adaptation
On Sunday morning, the one day of the week when we need to get out in a hurry, my car wouldn't start. Luckily Leah didn't need to be anywhere so we piled in hers instead. We ended up using it all day, because I didn't have time to even think about what might be wrong, and while I totally appreciate having a backup option it was a little disconcerting driving something so unlike what I'm used to. Especially when we were leaving opera rehearsal and it was dark, and snowing, on top of being city driving that I'm not really relaxed about to begin with! I definitely jolted the kids more than once over the course of the day by slamming on the breaks: Leah's car has a very responsive pedal, while our van is more leisurely in its stopping power and demands a heavy foot. This morning I finally managed to jump-start the van, and we used it to get places today (we went on a lovely walk in Concord), which means I was getting used to different breaking behavior all over again. And also to having room for the kids and all our stuff; that was easy to come back to!
not enough!
It snowed, and there was a delightful amount of snow in the air: yesterday afternoon, yesterday evening, overnight, this morning, this afternoon... but not, sadly, enough on the ground. It was right around freezing the whole storm, so for large swathes of time the snow was accumulating very slowly or not at all. I think we got two and a half inches all together, but even that was compressed to under two inches by its own weight. Some people shoveled their driveways, which I thought was entirely unnecessary; though I was delighted at the energy Zion showed in clearing off the front steps and the porch (and Elijah had fun with the back deck). We of course thought of sledding, but there wasn't enough for that, either—at least, not enough to drive to any sort of hill. If we'd had a slope in our yard we would have gone for it for sure. But the kids did get outside with friends for a wild couple hours of snowball fights, snow wrestling, and snow-cat making, so the day wasn't entirely a bust. The forecast high for tomorrow in 47°F, so I'm afraid the snow won't stick around long. I do hope there's more; this winter's been kind of a bust so far, and we do love snow!
moments from the week
just barely ice
A few moments from the past week.
a little rest on big stones
ice on grass is safe
climbing high
my rich person coat
The weather is sub-standard around here lately: not enough real cold, not enough snow, and too much wet. I'm not really pleased. But at least it gives me a chance to set aside my boring old winter jacket and get my raincoat out instead. Because I have a fancy raincoat that Leah bought me this past fall, when it was clear that the one I'd been using for the past... eight? ten? years wasn't any waterproof any longer. Actually, I don't even know how fancy it is, but for some reason wearing a raincoat at all makes feel kind of posh; like I deserve to be shopping at Whole Foods. Which of course isn't true, but at least I can dress like it!
remembering to go out
Lately I feel like we haven't been having the outdoor adventures we need. Christmastime was busy, the weather has been depressing, and we lost some drive for it after we finished up our 1,000 hours. Plus there's other things we need to be doing! But days have more room for adventure than you expect, if you try, and yesterday we found some in between a vaccine appointment at CVS and a trip to the grocery store.
what adventure looks like
In between those two stops was Mary Cummings Park in Burlington, which we haven't spent too much time at because it's not very wild: feels more like an urban park, with wide paths and plenty of fields (Leah likes it for walking with the dogs because she appreciates the openness). Even relatively less wild, though, it gave us lots of chances to run and explore and climb walls and poke around rusty old car carcasses (the best part of urban woods). We got lots of exercise and fresh air... plus we got to have a pretty fun time together!
sweet boys