and vacuum my car though.

On Monday I planted flowers.

Today I found out I can upgrade my Mac to Leopard for $129.00. I’ll wait though, ’til after my trip.

Yesterday Maggie cut my hair. Just a trim, really. She shortened my bangs. Maggie lived in Germany for a while and told me all about the big castles and old walled cities. She didn’t have much to say about France.

All three of W’s scheduled baseball games this week were canceled due to rain.

This week has been so busy at work, up to my eyebrows.

Z has been making claymation movies.

- - - -

Décisions et compromis

“A field box for field trips!”  -Hanna

Decisions decisions decisions.

The plastic box is larger and has a water well, but holds fewer halfpans. The metal box holds more colors, and the smallness is a good thing, actually, since it’ll take up less packing space. (Okay, maybe a full half-inch of packing space. It counts!)

After a little experimenting, I switched around and filled the black metal box with my favorite colors. The field box will be coming along with me to Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

I am not famous for being decisive. I do, however, make some dandy compromises.

P.S. Isn’t French awesome! You didn’t even have to look up that title, did you?

ceci et celui

Besides the goodness of getting a huge dose of fresh air and plenty of hiking, we went out to the hills because I hoped to take photographs of the Dogwoods in bloom. The Dogwoods are blooming later this spring than they were last year, and have only opened up about half way, so far.  So there wasn’t the explosion of blossoms I had half-expected. 

It was cold.  I think I may even have seen a few micro-sized snow flakes sort of lollygagging as they floated down through the bare tree branches.

- - -

I tried to upload a video of the creek. Or draw. Maybe it’s more of a draw. But the code doesn’t work with wordpress, or I am too tired to figure it out right now. If you want to see it, just click here.

- - -

Today I’m worrying about everything I still have to get ready before my trip, and everything that has to be done here at home by the boys while I’m away. I’d like to get the garden planted. Baseball games start next week. Science projects are due. Social Studies projects have to be done. Field trips are scheduled. And that’s just the half of it. 

- - -

I’m going to bed early tonight. Sweet dreams.

qui veut une étreinte ?

Kaye and I cut out paper candidates.  We are easily amused.

- - -

le voyage vers l’Europe

“Maybe in Paris you just want to feel the French rain falling down on you.”   -Sandy

BIG enough for your desktop

I make lists. Here are some snippets.

Things I’m not bringing:
Umbrella. Pappa has one, or I can get one there, if it rains, which it probably will at some point.
Video camera. Too heavy. Besides, the G9 takes pretty good videos. If I see a mime performing on a street in Paris, I’ll be prepared. Also, I might want to videotape the Gates of Hell, or the Gates of Paradise, or the coo-coo clocks in a Swiss tourist shop.

Things I still need to purchase:
Camera case. A simple, neoprene-type case without velcro. Seems impossible to find, at least sized for my G9…
Opaque watercolors. Maybe Hobby Lobby will have a 40% coupon next week? I guess I could get these in Europe, maybe at some cool art supply shop in a western Germany town. Or, at Hobby Lobby.

Things I’m still trying to decide:
Sketchbooks. Should I bring the big one and a little one, plus a writing journal. Or, maybe just take the two small ones, or maybe one big and one small, and journal in the sketchbook?
Shoes. Converse+walking shoes + nice black flats? Or, Walking shoes + nice flats?
Songs to load on the iPod for airplane travel. And/or podcasts.

- - -

Two weeks… My flight leaves super early on Saturday after next, with a layover in Houston and then on to Newark and then Copenhagen. All I know is, I’m really glad now that I didn’t book my flights on American Airlines. Lately, every newscast I turn to reports that AA canceled another 500 flights. Sometime around 7:30 AM on Sunday morning I’ll step off in Copenhagen. Immediately upon arriving, Pappa and I are planning get in the car and start driving southward toward Paris. No dilly dallying, except for maybe en kopp kaffe, ellerhur?

soyez amusé

“It makes me think of Mississippi, and deranged barbers, and television.”   - Rebecca

be entertained

la musique

“If we can still see the TV — weather’s fine!”  -Sarah S

Probably, it was all the Beatles songs they sang in the first few episodes. Because I got hooked, and now I’ve got my favorites, and tune in every week to American Idol.

So tonight American Idol is a special episode, a telethon show, and I’m watching it right now. Or, I would like to. Instead, I’m watching the local Fox News weatherman who continues to break in to tell us there’s a storm coming. Is there too much information to report about storms now? Do we need to know how tall the clouds are or how many lightning strikes there were in the in the last 15 minutes?

W is in the other room playing the guitar. He’s getting more into it. And improving. He and some of his buddies are talking about forming a band. He has turned up the amp and is playing Barracuda, hm, maybe because he just watched Heart perform it on tv a few minutes ago.

Well, isn’t that a nice picture of a great big red storm blob on tv.

Z is sitting on the floor next to me here in the living room, typing away on the PC laptop. When he saw me writing this, his eyes grew maniacally large, “Ooooh, I want to write a blog!” Now he’s writing a pseudo-blog, in Word. A minute ago he looked up, “What are these squiggly red lines under my words?” Now he knows all about right-click spell-check. He’s all about ‘getting things right.’

Wow, the wind is really picking up out there.

So, I’m going back to watching the show now. Or not. The weather guy is still on. This time he’s especially long winded. (hehe!) Do we have to know about where the golf ball-sized hail is falling? Do we have to know the exact minute when those golf ball-sized hail will fall on Main Street in Alma?

treize

July 1995, Wilson Park.  Photo by Kaye.  Fat baby still 100% nursing.  My hair was cut a month later, about the time strong little grasping hands would not stop pulling on it.

I remember singing the inchworm song to Weylin in the middle of the night when he’d wake up, which was pretty much every night. I remember going to him every time he made a sound. Dark circles appeared under my eyes. I was a new mom. I didn’t know any better. Or maybe I knew what was best.

I remember when he was a toddler, I would follow him around all the time. I was right there wherever he toddled, walked, climbed or ran, my hands stretched out behind him, ready to catch his every fall. I’m sure I was extremely annoying. I didn’t know any better. Or maybe I knew what was best.

I remember his giggles. I remember his sweet baby breath.

I remember placing the palm of my hand against the sole of his foot, and watching, over time, as his toes somehow inched closer and closer to the tips of my fingers.

He’s taller than me now.

This morning while getting ready, I could hear the tv in the other room, newtwork news, one of the morning shows. I’m brushing my teeth when I hear Weylin say, “Dad, did you know Martin Luther King was murdered on my birthday?”

—

We all went to Rick’s this morning for donuts and present-time!

He thinks he’s hot stuff now. But before he can load any music onto the nano, I’ve got to figure out how to upgrade my OS X 10.3.9 to 10.4-something. Can you believe it?

For his birthday, we took him and four of his buddies to a baseball game.

Good thing we brought blankets, because it turned cold.

–

We got seats way out on the foul ball line, on purpose. Not because of the hecklers, though they were somewhat entertaining, I have to admit.

–

No, the boys had a plan. They even brought their baseball mits.. …just in case…

—

They caught a ball!

Also, let me just say that all of those expressions pretty much mirror exactly what I look like when it dawns on me, “I am the mother of a teenager.”

—

mon coeur

Why are my eyes welling up while on the phone with the jr. high guidance counselor?

How can talking about electives, lockers, planners, honors algebra, orientation in August, and the tardy bell rings at 8:25 am,  suddenly make my heart want to break?

art de loi

Let’s see where were we?

Thursday evening? Hm. Let’s skip on along to Friday afternoon.

I’m having so much fun with my new camera, taking pictures all the time. And I know. Photos are so 2D. And even at a thousand words a piece, they still don’t quite tell the whole story, leaving unanswered questions and mystery.

After a Friday afternoon event (work-related) I found myself taking a little walk across the U of A campus. The sky was a bright steel gray and the air was nippy. And I had left my coat in my car. (I don’t want to talk about it.)

The tallest building on campus ironically doesn’t appear quite so enormous when you are standing right by it.

THEN, I got right up to it and snapped one of these cool shots looking straight up the side. I imagine I might take one of these kinds of pictures of Notre Dame.

Yes, if you are wondering, I did use photoshop to glam up the contrast a little.

–

Aw! Look. The dogwoods are about to bloom. But I don’t blame them for hiding out in those buds a little longer. Brrr, it’s still chilly outside.

–

Paths are inscribed with the names of those who have graduated from the university.

–

As I walked along the paths I noticed these enormous trees everywhere. I wanted to climb this one. But I refrained. Gees. I should go back and climb it. I may be a 40-year old mother of two, but I’ll bet I could climb this tree. And be glad I did.

–

The redbud trees are also blooming. As soon as they bloom though, the petals blow away in the wind. Nature! She’s so flighty.

—–

The blooming magnolias are huge. And beautiful. And otherworldly, somehow. I passed college students who were all cozied up in sweatshirts and coats. I cursed the cold wind.

—-

Another view of the blooming magnolia. I took a lot of pictures of this tree. I love trees. I’m a tree lover.

So, then I moseyed along, taking more and more pictures. Until I got to the law building library café where I was to meet Alannah for a coffee.

—-

Oh, I was so glad to get inside where it was warm. As I approached the café these faces looked up at me from the counter. Right there. A little surprise art, like, ta-dah! *jazz hands*

—

I ordered a cup of the Guatemalan roast. Aaaah. Mmmmm. Waaaarmmmm.

—

Then I found a seat by the window and waited for Alannah. When she arrived she was so smartly dressed in a coat, and she had both a scarf and an umbrella. There I was in a thin cardigan over a white blouse, as if it was a nice tree-climbing kind of spring day.

—

So, the view from the law café looks like this. Just your average university campus…
—

…and then you look a little closer. How cool it that? More random art in unexpected places!

Alannah and I had a nice visit, talking about having teenagers and her job - and that was my fault, I kept asking her about her job and what she does because, well, it is so interesting to me. She gets to meet and get to know all these students from countries all over the world. I find that completely fascinating and I couldn’t help it, I just wanted to hear all about it!

—

As I headed over to the parking garage I stopped to take a few pictures of the art installation called “myspace” on the main campus court yard. A grad student has created a living space, an “inside-out” house that makes a statement about the online personal space communities, that really aren’t that personal. The article expands a little on her objective.

—

Here is the bathroom. I spiced this one up a little in photoshop. Vivid light, I think it I love how the set up looks like a painting… or maybe a little room in a doll house.

- - -

Then I got my car out of the parking garage and drove to pick up Z from school.

gallerie

Last week was “one of those” weeks.  My mind was all over the place. Thursday afternoon I was ready for down time. No, I could not wait until Friday. Besides, there just happened to be a gallery show opening on Thursday, and my friend Kaye just happened to be up for going.

First, we decided to grab a bite to eat and Kaye showed me pictures she took while she and her family were touring Highway 1 in California over spring break. We talked about being moms to teenagers, all of the sudden. (Wasn’t it just yesterday we were sitting on a park bench, talking about how the teen years were so far away, our baby boys snoozing in our arms?)

When we arrived at the ddp gallery there was a performance of a scene in a play taking place. Apparently performed by a local playwright/actor and a local actress. Or something.

This is one of Mike Davis Gutiérrez’s sculptures: a large chunk of a rock, carved down to leave just a very very small scale chair.

This is a close-up of the tiny little carved rock chair. At full resolution, it looks something like this:

I’m really enjoying my new camera!

The paintings are by artist Duane Gardner. I couldn’t find websites for either of the artists…

But look what we did find, thanks to a behind the scenes back stage sort of tour by Megan Chapman! Check out all the art ddp stores in the back room. It’s a little known fact that most art galleries keep on hand a good stock of works by the artists they represent and show.

Here are works by Michelle Maule and Megan Chapman, side by side. Good company, I would say. (Michelle also has an Etsy shop.)

I am so inspired by artists like Megan and Michelle. Megan and I run in to each other at just about every local art event, and she also has a blog where she shares all kinds of inside experience, tips and wisdom about her career as an artist. Here is an old flickr photo set from a few years back when I went to Megan’s back yard art sale.

It was only 8-ish when Kaye and I left the gallery. I tried out my camera’s Eiffel tower setting (!) to snap this night scene of the tall tall tall crane that will eventually (??) build a high rise hotel right there.

And that was Thursday evening at the art gallery. I like art nights. I need art nights. Art seems to balance my head, after “one of those weeks.”

encore

Z(9) and I are on our way to the library. I turn on the car radio and we hear the AC/DC song It’s a Long Way to the Top if You Wanna Rock-n-Roll, and Z says, “turn it up.”

After a couple of times through the chorus, Z exclaims, “Oh! I know what this song is about!”

Me: You do?!

Z: Yeah - it means you have to practice, that’s the ‘long way’ part, if you want to get to the top of the mountain and rock-n-roll.

Me: Practice…

Z: (interrupts me and continues) Mom, you have to keep on truckin’, and not stop, ’cause it’s a loooooong way to the top. If you wanna rock-n-roll.

- - -

…there seems to be a recurring theme in my life lately…

Je voudrais un parapluie

inspiration

(It is wonderful that 60% of English comes from French.  So many words are shared.)

Maira Kalman continues to inspire me.

She talks about the “secret of drawing.”

“Getting it right is not a good goal.

The biggest secret is perseverance. Just not stopping no matter what.

Though I do stop to run and play tennis so I won’t weigh too much.

But that is a whole other story.”

Pâques

Påsk.  Pasche.  Easter.  Spring Equinox.  Bunnies.  Eggs.  Spring Break.  A house full of boys.

We had company from Wed - Sun.   The boys’ Texas cousins (13 & 18) and uncle came up as they were looking for something to do during their spring break.  Apparently, the DFW metroplex offers less than the hills of the Ozarks.

The Texas cousins and uncle have somewhat different eating habits than we do, and I try to accommodate.   Even if I sometimes can’t help voicing my opinion, audibly commenting about their “delicate palates.”

Comparing my grocery lists, from the weekend before they arrived to the one when they were here, will give a glimpse into the yummy diversity Texas brings to our home.

 
Whoa, Little Doggie!

We had fun, though.  I admit it.   They got to go golfing and we spent a few hours at the skate/bike park, the likes of which they don’t have where they live.  At least not one where you can go and still come away with your children’s innocence still intact.  

John had to work on Saturday, and I don’t know how it happened, but all the boys, aged 9-47, ended up spellbound in front of the TV that night, watching the movie August Rush with me.  (It could easily have been the High Definition… but I choose to believe they were transfixed by the magic of the movie.)

After Texas left, shortly after Easter morning breakfast, I opened all the windows in my house and started washing the sheets and towels. 

All in all it went great.  And we only had to unclog the toilet three times.

Métamorphe

Early this morning, when it was just the two of us awake. 

Z(9):  Mom, I wonder why we humans can’t get to be every single animal, for just a moment. 

Me:  Well, that would be neat if we could.

Z:  Yeah, so we could know what their life is really like.

Me:  We could better understand even the animals we don’t really like.

Z:  I like pretty much all animals…  Some I like better though.  Like Peper.

couleurs de printemps

The olive oil I bought today is from Florence Firenze, Italia.

Today has felt like a Saturday. I’ve been home with the boys (spring break) and have caught up on errands, including a trip to one of the Wal-Marts.  Some locals around here in Wal-Mart country say “Wal-Marts” when they speak of a Wal-Mart.  In the plural, like this:  “I’m going to Wal-Marts.”  It’s a cultural thing that I can’t help but adore, but I do stop short of imitating.

Yo. Check it out. Look at these bright colors I snapped today at the store:

The spring patterns are wild!  The colors and patterns on the womens clothing at Wal-Mart right now remind me of the patterns on the blouses my grandmother wore in the 1960’s.

Groovy grandma (who passed away 20 years ago):

There are more. Hang on, I have to get my scanner hooked up.

bouclé et égal

(Not everything lasts forever, especially Latin post titles. French post titles from now on. Thank you for your cooperation.)

Six weeks until my trip to Europe.

While reading about Provence in a travel guide type book I made note that the Cannes Film Festival is scheduled about a week after the approximate timing we’ll be passing through that part of France.  Also,  we’ll be driving through lavender country, and isn’t that wonderful?  I love the scent of lavender.

I also read about the famous French beverage called pastis. It sounds interesting, with the promise of licorice and anise flavors, so I’m intrigued. Of course I’d like to try a glass. Then there’s the olives, and the cheeses, and the breads, and the bouillabaisse.

Little by little I am learning French by listening to the Michel Thomas CDs in my car, to and from work. I’m not learning how to read or write French though. So, reading a menu or any shop signs may be a challenge. And after watching Amelie and also 2 Days in Paris, I doubt I’ll be able to understand much anyway, if French is spoken as fast as it is in those movies. (Now I’m really wishing I’d taken French in college.)

I have a book about Florence also.  All the art!  The history!  The literary inspiration!  The Tuscan cuisine!  The art!!

Three days in Paris, I think, and then on to Florence where we will stay about three days also. Then back up north through the Alps, and Germany, and then back to Copenhagen. May not be much time for a long excursion into Sweden this trip, but I think we’ll make it into Malmö and maybe also Lund.

Check:

• Passport
• International Driver’s Permit
• Tickets bought and paid for (TACK Pappa!)
• Travel route determined
• Learning French (petit à petit)
• Travel sketchbook

Not yet checked:

• Determine exact itinerary
• Find a nice lightweight (gray) cardigan to wear on the plane
• Buy a plug adapter thing
• List of Places to Go, Things to Do, Sites to See
• Pack

I’m hoping my brother can score us some great “friends & family” rates at Hilton hotels, but even the family rate may be a bit lofty.  We’ll see.  Since Pappa will be driving, there will be more flexibility in how we travel, where we stay, and what to see.  Just the driving alone will take at least 48 hours. That’s 2 full days of driving, not counting stops or overnights!

I’m thinking about maybe setting up a special blog just for this trip. Wonder what I could call it? Hm.

memoria

Here is a pile of memories captured in pictures. Today I sorted through heaps of old albums and framed pictures in an effort to organize and better ‘preserve’ years and years of memories.

I took all the pictures out of their frames and then stored them in a box - for now.

Then I pulled all the pictures out of a couple of old photo albums.

These are the old albums that were once at my grandparents house (mom’s parents.) The albums have those really bad stick-on, cellophane-covered, pages.

My grandparents had dozens of these albums stacked up under the coffee table in their living room. I used to pore over the photos all the time when I was at their house. I’m sure my grandma (and grandpa?) spent hours organizing and putting the pictures into those albums.

+
Here are some of the pictures I pulled out. These are of me, when I was a wee one.

+++
Then I found the real treasure. The backs of the pictures! WOW! Look at this. Most of the pictures have stuff written on the backs. I never knew about all these captions, not until tonight. Long ago, my Mom wrote all these descriptions and short stories on the backsides, then mailed the pictures from Sweden to her mama and daddy in the United States. I’m pretty sure Mom would’ve blogged if there had been internet (and blogs) in 1968.

Here’s a picture of a wee me reaching for something near the Christmas tree:

Just your average run of the mill snapshot, right? Then you turn it over and read the back. And there on the back, there’s the long forgotten story in my Mom’s words, written to her mom, so long ago. It’s like a trippy time portal into the past:

“She’s after the Santa Claus after Curt (disguised as Santa)came to see her and scared her. She wouldn’t have much to do with this one afterwards. See my snow on the tree? My little ol’ Mama taught me that!”

I can’t wait to read the back of all these old photos. Of course I’m going to have to transcribe the captions and somehow incorporate them into a new (archival quality) album.

In the meantime, I keep taking pictures of everyday life nowadays.

Like this one, of my garden plot.

The lettuce has officially been planted.

This is ye olde iron dirt claw. It’s awesome.

The lavender that died last spring. It was killed by that late frost we had, and never recovered.

So I got a new little lavender plant. Mmmm. I love the scent of lavender.

Oh, and here’s our scruffy little dog. She is a MESS and way overdue for a grooming. She’s perfectly okay with her appearance though, and could care less about the scruffiness. Or the twigs and pieces of grass stuck in her bangs after rolling around on the warm sunny winter-dry lawn!

[All photos shot with my new AMAZING camera: Canon G9]

brevis

When less is more: Six-word memoirs.

Find a few examples on NPR.

Add your story in the comments! 

hodiernus

“Awesome! Now I don’t have to go or pay the $5.00!”   -Megan

This morning at 5:30 a.m.

Snow Day = Schools close.

(Because that’s what schools do around here when it snows.)

Snow Day Memories:

• The “Snow Day” was snowless by noon
• So, the boys and I left the house
• Visited the Clinton House Museum (only $5.00 and includes a guided tour!)
• Bill and Hillary Clinton. They lived there a couple years in the mid 1970’s.

Walking up the Clinton’s old path to their front door.

Random Clinton Trivia:

• This house was built in the early 1930’s.
• When passing the house one day, Hillary casually mentioned how she loved the house’s cottage like style.
• Then she left on a trip. When she returned, Bill told her he’d bought the house and ‘now you have to marry me because I’m not living there alone.‘ So they got married. In the living room of house.
• Hillary’s mom made her get a wedding dress (she really didn’t want one.)
• She bought the dress at Dillard’s
• In the summer the Clintons sometimes slept out on the screened in porch
• The house didn’t have air conditioning (there’s an attic fan though)
• Bill installed the tiles in front of the fire place
• The project took a month to complete
• The fire place is in this groovy architectural feature called an inglenook
• Hillary didn’t take Bill’s last name when they got married
• She added the hyphen (Rodham-Clinton) when Bill ran for Gov. of Arkansas again.
• Because the word on the street back then was that he might gain more support from The People if his wife shared his name
• (Now Hillary’s running for president of the United States, under her married name, Clinton. Without the Rodham.)
• The Clinton’s loved to play Scrabble
• There are display cases throughout the house with photos and a few memorabilia (a replica of Hillary’s wedding dress, and an old portable dictation recorder Bill used.)

In one of the cases is a copy of a Health Care speech written by Bill when he was 28 years old. You can see it up close here.

After the tour was over we sat in front of a large TV, set up in what once was the Clinton’s bedroom, and watched a few old campaign ads from Bill’s first run for governor of Arkansas.

Then we visited the gift shop. Which is in what used to be the screened in porch.