Snowdrop, our sleepover guest, isn't really an early riser. Except when she is at the farmhouse. I hear the call for Gaga when I'm still in bed. I ignore it, because I know she'll turn over and resume sleep. She does. Not for long.
Alright, little one! Let's start the day!
She has her routines here: her usual breakfast mush and yogurt...
... followed by a bath and then we're onto pancake making!
The real breakfast. The girl has as much joy for our morning meal on the porch as we do (three photos, because exuberance is best displayed in more than one).
I should be taking Snowdrop home now, but she is feeling energetic and so I pause for a while and watch her run from one end of the house to the other, again and again (four photos, because exuberance is best displayed in more than one):
There! Done!
Ready now to go back home. With baby. No, not with Java! Just baby.
And now let me put up some garden pics (three photos, because....)
And now comes the time for Ed and I to do some mild adventuring. We hop on his ancient Honda motorbike, ride past our neighboring farmers who are tilling, plowing, planting...
...Around the corner and then around another corner and now we're at our local county park. It's hot and so we're not ambitious. A gentle walk, through the forest, past the lake and then alongside the lovely prairie meadows. Four photos from our mini hike. You know why.
(selfie!)
As we leave the park, Ed swings his motorcycle by the boat launching dock. Whoa! The parking lot is full of cars and trucks hitched to boat trailers. Further down, we pass through an RV campground. Packed!
It's how America welcomes summer... Ed tells me. Boats, RVs in campgrounds...
I think about how different this is from where I grew up. Regular people, you and I people, non-fishermen people, non yachty type people -- did not have boats. Indeed, even today, and even though I have some European friends who have done well in life, I really do not know anyone there who owns a boat, let alone an RV. Perhaps our distances aren't that great. The mindset doesn't bring up images of road trips.
Here, space doesn't seem to be at a premium. Houses are large, cars are larger, roads are huge and multilane. Gas is cheap, boats require only a downpayment. Summer in America may be full of boats and RVs and BBQs. Across the ocean -- less so.
Afternoon. The young family returns and the girl is running, playing, eating cherries. I sit back and keep an eye on stuff, her parents rest, Ed munches cheese curds.
Not a typical Sunday afternoon, but perhaps "typical" went out the door when summer rolled in a tad early, a house went up for sale promptly, and a little girl shifted from being just a two year old to being a tall and chatty two plus a handful of months year old.
Evening. Unusual as well, since the young family has other commitments and so it's just Ed and me, eating take out Thai, discussing the possibility of picking up a couple of alpacas on craigslist (very low maintenance and adorable, but they do spit...), wondering if the heat will break and if there will be rain soon. Farmette thoughts. Pleasant musings on a warm (almost) summer day.
Alright, little one! Let's start the day!
She has her routines here: her usual breakfast mush and yogurt...
... followed by a bath and then we're onto pancake making!
The real breakfast. The girl has as much joy for our morning meal on the porch as we do (three photos, because exuberance is best displayed in more than one).
I should be taking Snowdrop home now, but she is feeling energetic and so I pause for a while and watch her run from one end of the house to the other, again and again (four photos, because exuberance is best displayed in more than one):
There! Done!
Ready now to go back home. With baby. No, not with Java! Just baby.
And now let me put up some garden pics (three photos, because....)
And now comes the time for Ed and I to do some mild adventuring. We hop on his ancient Honda motorbike, ride past our neighboring farmers who are tilling, plowing, planting...
...Around the corner and then around another corner and now we're at our local county park. It's hot and so we're not ambitious. A gentle walk, through the forest, past the lake and then alongside the lovely prairie meadows. Four photos from our mini hike. You know why.
(selfie!)
As we leave the park, Ed swings his motorcycle by the boat launching dock. Whoa! The parking lot is full of cars and trucks hitched to boat trailers. Further down, we pass through an RV campground. Packed!
It's how America welcomes summer... Ed tells me. Boats, RVs in campgrounds...
I think about how different this is from where I grew up. Regular people, you and I people, non-fishermen people, non yachty type people -- did not have boats. Indeed, even today, and even though I have some European friends who have done well in life, I really do not know anyone there who owns a boat, let alone an RV. Perhaps our distances aren't that great. The mindset doesn't bring up images of road trips.
Here, space doesn't seem to be at a premium. Houses are large, cars are larger, roads are huge and multilane. Gas is cheap, boats require only a downpayment. Summer in America may be full of boats and RVs and BBQs. Across the ocean -- less so.
Afternoon. The young family returns and the girl is running, playing, eating cherries. I sit back and keep an eye on stuff, her parents rest, Ed munches cheese curds.
Not a typical Sunday afternoon, but perhaps "typical" went out the door when summer rolled in a tad early, a house went up for sale promptly, and a little girl shifted from being just a two year old to being a tall and chatty two plus a handful of months year old.
Evening. Unusual as well, since the young family has other commitments and so it's just Ed and me, eating take out Thai, discussing the possibility of picking up a couple of alpacas on craigslist (very low maintenance and adorable, but they do spit...), wondering if the heat will break and if there will be rain soon. Farmette thoughts. Pleasant musings on a warm (almost) summer day.
