What's in Ezra's head

A few weeks ago, the boys and I were enjoying ourselves in one of our very favorite coffee shops.
I asked Ezra, "What are you thinking about, Ezra?"
He paused, "Ummmm....
Raarrr!"

Now we know.

Gibbie on Pairs

At dinner, we were talking about how Gibbie and Ezra play and play together and how much they love each other. I said, "you guys are really a pair, aren't you?"
Gibbie responded, "yeah, and you and Papa play well together too."
We laughed and said, "we are a pair too, aren't we?"
"Always together and never go apart!" Gibbie summed it up.

That's really what marriage is, isn't it?
I love you, Paul.

Bikes on the Road!

Having spent the summer biking ourselves and the kids around everywhere has given me a fresh perspective on traffic! It's made me wonder if most drivers have no clue what to do with bikes on the road. Therefore I give you:

Bike Traffic for Motor Vehicles 101:
In Minnesota, bikes are treated like cars. If you don't know what to do when you see a bike, pretend it's a car--
1.don't hit it!
2.would you yield to it if it were a car? then do likewise.
3.always signal. It's the biker you don't see who needs to know where you are going.

Often, we have trouble with cars actually being too accommodating of us as vehicles. I think the driver may be trying to be nice by stopping inappropriately to let us cross a road in front of them. Perhaps they are charmed by the strange biking family? It often makes it more difficult, not easier, when a car yields to a bike if the car actually would have the right-of-way. (Say, the biker has the stop sign but the car waits for the bike to cross.) You see, a cyclist is less protected as a vehicle from collision, and often, drivers are not looking for bikes on the road. Therefore, as I come to an intersection, I can't assume that any vehicle sees me. I certainly can't assume I can run a stop sign. So I watch traffic closely. I have to assume drivers may not see me.
It takes a bike, particularly a bike towing a trailer full of children, much longer than a car to get going again. If I've stopped to yield to a car which has the right of way and the car stops for me, it's particularly awkward if there is cross traffic coming the other way which doesn't need to stop for me, or if there is no traffic and had the car not stopped I could have proceeded in peace instead of lugging into motion with an audience.
I regularly cross busy roads with the trailer. Sometimes I have to wait a good while for an adequate gap in traffic. That's fine by me; I expect it and plan this time into our day. I'm not biking just to get there as quickly as possible. In fact, watching the traffic, a biker often is tracking the cars, gauging thier speed to get moving while this one passes me, so that I can be across the intersection before that one comes. Now don't fret, Grandmothers! We really are careful. I'm just saying that it's usually not helpful for a driver to slow down for a biker.

That being said, I really appreciate how courteous drivers have been to us so far. I haven't encountered any vehicular hostility here in St. Paul, and we've been on all kinds of roads, in all kinds of traffic! (I might interject here that there are lots of crazy, not law-abiding bikers out there, for whom I cannot speak. Ahem, I won't mention any names.)
I sometimes wonder if drivers stop because they feel sorry for the poor slow biker. Do you pity her because the sun is shining and she's in it? Because he's breathing hard?
Rather, wish that you were in his place. There is an exhilarating freedom in going places without a motor. Less to break, less to go wrong, more time to enjoy the view. Between busy roads there are spaces of actual silence. There is a feeling of power in one's own body that can take one places! A restfulness in going days on end without starting a motor, and certainly a deeper sleep at night for a body that has worked.

At first, the kids were thrilled to bike. They begged to bike or bus instead of driving. Times have changed a bit. Recently, Gibbie said, "Mama, I see people in cars and I wish that I was one of them." Sadly, soon enough he will be. Bike transport with kids may be simply impossible year-round in Minnesota!
We're learning to bring a little pouch of playthings or snacks for when the littles get restless. Sticks for banging on each others helmets do very well, as pictured with a special birdie, above.

On Forests and Picking Berries

"I suppose all woods everywhere are really just different bits of the one wood, pushing up through the earth like the different bits of the sky that shine through the clouds are the same sky."
Elizabeth Goudge, in Herb of Grace
I can't tell you how immensely I enjoyed this lovely novel and another by the same author, "Bird in the Tree." Mid-twentieth Century writer I've just discovered. Seems she had some acclaim in her day, and was forgotten. Do tell me what you think if you've encountered her, as I would like other perspectives.
Pictured are blackberry brambles. I picked like a bear, with tongue and paw and saved them up for the long cold winter.
Blackberries vary surprisingly. We have tart black raspberries, small and dainty covered in delicate prickers, as well as blackberries on our land. In just one corner of a valley on the property, there are blackberry canes thicker than a man's thumb, with long strong thorns guarding drooping clusters of heavy berries as big as acorns, juicy and dark and sweet. These are barbs that will rip your jeans if you rush by, leave a bright scratch on a forearm, punch into a finger and leave it smarting for days.
It is because they guard treasure!

Menomonie Weekend

We just spent a wonderful weekend both in my home town of Menomonie and at the Perlieu land. We got to see both of my parents, go to my 10 year high school reunion, and relax at the cabin. Probably the highlight was a stretch of about nine hours on Saturday that Libby and I got to be around Menomonie without the boys. It turs out that, given the chance, we still really enjoy hanging out together!

Here's a small album of photos from the trip. They're not regular family vacation photos, since some are things we found interesting (signs, Menomonie's green algae-rich water, graphitti) as well as the normal cute kid shots. As always, I recommend the slide show option for viewing them.