real, and pretend

A couple weeks ago, Jim, Kajsa, Abby and I drove to Vermont for a week’s vacation at my parent’s house, along with several other family members. The day we drove to VT from Harleysville was a rough day. Kajsa was pretty sick, I was getting sick and in fibro pain, and we were all tired of being in the car. When we finally crossed over the VT border, (from NY state into Bennington),

Kajsa in the "Real Vermont"

I said, “Kajsa, we’re in Vermont! Yeah! Finally, we’re in Vermont!! Isn’t that great?”

Kajsa looked around out the window.. she looked at me and asked, “but where’s the real Vermont?”

“The real Vermont? What do you mean? this IS the real Vermont, Kajsa… we’re in Vermont!”

“no, the real Vermont.. where is it?”

“Kajsa, what do you mean?” I asked.

“The house Vermont.. The real house Vermont.”

a-ha..

“Do you mean Grandma and Grandpa S.’s house?” I asked..

“Yes”, she said. And then I had to break the news that the “real Vermont was still an hour away….

Last weekend, Kris and Phil were visiting, and on Saturday we went to Philadelphia on the train. On the way back, on the train,  I was once again tired, in pain.. ready to call it quits for the day. I laid my head back on the seat, and closed my eyes. Kajsa was standing up on the seat between Jim and me, a bit more energetic than either Jim or I felt. Pretty soon, I heard, “Snip, snip.. snip, snip… Mommy!”

“What?” I opened my eyes and looked at Kajsa. She was holding two fingers as though they were scissors.

“I cutting your hair, Mommy… with my little scissors.  You like it? I’m being really gentle.”

Kajsa, in Philadelphia

“Oh, thanks”, I said.. hoping she would keep “cutting” without needing much conversation.

“Snip, snip… snip, snip… Mommy! Look at your hair… you like it?”

“Yes, Kajsa.. thank you.” Then I thought I could give her another task. “But Kajsa, now we have a problem.”

“What, Mommy?”

“There’s hair all over the train seat. Look at that mess!”

She looked down at the seat, and there was the teeniest moment of silence before she smiled and shrugged, “I’ll just push it on the floor.”

“oh, Kajsa! we can’t do that! That’s garbage! And we can’t leave garbage on the floor.. “

“Why not?”

“Because first of all, that’s not the right thing to do, but second, there’s a sign (and there was a real sign..) over there that say, ‘Please take your garbage with you, when you leave the train.”

Again, a bit of silence, then she turned and asked, “Is that real or pretend garbage?”

“Catch-Up” on Lent pix: Sunday..

Isaiah 43:19: “… I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…” Far from the original intention, I’m pretty sure…

Sun., March 14th

but I was tired, I was really really tired.. I was later than I wanted to be, on my way to Pilgrim Pines. The GPS was driving me nuts, and I was driving it nuts. I had to keep pulling over to turn on the light and look at my google map…. and then once I entered New Hampshire, I had to stop the car, turn the brights on, and read the signs, to make sure I was going the right direction. When I finally stopped at this signage, I thought I knew what it said, but just to make sure, I turned on the brights. Then took the picture. The way in the wilderness… the wilderness of a long day, a long drive, a long drive after a bad fibromyalgia flare-up that almost kept me home. And the welcome way in this wilderness, pointing me in the direction of Swanzey Lake, and Pilgrim Pines. Where I met up with my clergy women friends of the East Coast Conference.

pictures

We’re here. We left Madison on Dec. 28th, left Chicago on the 29th, arrived in Harleysville, PA on the 30th. A great welcoming crew was here, waiting for us and the moving trucks. It’s so surreal, and yet strangely normal, to arrive at your new home, your new town, your new church. The few days have become a blur, and should be blogged at some point, but tonight I’m just happy to even get some pictures on the blog! So, more later. pictures now.

Tower of boxes, Kajsa inside the bottom box

Packing and Moving Help..

Trucks (yes, notice the trailer as well) leaving Alder Road

Christ Covenant Church, from our house (with the luminaries)

Kajsa and Anna, New Year's Day

Anna and Kajsa laughing with AJ

an outing with Grandma & Grandpa E.

We’re in Minnesota for vacation, at Jim’s parents’ home. We arrived yesterday, and after I got to sleep in this morning, we took a drive out to visit a couple of parks, and a yarn store. Unfortunately the first park we visited I cannot post photos of, thanks to my big mistake: deleting the photos shortly after taking them! Ugh. Horrible. Oh well. But the next park, Mears Park, in St. Paul, was great.. a creek running down the middle.. a band shell… flowers galore… people on lunch break, eating outside.

Grandma and Grandpa E. walked along with Kajsa, which she loved.

As we were heading out of the park, one lady eating her lunch outside pointed out a hummingbird for Joan and me to look at and photograph. Incredible! I’ve never seen a hummingbird so close, I think, and never one that did not fly away when I was inches away from it. Absolutely gorgeous.

Finally, another post.

There are two reasons to suspect the end of the world is near: First, I’m finally posting again, after a long break. And second, I made a cake from scratch this summer. But in case neither of these leads to the world’s end, I’ll continue. And since so much has gone on in the past two months, I’ll resort to summarizing.

Travels:

Iron River, MI (Covenant Point Bible Camp, speakers.);

Milwaukee, WI  (Miller Park, for the annual District Clergy Brewer’s game);

W. Townshend, VT (my home, and Grandma and Grandpa Stanley); and while in Vermont: Weston, Londonderry, S.Londonderry, Townshend, Brattleboro, Pike’s Falls, Newfane…

W. Orange, NJ (to visit the Lehrer’s, friends we met in China.. and one of Kajsa’s “Ling Sisters”);

New Hope, PA (with the Lehrer’s, to meet up with the Robinsons.. another Ling Sister);

S. Plainfield, NJ, to be with friends from Pilgrim Covenant Church;

back to VT;

Madison, CT (to see my sister Susie & family);

Back to Madison, WI.

What’s happened, besides our travels, or as part of our travels:

We realized, on our trip out East, that Kajsa gets carsick. Not fun.

I watched more “Blue’s Clue’s” episodes than I care to remember, on that same trip.

Before Kajsa’s birthday, I made (not from scratch) a cake and decorated it like Blue.

Kajsa turned 2 on July 25^th.

On her birthday, I made a cake from scratch.

Many friends and family visited. (Hopefully I’ll post pictures someday.)

I had a hysterectomy on July 27th, to remove fibroids and stuff. (I’m still recovering, doing well, though more-than-ready to be back at “full strength”–someday!)

I went back on Facebook. Sort of. I’m back, but not consistent.

I learned how to knit. Or re-learned, since I had once-upon-a-time knit in junior high… I’m loving it.

Oh, and somewhere in there, Brett Favre changed his mind a few times about retirement. And finally signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Exit Glacier & wildlife!!!

Leaving the campground, Jim and I saw a bald eagle land on the piling in the water. So we pulled over, and I got about 15 feet away from this gorgeous creature!!!

the bald eagle in Seward

the eagle, again...

and on the way to the Exit Glacier, two new Venezuelan friends ran up to Sandie, saying they had seen some moose on the path. 3 of them! So Sandie, the two new Venezuelan friends and I ran ahead on the path, moose-hunting. We didn’t find the three that our friends had seen, but saw this guy!!!!

a moose!!

The Exit Glacier was fantastic to see. Amazing. It actually looks bluer in the photos than it did in reality. Funny.

Kjell drinking glacier water

the glacier

the clan, minus Sandie, who took the picture

family picture at the "toe" of the glacier, Kajsa asleep in the backpack

Cathy fell down in the glacier

Kjell and Cathy trying to move the glacier

Camp pies and a rummage sale…

I’ve heard about the camp pies. Sandie has bragged about the camp pies. They sounded like they might be good, but honestly, it’s one of those things that you have to experience, I think.

a pie iron in the fire

So don’t worry, friends of mine who live close by… I will buy one of these cast iron pie irons, and make these for you at some point. (Except I won’t try the spam and velveeta camp pie that some brave souls ate yesterday, here in the Lawrence back yard.)

On Thursday evening, Sandie made camp pies for us.

"oozie goodness"

Cheap bread, buttered on the outside of each slice, and cherry pie filling in the middle, squashed into a pie iron, cooked over a campfire. On Friday, Sandie experimented with cheddar cheese to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Also fantastic. In fact, Sandie’s term for these is now “oozie goodness”. For those of you who don’t like the sound of cherry pie filling, insert any filling you want. Camp pies simply rock.

One of the great things about camping is fun people you meet. We had some fun neighbors: the 2 Danes and San Francisco friend; and the couple from Montana…. one of the not-so-great-things about camping is your proximity to loud people you meet. I’m all for having fun while camping, but honestly people…  GO TO BED! or at least be quieter for those of us who are already struggling to sleep because it’s freezing… Needless to say, Thursday night was a rough night of sporadic sleep.

Friday morning’s breakfast was instant oatmeal, bacon, and camp coffee.

the tent Jim, Kajsa, and I slept in

Yum. Camping with the Lawrences is fun, because they have fun camp gear. It’s also fun, because the Lawrences are fun. But that goes without saying. The camp gear part is wild. It’s not like they have a mini-REI in their house full of camp gear, but I’ve honestly never been camping with such cool gear.

a little wildlife exiting the tent

And Dave says this is nothing, compared to friends of his. I love it. I should also mention that I have not been camping a ton.. some, but not a ton.

After breakfast, we were all pretty excited to walk up to the Methodist church in Seward, and go to the rummage sale.

the rummage sale gang

The campground bathroom house had a flyer on the wall, advertising the sale. Since most of us froze Thursday night as well as stayed awake thanks to loud neighbors, we decided to rummage for more clothing and blankets. Fun. Who’d of thunk… we go to Alaksa, and to a great rummage sale. Loads of fun. The photo I’m trying to insert in this paragraph should show the funny photo of the gang, loaded up with rummage gear. Jim found a mattress pad, a foam pad (both for putting under our sleeping bags), and a sheet, I think. Sandie got more blankets, I got some awesome pants that are warmer than anything else I have here. Etc.

By the time we returned to the campground, Jim and I had to get ready for our 5-hour “cruise” to see wildlife out on the sea. So we packed up our backpack, bundled up in our rummage-sale gear, Dave packed us a lunch (because we’re too cheap to pay for the salmon/prime rib buffet on the boat), and we all took the long walk along the sidewalk down to the small boat harbor. Entropy was the center of attention, of course… loads of tourists taking loads of photos of him. He tolerated it.

Camping in Seward

on Thursday afternoon, we loaded up two carloads of camping gear, kids, Little E., and adults, some snacks, etc. and drove to Seward, down south. I will admit to some apprehension about camping. It had been ages, since I’d camped. But I’m all for adventure, and thougth this might be fun. As it turns out, it was. Not only fun, but beautiful!! We drove to Seward, along a coastal highway for a bit, then on a highway surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks. Really, it’s gorgeous. It helps, of course, that we saw another moose and 5 bald eagles on the way to Seward. But the photos of the distant moose and distant bald eagles are hardly worth posting. Still, we saw them.

What did not help the trip much was the camera lens catastrophe. Kajsa was on my shoulders, and I was about to hand off my camera to get her down, when she fell. Fortunately I held onto her leg, and she slid most of the way down my back, fell a short distance, then after crying a bit, did her normal routine of blaming whatever “made” her fall, or what “broke” her fall.. in this case, the ground. Pointing to it, crying, shaking her head and her finger at the ground. Unfortunately, in the process of Kajsa slipping down my back, and my fear of her falling harder, I dropped the camera. With the zoom lens on it. The zoom still works–but only at that outermost zoom length. Which is good, I guess. If you’re going to break your zoom lens, I suppose it’s best that it breaks at the greatest length possible. The bad part is, it’s stuck there.. and can’t move. So, it involves a lot of switching of lenses, when I’m wanting to capture a distant shot, then a closer shot.. oh well. As I have said numerous times, “I dropped my daughter, and I dropped my camera. I saved my daughter, not the camera.”

Here are some pictures…

dead trees, dead since the 1964 earthquake.. the trees are dead because the ground sank and saltwater entered these parts.

somebody Hooligan fishing in 20 Mile River, on the way to Seward

a stone's throw (a good throw) from our tents... in Seward, on Resurrection Bay

Kjell, Sunny and Broder, in Seward

the campsite, enjoying the campfire

2 Seagulls and a Sea Otter. The otter hung out in the water by our campsite for ages, it seemed.

besides the moose…

there’s not much else to say. No, just kidding. The moose pretty much trumps anything else. But given that, it’s incredibly fun to be with the

Broder, Kajsa and Sunny at Earthquake Park

Lawrence clan, to see Entropy, and to be in Anchorage.

We arrived Monday night. Tuesday morning, before Dave arrived home from Prudhoe Bay (work) and Sandie came home from work, the kids and Jim and I walked (with Entropy, of course)

Sunny, spinning and spinning and spinning

to a park nearby, where the kids enjoyed spinning on some funky playground equipment.

On our way to the airport to pick up

Jim, spinning and spinning and spinning...

Dave, we stopped at Earthquake Park, where all sorts of displays tell the story of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. Lots of mosquitoes. Lots of fun for Kajsa, holding hands with Sunny and Broder.

After picking Dave up at the airport, we all went to Moose’s Tooth for dinner. INcredible pizza. Moose’s Tooth is my third favorite pizza in the world. That’s right, the world. of course my other two are also in the US. (1: Giordanno’s, Chicago… 2: a place in New York City). But still.. out of all the pizza I have eaten, Moose’s Tooth pizza is my third favorite.

Little E, while Jim is driving

Can’t hurt that the restaurant has “Moose” in its name. But also, the pizza rocks.

The other night we were headed out to see some Falls, but it looked like rain that direction, so Sandie said we could go on our moose hunt instead. (See the “I saw a MOOSE” post.)

Kajsa, spinning...

We drove around. Or, I should say, Sandie drove around, while Jim, Sunny and I peeled our eyes open, searching the highways, byways and woods for moose.

Sandie and Entropy, at Chugach State Park

Kajsa was basically in her I’m-so-tired-I-can’t-fall-asleep funk.

Sunny and Kjell, at Moose's Tooth

But eventually settled down. We ended up at Chugach State Park, where we hiked part of FlatTop Mountain. Only part, because there were too many dogs off-leash, and Entropy was with us–ON leash, let me add.

Sandie's, Entropy's, Sunny's, and Cathy's feet in the snow... at Chugach

So it was a bit frustrating that other dogs kept running up to Little E. That, and the girls were freezing cold. Sunny only had a sleeveless shirt on. And Kajsa was in the backpack, but we didn’t realize how cold she was getting.

a cold Kajsa, and Jim

Of course, there was snow. But not a ton of snow. So we wrapped up Kajsa in Jim’s long-sleeved shirt. Anyhow, gorgeous walk. Besides the cold.

I’m liking Alaska.

“Re-entry” non-blogging

just posting photos… Re-entry, ugh. We normally try to schedule in a day after returning from a trip, to adjust…. to unpack in an organized manner. To gather our thoughts before heading back to work, to the world of daily life with all its… reality. But this time we didn’t have that chance, so we’re still catching our breath. You all probably are, too. Re-entry. Ick. Ugh. I think I need a month-long re-entry cushion. Ha ha.

Anyhow, enjoy the pictures. One is at home in Madison…. the rest are in Vermont.