Summer in the Sugarbush

Aiden spent a whole week with his Grandma Sally in Vermont last week.  During the day he went to "birding camp" at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, right near where we used to live when Aiden was born.  He spent the week playing migration and survival-of-the fittest games, watching bird banding, learning how to use binoculars, building nests, and scoping out feeders for glimpses of hummingbirds and chickadees.  Since it was by far the hottest week of the summer so far (90s and 99% humidity), they also spent a lot of time in the Huntington River cooling off (and pretending to be mergansers?).  In any case, he had a great time at camp.  He also had a great time after camp with Grandma- they spent a lot of time talking and relaxing in the kiddie pool in the backyard, eating "TV" dinners (dinner in front of the tube- total treatsville!) and they even went to see Despicable Me 2 in 3-D.  

Then we showed up on Friday to give Aiden a big squeeze, and to help install sugaring lines in the woods for next spring.  The work to get the main lines in actually went very quickly, which was good since we kind of left the kids to their own devices watching Loony Toons in the basement.  Aiden did have walkie-talkie communication with us in the woods and we had regular check ins.  Now that the main lines are in, the next job is to install the feeder lines which tap into individual trees- that's much trickier to get just right, so we're planning on devoting another couple of weekends to it in late summer and fall.  We also made a good dent on re-stocking the sugarhouse woodshed with splits to fire the evaporator, so we all felt good about the progress.  Not quite ready for March yet, but then, who is in mid-July?

 We also managed to have some fun picking Grandma's blueberries (loaded!), having kiddie-pool tea parties, doing a little gardening, and trapping some cool moths.  Before we left we had a nice lunch at the Bristol Cafe & Bakery... squeeze hugs with Grandma and we'll see her next weekend at Haley's 3rd birthday party!

Weekend, what weekend?

Okay, so there was no weekend for me- I was working at Mount Monadnock for five days and sweating like a sumo wrestler in a sauna climbing up the side of a mountain with heavy rock bars and pick mattocks to dig in the dirt and move big rocks.  Andy and the kids, on the other hand, did have some semblance of a weekend, though I'm sure for Andy it was not as relaxing as it would have been with a second parent around.  They all drove down to Gloucester early Saturday morning to try oystering at low tide.  I have never gathered oysters, so I have no clue, but apparently they are just lying there on the sand waiting to be picked up, shucked, and slurped.  Fantastico!  They gathered at least 2 dozen oysters and just as many mussels with Micah and Becky's guidance, which is apparently a very good haul.  I can tell you they were much appreciated by Haley, Aiden and me.  We all slurped quite a few over the next couple days.  There is nothing like a salty seawater oyster with a squeeze of lemon sliding down your throat!

The Gloucester Deans also took the NH Deegans fishing, and the haul included a few flounder, skates and one pollock reeled in by Aiden.  I'm not sure there were any photos, but we did get a bag of fish filets to cook up at home :)

Independence Day, Upstate NY

It was wonderful to spend some time in Parishville over the Fourth of July weekend.  We haven't been up there in the summer in years, save for a one-day visit to Higley Flow two years ago for the Independence Day picnic.  This year, the picnic was rained out, with downpours and thunderstorms forcing everyone inside to eat.  We made due with all the kids and parents crushed on the davenport with their heaping plates of ham and potato salad, and everyone else in the living room.  As soon as it stopped pouring, though, it was on with the beach party for the kiddos.  They all had a blast running into the lake, jumping into the deep (it slopes off quite quickly) and swimming back to shore.

Back at the farmhouse, we flew kites and threw atl-atls with the sun setting in the meadow, and awoke to giant Imperial Moths clinging to the porch columns (we had set our moth trap to lure them in).  Haley and Phoebe were silly and excitable about everything, Fisher was taking in the world with his big dark blue eyes, and Aiden just wanted to go fishing.  Constantly.  He went out in the canoe at Higley with uncle Micah and caught a bunch of sunfish and rock bass on Micah's old fishing grounds, the seven stumps.  The stumps are pretty have rotted into oblivion by now, but somehow the fish remain.  We also hiked down to Barton Brook to try for brown trout- it was beautiful at the falls but the only thing biting were w few small chub.

Aiden also bought his first BB gun in Potsdam.  He was beyond excited, and wore his shatterproof safety goggles around everywhere, not just when he was having some target practice with his dad.  The zombie targets we brought up from New Hampshire got pretty well obliterated with tiny copper balls- apparently Aiden is a fairly good shot!

On Friday afternoon we went back to Higley for some more swimming and a beach bonfire, complete with s'mores and sparklers.  Aiden and Ciara were little pyromaniacs, burning the ends of their marshmallow ticks til they were smoking red pokers, then making smoke rings or drawing in charcoal on every rock and log.  The kids were all sandy, sticky, and exhausted by the time it was dark.

Sitting on the porches and staring at the meadows at sunset, or the old cottonwood tree, I felt like I could remember Dad better.  This was his place, and it's mine too.  And my mom's, and Micah's, and all of our kids' too.  I often feel like I don't have a home, or at least not a hometown, that I belong to...I've got great connections to so many places that I love, but the closest to a "home" at least in my heart, is the Parishville farmhouse, woods, and meadows.   I can remember sitting on that same porch with dad and uncle Elwood, and hopefully my kids will remember sitting on it with their Hapa and Grandma....and I hope it goes on and on like that forever.

Will Haley Hold a Dragon?

Haley's not nearly as big of a fan of dragonflies, or any bugs in general, as the rest of our family.  She's her own little woman, and she is not pleased when an insect of any sort lands on her unexpectedly.  So far, she has declined every offer to let a dragonfly go by holding out her finger and letting us place it there.  But we're still asking.  Last week, I took Haley's summer class on a short excursion to Low Plain for some dragonfly hunting.  The kids are 2-3 years old, so it was a bit more "interpretive" than usual- some of the nets were even too heavy for the kids to lift easily, and dragonflies are very fast, so I did most of the catching.  They got to see some very colorful dragons though, and there were even two or three brave souls in the group willing to have a dragonfly placed on their outstretched finger.  Haley was not one of those, but I'm not pushing her.  She puts up with a lot of bug catching of all sorts hanging out with the brother and parents she ended up with, so it's enough that she's willing and curious.  Plus I think if I could just find an entirely pink dragonfly, she might actually hold it.  

Breaks in the Rain

We're just waiting for breaks in the rain these days, that's what it feels like.  I feel like we live in Southeast Asia during the monsoon season.  It's hot and it's sticky, and it's rained off and on most days for the past 3 weeks.  The lawn is a big puddle, the kids and dog are always damp, and our towels get musty after one day hanging on their racks in the bathroom.  After 3 consecutive beautiful summers, I guess you can say we've been spoiled into expecting every summer to have endless sunshine with only an occasional overnight shower.  Poop.  Or 'beat your own luck" as Aiden would say (still trying to figure out the correct usage of that one)...

Our praying mantis egg cases hatched on Andy's birthday

We are making the best of it, though.  Grandpa Dada drove up this past weekend (in the rain), and we even managed to do a few things outside between the torrential downpours.  We walked to the New London Barn Playhouse and back for a kids musical production of Tom Sawyer (very cute) and played various sports in rapid succession on the driveway in the afternoon.  Jeanne and her boyfriend Joe came over before dinner on their way back from a week-long vacation in the White Mountains and we put everyone to work making homemade pasta.  Since Joe is Italian, we tortured him into doing most of the dough rolling work- and he must have some genetic aptitude, because our pasta came out much better this time than last... not one big lump, at least!  We would have eaten it outside on the deck, but it was pouring.

On Sunday we said goodbye to Jeanne and Joe, and headed to Manchester for another Fisher Cats game.  I have to say we lucked out with the rain there- it was very hot and steamy- enough so we had to abandoned our assigned seats and seek some empty ones in the shade which were much more pleasant- but it did not rain.  The Portland Sea Dogs whumped the Fisher Cats good, but we're okay with that too.  Haley got her hat signed by the Sea Dog's mascot, Slider, just to prove it.  On the way home, we hit a nasty thunderstorm just as we arrived back in New London.  The rain was slanting down on the minivan's windows at what seemed like a 90 degree angle to the ground, and no amount of windshield action would provide a clear view.  When we rolled into the driveway, we just sat there for 10 minutes, waiting for it to get a little less "insane" out there.  Today... more rain.  And tomorrow... more rain predicted.  It's crazy like that here.