Away, Away

Tomorrow we go on vacation back in Michigan. Tonight Ellis was in bed and I went into his room to collect the various things for the carry on-sort of a diaper bag equivalent for a bigger kid.

Ellis: What are you getting?

Me: Some extra clothes for you for the trip tomorrow.

Ellis: Don't forget snacks!

Me: Ok.

Ellis: And do you have some fresh pants for me?

Does that mean pants with an attitude?

Last night we were snuggling on the couch and Ellis kept kicking me.

Me: Ellis, stop that it isn't nice. Ellis, I mean it you are really irritating me.

Ellis: No I amn't.

He apparently has extrapolated the formation of contractions to those beyond the commonly accepted ones.

And, today on the way home we had to stop while this crossed the road:

There were two hens with a large flock of poults, with one family having obviously been born earlier. I think I counted 16 poults, 13 are visible in this picture plus both hens. They were quite tame seeming and to be this fertile (or perhaps to have such survival among their young) I suspect they are receiving much of their sustanence in someone's front yard...hmmm...what could I use to lure them to my yard...I have to end the post now, I need to be able to tent my fingers while I make diabolical plans to lure these turkeys to my yard and I can't type and tent at the same time.

Pinnacle, Other Notes

So a second pretty sweet feature of the newest iPhone is the ability to take pretty high quality videos. No more making sure the video camera is charged; if the phone is there, you have video capability. This video gives you a good idea of the steepness of the trail at the end and also what a good climber Ellis was. Once we got above the first outlook, everyone we passed in the last hour or so commented on what a good hiker Ellis was, or how they hadn't ever seen a kid that small up the trail that far. I only carried him about 250 yards on the way up. On the way down I piggy backed him where it was safe to, mainly just to keep an even pace.

Ellis very much enjoyed the minutae of the hike (and this was why the pace was uneven), looking at toads and other small animals as well as the rocks. I noticed some pretty large flakes of mica here and there and pointed them out to Ellis. He immediately clenched one but he misheard me and started calling it "mike". In the course of the trip he had probably half a dozen differnt pieces of mica, inevitably dropping each and hollering, "mike, I dropped mike."

After the hike we stopped in a favorite bakery in Waterbury Center and had a very good lunch and dessert and a lot of liquid. They had homemade tappenade for their italian sub and live music by the owner's uncle in from New Orleans. In the course of five songs he played three of my guitar favorites including: The Weight, Embyronic Journey and Can't Find My Way Home.

We also met some midwesterners who live above the bakery (this is the place with two giant tables forcing patrons to sit together) and had a nice talk about jobs and why midwesterners are in Vermont. I should have gotten their phone number since they probably know how to play Euchre since the one of them said, "I like hanging out with midwesterners because they are used to making their own fun." And, that is about what Euchre is, isn't it?

Well I started out down a dirty road

After recent meals, including something called a "Fire Dog" chased by a cheesesteak on Thursday and raclette dinner with friends Eric and Robin on Friday, some exercise was in order. So, I took Rachel and Ellis up Stowe Pinnacle.

Since work wanted me to have a data phone and was willing to get me the much praised and somewhat hated iPhone, we experimented with geotagging our trip a little bit. I will say that the iPhone is fun, easy to use and replaces a lot of other technology one might have. However, the expense is fairly high and with the way Apple has strangled AT&T and by proxy iPhone users, I am still a bit queasy about it all.

Anyway, to visit the results of the geotagging with a little photo essay attached, go over here. I would suggest that you pause the slide show and just click through as the rate at which it plays is pretty fast.

A Strange Fashion Sense

We have been very busy, what with Rachel starting her job and all. Ellis is enjoying his month with the babysitter and we have had a few more fishing adventures.

A few weeks ago a road side stand by our house had goose berries, something I remembered having in pie as a kid, so Rachel was good enough to make me a pie.

I thought it was excellent, Rachel compared its flavor to dirt so I ate it all myself. Ellis didn't like it either.

This past weekend I tried to fish the Little river, but they had opened the upstream dam and the water was at rip-your-waders-off levels by the time I got there. I ended up picking a bunch of staghorn sumac for a batch of tea. I found it to be lemony and with a hint of peach. Rachel said it was an interesting mix of flavors, but mostly celery. Noticing a trend....

We also went to a U-Pick and got close to 15 lbs. of blueberries in about an hour. While the other patrons lolligagged about we ran with military precision. I think Ellis picked more berries than the average adult excluding me and Rachel. Plenty more went into pie holes all around and we got some great fall raspberries that are just coming on.

And, I took Ellis to a new lake, Lake Elligo. It was a beautiful lake (you could see the trees on the bottom in 20 feet of water), but not much different fishing than the Waterbury Reservoir close to home. Rather than wasting drive time, I think we will stick to learning to fish the reservoir. We picked up some smallmouth last time and I am finally set up for deep trolling with fly line, so we will hope for the best this weekend.

On our way back on Sunday, Ellis declared that he wanted to "make some tie flys" when we got home.

We have done this a few times now. He is remarkably good at wrapping thread around the hook, but needs me to start most material tie-ons, but he is getting there. He lasts for about one fly per sitting and then is off to do something else.

Notice the cars in this picture. They are everywhere. I picked up the boat trailer at the tongue the other day and 5 cars fell off. And, I start each day with them running up and down my chest. And several are involved in elaborate dirt moving in the sandbox. He snuggles them in bed like a blanky.

I promise more diligence in picture taking of future adventures.

last login: never

I started my job yesterday and recieved my brand new shiny university email account today. The lab culture is largely unlike any other lab in which I've been contact, possibly in a good way. But probablty best to not write too much about work.

Now that I'm back at work, Ellis is with the babysitter full days (she came half days last week so they could both get acclimated). Ellis is pretty much loving having an adult fully dedicated to his amusement. For our benefit, he does act happy when arrive home from work, but we are clearly less fun than the babysitter.

Ellis has been experimenting with phrases dealing with less concrete concepts: "ya know", "I guess" and etc. So we get musings like..."Mom, I guess Scout ate up all her food. You know, I guess we should put food in her bowl, I wonder. We might."