The baby geese have hatched at the lake! We’ve been anxiously awaiting their arrival! There were three of them paddling around with Mom & Dad this morning, and even more when I drove by again. (Can you see one hiding at the bottom of the first photo?)
I love this time of year.
Years ago, Grandma taught me this trick for a fabulous French Manicure on the cheap. 1) an under-nail white pencil, that you can get at any Beauty Supply Store. 2) a good clear polish.
I’ve taught Claire, and the art of passing this through the generations has begun…or continued, as the case may be.
This morning, I had a sneezing fit in the kitchen. “Are you trying to poison me?” I said to my husband.
Without skipping a beat he said, “Yes. Neurotoxins…” he paused to chew. “…in the coffee,” and he continued eating his cereal.
“But, I don’t drink coffee!” I said…and then sneezed again.
“That’s the beauty of my plan,” he said. “You’d never expect it.”
So…I’ve been giggling about neurotoxins all day. And, I haven’t sneezed since. 
"Mom, let's take pictures of the beautiful buds & put them online!"
One of the news stations I follow in Twitter reminded me that it is the anniversary of the Blizzard of 2003!
How could we forget??
…and yet I had.
…forgotten that this was the anniversary. The memories of that storm still linger after all these years.
Here are a couple of “fun” pictures. (Yes, the quotation marks are necessary, because my sarcasm font is broken.)
I'll get a measurement! I'll wade out! I'm stuck! We got more than 4 FEET of snow. It went past my waist!
Has anyone seen the neighbors' car? Or our mailbox? I'm sure they're there somewhere...
…and to think I was grumbling about our 70-degree weather turning to the lower 50s/upper 40s today.
How quickly we forget…
I love this photo. Right now, it’s the “cover photo” of my personal Facebook page (I change that often, but this one spoke to me, so I put it up last week, and as of the time of this post, it’s still there…). It’s also the background on my phone.
We took this photo in Hawaii, on the island of Maui. We’d stopped to explore the Black Sand Beach (yes, there is one on Maui!) while exploring the road to Hana.
It’s at a park called Wai’anapanapa.
Just saying it is fun.
Side Note: This weekend, Claire was looking through a calendar we got from a conservation organization. March’s picture is a beautiful shot of this very Black Sand Beach! I showed Claire the photos WE took of that beach, and when she saw they were the same, she was in awe! “Look! I see those three palm trees, right there!” Fantastic!
Anyway…
This was a trail we would have never found if it weren’t for letterboxing. We were thrilled to discover that there was a letterbox hidden at this very park, and the clues seemed easy enough. Needless to say, the start to this particular letterboxing adventure was just as rocky as the shoreline. We could not find this trail. We did not understand what some of the clues meant. None of it was making any sense. We traipsed off in the totally wrong direction, all the while pretending we were on the right track. We tried to force meaning out of the things around us. ”Surely this is what they meant!? Maybe they meant that!?” No. When you’re right, the answers to the clues slip into place. Usually.
We knew the rules, but decided to blatantly disregard them.
Although completely frustrated but not wanting to give up completely, we decided to stop for lunch and try again.
After a bite to eat at the park, we decided to try one more time. This time, everything fell into place. (We also agreed on how WE would have written the starting point of the clue, but that’s neither here nor there. Details, details.) With this renewed energy, we found it! It’s one of the coolest trails we’ve ever explored.
The picture doesn’t show how dark and mysterious this all was; the camera has lightened it up quite a bit. The canopy was so low that my husband had to crouch while under some of it. It was so thick, you could barely see the bright blue sky through it.
We’d stumbled into another world.
Secluded.
Secret.
Steps worn by other adventurers and the passage of time.
Such a great reward for not giving up, for going back to the beginning and trying again.
This photo inspires me in so many ways.
Yes, Claire is in Kindergarten. Yes, she’s preparing for her very first presentation!
She finished her poster on Susan B. Anthony and is practicing her speech…the one that she’ll be giving on Wednesday to her class. One of our kitties has been helping her. Kinda.
Claire: “Jasper, do you know what suffrage is?”
Jasper: …blink …blink …blink
Claire: “Suffrage is…Jasper? Do you know?”
Jasper: …blink …blink …blink
Claire: “Jasper. Suffrage is the right to…….?”
Jasper: “Meow?”
Claire: “That’s right! VOTE! Suffrage is the right to VOTE! Good job, Jasper!”
I’m sure she’ll do a great job!
When I was in Kindergarten, I got to be the Letter “i” in the Letter People Parade.
The Vowels
My, my, how times have changed.
Remember how excited we were yesterday that we got an end-loader on our street? Well, last night, our neighbors played around with their 4×4 and packed down the drifts that were left when they gave us one pass with the “plow.”
Yes, one pass.
Today, this is what the street looks like:
This isn’t what I’d call “plowed,” Colorado. Nice try.
For the 2nd time this season (and the 1st time this year), and 3rd time EVER since we’ve been in this house (for over 10 years), look what happened!!
Did you follow all that?
We got one pass with a “plow,” and we just can’t believe it.
Two passes would have been even better, but we can’t be too picky at this point.
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