A good weekend

I had thought I might want to rent a movie this weekend, but when I really thought about it, I realized I'd rather read and go on a nice walk with Marija and Joe.

So after we spent Saturday trying to fix up bikes and water heaters and the like (does anyone know why a water heater would mysteriously stop leaking?), we went to church Sunday and I read a couple articles and we ate Joe's strawberry sorbet and then we headed out to Laurel Springs Park near here.

Laurel Springs is perhaps most famous for its playground, which is so neat that even Joe went over to play with a digging machine in the sand area, but we spent most of our time investigating a walking trail that goes all around. Parts went along sunny edges of baseball fields, where grasshoppers flew out near our stepping feet, and other parts went through the shade, where we breathed deep because of the warm piney fragrance.

Marija talked to herself a long time, and clapped cautiously when a nearby ballfield erupted with cheers, but she quieted down about halfway. I found a thicket of blackberries and couldn't leave them uneaten, even though we'd already had desert.

Movies can wait until winter.

Maybe tomorrow I will get to post the pictures I've taken of Marija lately.

The sun came out!

It was beautiful yesterday, so Joe and I took the baby to a park in the afternoon. It might become one of our favorite spots: Gilbert Run Park, just a pretty drive away. There was a long lake with woods around it, and we took Marija in her stroller. She stared up at the trees and we realized we hadn't taken her into the woods before. What kind of parents are we... she's more than two months old!

I wish I'd brought my camera. There was a long bridge over part of the lake and very big ducks on the water, and we lifted Marija up to show her, though she seemed a bit under-impressed. Then we went over some crunchy leaves and across the earthen dam and along the trail around the lake, where we had views of the water and also the trees that kids had carved their names into over the years.

The way was bumpy but quick until we got halfway around, where we rested on a bench and looked at a beaver lodge. Then the trail got narrower and hillier, until finally we folded the stroller up and one of us carried it and the other carried the baby. It was quite a haul until we were almost back, when Joe found a little maintenance road that was smoother, and when we got out we saw the sign (facing the direction we hadn't been going): "Nature trail, rough terrain." The warning came a little late...

It will be really fun to go there when Marija's older and can marvel at the ducks and the little fish in the streams and all the low bridges through the swampy bits. And the park has the best playground. I wanted to play on it!

What if we moved here one day?

So one advantage to having an awesome sister-in-law who is also an accomplished civil engineer: we have a street named after our family!

It's in a neighborhood she helped plan in Brandywine, just a little ways north of us in southern Prince George's County, and we finally found it Sunday.

That's some sign

Joe giving directions

The excitable one

"Hiding"

Yay!

Everyone had their blinds closed against the sun and heat, so I don't think the neighbors even noticed us taking silly pictures on the street corner.

Hey, we did stuff

When Joe was out of town again, I did some work around the house and on errands, but I also saw my family and took a trip up to Harrisburg to see the American MusicFest with Rose.

People contra dancing (I joined in!)

A train passing directly over the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra concert

The Pennsylvania Capitol

Saturday I went to the La Plata 4th of July celebration and watermelon bash. There was free watermelon, mm, and more music.

I also did a lot of cooking. Unfortunately, I did not do a lot of dishes.

Today Joe is back home, and we went to the park I visited last week. It was still deserted.

Piney woods

Berry picking

Playing in the moss

Moss

The lakeside

A fishing bob stuck in a tree

And I will do a lot of dishes tomorrow.

I wish I'd brought my camera

Joe's in San Diego again, and it's funny how quickly I can fall back into the patterns I had before we were married: going to church alone, wandering a park afterwards, sleeping and waking at strange times. For a little while it's almost like being unmarried again -- and then he calls me or I start planning the next few days, and so many of our thoughts and plans circle around each other. And then there's this baby in my belly... it's kicking like crazy this afternoon.

I'll have to bring Joe back to the park sometime soon. I'm actually not sure I was supposed to go there... a locked gate meant I had to park my car on the road, so I looked for signs saying the park was closed, but there weren't any. I got around the gate by a footpath.

I don't know if anyone goes there... the dirt road toward the lake was lined with wild blackberry bushes, with plenty of ripe ones for me. The road had beautiful butterflies, the grass had humble little wildflowers, and the lake was surrounded by pine trees and birds. I saw a bluebird!

Seals

There are seals in San Diego. They have taken over a children's beach in La Jolla, a little ways north of downtown.

They are fast as fish in the water, but they look pretty lazy on land!

By popular request

Here are some pictures of pregnant me with Joe in San Diego. He was there for three weeks on business, so we had time to explore together on the weekends. It was great.

I look considerably rounder in real life, for some reason... so if you really want to see what I look like, you'll have to come visit!

I think this is a cypress

The Pacific Ocean in La Jolla

Pools and tidepools

Sandstone + ocean = fun

The lion is stuffed

Under a rare torrey pine tree (they grow on seacliffs!)

More torrey pines

Joe (the white speck) on a ridge in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Near some old desert petroglyphs

At the first Spanish mission in California

Neither card nor flowers

I guess it is a good thing the gardens I wanted to take my mom to for an early Mother's Day trip were closed for renovations. I planned a fun afternoon at the Baltimore Art Museum and it ended up being well-suited for yesterday's cold and rainy weather. Joe came, too! Now he is suggesting we take my mom to museums for Mother's Day every year, hee. We'll see.

The destination was a surprise from my mom... which meant that I didn't find out until we got there that she had actually been there before. But she and my dad had mostly taken in a special exhibit last time, which meant we could explore the permanent galleries. I appreciate whoever curated the European Art section, where we spent most of our time. There were the usual things -- religious art, portraits, landscapes -- but they were almost all fascinating, especially the portraits, which are usually a lowlight for me.

There were also nice, long descriptions with extra details accompanying the works, which meant I had interesting things to read and made it through the exhibit in about the usual time, instead of zipping through ahead of Joe, who studies things for longer. We also got to see old mosaics, elaborate quilts, and fancy furniture next to a chair made out of a few hundred number two pencils. No Sitting Allowed.

We scrapped my original plan of going out for ice cream afterwards and instead found a nice cafe where my mom got a coffee with whipped cream and biscotti, Joe got hot chocolate, and I had really great lentil soup that came (a surprise!) with bread and herby dipping-oil. We made it back to our parking meter with just five minutes to spare and then drove through the city's Druid Hill Park, which has a big lake and a nifty tower that looks like a castle. My mom and I talked so much on the way home that I missed my exit to get off of I-95 and we had to take a detour.

New Year's

The most exciting part of my New Year's Eve was probably chasing the dollar that blew out of my pocket in the 30 mph+ winds. At first, the dollar was just a few steps ahead of me, so I didn't think anything of following it, but pretty soon I abandoned my cart and chased it all the way down the length of the shopping center! Whee, it was stuck in a little eddy, mingling with a lot of trash and leaves.

Joe and I stayed up till midnight, but just barely, and not really by design. It was quiet and nice.

Meanwhile, having regular company is doing wonders for the neatness level of our house.

I know I'm a day or so late, but Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm not sure I agree...

On Sunday, Joe and I tried to find a footpath connecting our neighborhood to one just off of Charles St., one of the main roads through town. It looked on the map as if the neighborhoods should connect somehow, and a path would make a handy shortcut to the library.

The other neighborhood was pretty, with some older houses set along a treeful hill. But I guess we won't be walking there much, because where there used to be a shortcut, there are now two fences, a pile of brush, and a sign that says "Sidewalks are the best way."

Busy days

Washing the dishes today reminded me of archaeology. "Ah, I used this glass for dinner Wednesday!" It has been a busy few days.

Joe and I had various adventures, but I did not bring my camera. If I had, I might be able to show you pictures like these:

• Our baby nephew Timmy reaching for my mom to hold him after dinner on Thanksgiving, when parts of our families were in one place together. I made way too many pumpkin rolls, but they were very good.


• Bright lights along the busy sidewalks in Chinatown, where we went walking Friday night with friends. It was a nice night, but finding parking was MADNESS.


• The long staircases of Lynchburg, Virginia, where buildings run up and down steep, steep hills.

In Lynchburg, we stopped into a warehouse with some used furniture outside. "What are you looking for?" the man asked. "Dining chairs," I said, and he showed me some in the back. 

A minute later, he poked his head back there. "There's a phone call for you," he said.

I took the phone. It was the owner, Fred. "There's more chairs on the fourth floor," he said. "Wing backs, Quee Anne style, all kinds." The other guys in the store would take us up there, he said.

The building was an old one, and many of the lights had burned out in the stairway. Joe went first, then me, then one of the guys behind us. Eventually we got up to floor four, where there were dozens of chairs -- some broken -- in piles, and water on the floor.

We did not find the dining chairs we wanted, so we went back down. Fred was there, in person this time, showing some other people around the furniture piled high.

It was the strangest place!

Kite flying

Sunday afternoon, Joe and I went down to Smallwood State Park. We took in the art at the Mattawoman Creek Art Center and the beautiful scenery all around.

Then we pulled out the kite!

Shortly after that last picture, the kite flew into a tree, where it stayed. If it comes free and you find it, please let us know.

Looks like this

We went home and wrote a letter, which wasn't the worst way to end the day.