SPRING BREAK! (plus further meditations on mortality)

So it's Spring Break here.  And, amazingly, the weather is distinctly spring-y.  In fact, spring-y in a way that spring never is here.  We're loving it.

This weekend we played host to some cousins from family far and near, including Cole & Bianca (representing the "near" category, as they live in Boston), and the Texas branch of the Sullivan clan (representing "far" -- TEXAS!), including: Donny, Mary-Beth, Patrick, Daniel, Eileen, and Natalie.  I failed to get a photo of the full group, but this one of Lucy + the quadruplets is representative:

Lucy was SO excited to have so many people here.  She was in fine form, ready to entertain, in costumes such as this:

Don't ask me where she gets her fashion sense.

Further amping up the excitement levels, she (and Jake) had purchased a little kit that enables the user to make their own balloon animals. It included a bunch of those long skinny balloons and a little pumper that (supposedly) makes it easier to inflate those (insert expletive here) balloons.  It was $3.99 at the grocery store, and it was terrible.  But Lucy had been about to EXPLODE with anticipation of the balloon fun she wanted to have, so we had to press on, despite the disturbing sense of feeling faint from trying to blow up tiny balloons, and all the popping of said (very cheap) balloons.  We eventually resorted to the bike pump; Eileen and Patrick also somehow managed to get the pump (sort of ) working.  And Lucy proved to be a demanding manager, insisting on MORE balloons and MORE animals.  Good thing her cousins were so very very patient and tolerant of the tyrant.

We had a LOVELY time and we hope everyone comes back again really soon!  Natalie? Eileen? Daniel? Patrick? Which one will take the bait of college life in the Northeast?  We totally volunteer to be surrogate parents!  We will move you into your dorm!  You will have Thanksgiving at 83 Durant!  Join us! You'll just have to make the occasional balloon animal.

The weather was so lovely that after out guests departed (good luck, college-hunting gang!!!!) we went off for a hike at the Lowell-Dracut State Forest.  Lucy brought with her a fabulous walking stick, as modeled here:

 She also used it for balancing, as seen here:

 Many thanks, Aunt Florrie, for providing such an awesome accessory for our hiker-girl!

Right now we're getting things in order for the impending St. Patrick's Day Party.  Are you coming?  Because a lot of people are coming.  Why would you not come?  Don't you remember how awesome it was last year and the year before, and the year(s) before that when we had such a good time that we never even bothered to document it (there is [fingers crossed] a forthcoming post featuring photos from these events, if I can find them)? 

So in order to prepare for the festivities, Jake and Lucy did some shopping out at Blood Farm (in Groton) last Friday, where we acquired 25+ pounds of brisket, which is currently being turned into corned beef.  Right now.  While there, Jake learned this important fact about the meats of Blood Farm:

Wow.  That sure is good to know.  Apparently, is IS very good that they don't use this stuff.  I won't go into it here, but if you just google "pink slime" you'll read some pretty horrifying news reports about the stuff.  So Blood Farm is our source for awesome meats and the most amazing bacon ever.  It is certified by every bacon-eating guest we've ever had.  They also have amazing ham.  When Cole showed up on Sunday, and we said there was ham, he got this dreamy look in his eyes, asking about the last time we'd served him ham, and lo, he was joyful upon the news that this ham, too, would be good.

So as I'm working on this post, I was about to link to a previous post about Blood Farm.  And then I realized, I don't have a previous post about Blood Farm.  That seemed impossible, until I looked and saw that I had a post in "Draft" status since last fall.  Ack!  How did that happen?  Well, WAAAAY back in October, we were on a visit to Blood Farm, and here is what happened (I am now copying the draft post from then, so the material below in purple is a totally authentic recounting of the events):

Lucy attempted to chase after a cat; when the cat (understandably) ran, I was concerned that we would not have a chance to see any critters.  But then Mr. Blood came out and said "do you want to see our llama?" 

Best question ever!

Of course we'd love to see your llama!

So we met Larry, the mascot of Blood Farm.  He's awesome.

[That's all the draft there is...you can see why I didn't post it at the time, as it needed more fleshing out.  Yes, I know, I'm writing about meat farm and used a "flesh" metaphor. Get over it.]

Upon meeting Larry, Lucy couldn't have been more delighted, and we were all the more endeared to Blood farm.  And yes, Blood Farm IS run by Mr. Blood, the fifth generations of the Blood family running this place.  They are Serious about meat. 

Anyway, to return to the now (or at least the more recent past), when we told Lucy that we were making another visit to get stuff at Blood Farm, she was excited to see Larry.

Do you know where this is going?

After picking up our order, Jake asked if they might be able to go visit Larry. 

The sad answer: "Larry passed away."

Lucy apparently took the news in stride.  We're not really sure how much she understands this sort of thing.  We're pretty sure she's developing a rather skewed understanding of such things (but who doesn't).  Some readers may remember some of her past insistence on facing mortality.  But really, it's the literature that's doing a number on her.  Figures.  We've been listening to the Harry Potter audio books, and when I walked in while she was listening to the second one (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), during the basilisk scene, she gleefully exclaimed "Harry's going to die!"

Oh.  OK.

So when Jake and Lucy got home, I (unaware of what had happened) asked, "did you get to see Larry?"

"He passed along."

and that was it.  So we've dodged that bullet for a little while longer.  [Also, yes, I used that metaphor to talk about avoiding a conversation about death.  Funny.]

So, all this is to say, you should come to the St. Patrick's Day party and help us eat 25+ pounds of corned beef.  We'll raise a glass to Larry.

Mmmmm....MAPLE!

In honor of the start of Maple Sugaring season, we had a family trip up to Parker's Maple Barn, a lovely place that makes their own maple syrup and has a fabulous restaurant where it serves foods that deliver maple goodness.  Lucy was in heaven.  She explained that her favorite foods are:

• Pancakes
• French Toast
• Waffles

In other words, all known maple delivery mechanisms.

Everything was delicious!  If you're visiting us during maple season, you should demand that we take you there.  But until then, would you like to know more about maple syrup?  You can find out more here.

That was yesterday (Saturday).  Today featured three special guests: Uncle Paul, Aunt Kathy, and, introducing:

That's their new puppy, Keri.  She's from New Zealand!  She was very excited to meet her cousin Carter.  Carter was also excited, but mostly because we plied him with treats to keep his cranky "puppies are annoying" attitude to a minimum.  Keri is just lovely.

SNOW DAY! (Hello, March!)

We're in the midst of a fabulous snowstorm.  Right now, the conditions are described as:

Awesome!  This has been a considerable storm, starting yesterday around 2 in the afternoon, going through the night, and continuing until 6 (or so forecasts say) tonight.  Way to go, Winter!

My school closed early yesterday, so I picked up Lucy from school right after her nap.  She was delighted, and loved getting to come home and hang out.  Jake came home early, too.  Lovely!  Today, my school remained closed, but Lucy's wasn't.  So, after a late sleep and a relaxed morning, Jake took Lucy and Ruth into school so that we could both get some work done.  It's been a productive day.  Woo hoo!

In two of my (cancelled) classes today, I had a mid-term paper due.  I can totally and fully imagine just how happy those students are.  I remember those days all too well.  I suppose I am also somewhat enjoying the absence of a stack of papers this weekend....although this just means even MORE papers next week (since the other class is also scheduled to turn in theirs on Thursday).

Lucy just got home from school and demanded a band-aid.  You may remember that in the past, Lucy would Freak Out if you suggested that a band-aid might help.  We're not quite sure when or why, but that changed sometime last fall, to the point that for Christmas, she asked for (and received) a box of Hello Kitty band-aids.  She uses them for all injuries, real and imagined.  Today she came home with a small (very small) scrape on her thumb. 

Me: How'd you get that scrape?
Lucy: I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But you don't suck your thumb. [seriously, this child has NEVER been a thumb-sucker]
Lucy: Well, I was sucking my thumb.
Me: But why?
Lucy: Because I was pretending to be a kinkajou.

Ah-ha.  Dear reader, you may remember that a few days ago, we went to an animal show that included a kinkajou.  Said kinkajou was bottle-fed, and therefore, as the animal guide pointed out, he has a habit of sucking his thumb.  So there.

  

Happy Leap-Day Digression-a-thon

I started this post on January 17th.  It digresses all over the place.  I'm just sayin'.  It has nothing to do with our house or our child.  I'll return to our regular programming next post.  Promise.

My current favorite song is "My Heart's an Autoclave," by the Mountain Goats.  It is the greatest song ever.*  I can listen to it over and over again.  You can watch a video of the song here, but it's not the version I've been listening to.  It's pretty great with just him on the guitar, but the album version has drums and other stuff.  There aren't enough songs out there about the autoclave.

*Please note, "greatest song ever" can change with my mood, but in any case, this song must be pretty great.  When I really like a song, I listen to it over and over again.  Kind of obsessively.  The perfect way to do this is on headphones, so that you don't disturb everyone else around you.  A previous favorite was "Skullcrusher Mountain," by Jonathan Coulton.  You can see a video of him performing it in LA here, but again, my version is a bit different.  Jake bought me a 99-cent download of that song, and I probably made him wish he hadn't, given the number of times I listened to it back then.  But how often do you find a love song in which the mad-scientist-lover-protagonist says to his beloved:

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it
What's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

"Maybe I used too many monkeys" is a favorite line of mine.

Oh but the digressions....where was I?  I was telling you about the "My Heart's an Autoclave" song and how I was thinking about "autoclave" and why I immediately associated it with music.  Something in my brain switched and I totally saw an album cover.  And indeed, with some handy help from Wikipedia (which was not dark today!), I re-remembered what I already knew: "Autoclave" is the name of a band that released an album called "Autoclave" in 1991 on Dischord Records.  While I can't say I remember listening to it then, I am quite sure that I played it on my radio show.  We probably played most everything out of the Dischord catalog on our station, WLVR (91.3FM!).

What's that, dear reader?  You didn't know I was a DJ?  Well yes, I was.

And here, I have landed at yet another digression: College Radio changed my life.  For the better, I assure you.  I don't know if these days the kids are so into the college radio, since there are things like [the] Facebook and Twitter that are apparently consuming all of their time, but being involved with college radio was the best thing I did in college.  I met all the right people (cheers, Ian, Elizabeth, Gab, Eric, and the list goes on...), and also all the wrong ones.  I got to feel important and connected and I cared about something bigger than myself.  After several semesters of having a show with Ian (we started out at the 1 - 4 am Sunday morning slot!), I ended up becoming the General Manager of the station for a couple of years.  Along with the other folks at the station, I moved the station's transmitter, booked Green Day just before they got huge, and messed around with CMJ's college chart listings.  It was awesome.

When I am asked to give some advice (and believe it or not, sometimes people ask!) about college, I recommend this:

Do something you're not supposed to be doing.

And I don't mean the easy kind of "not supposed to be doing," like plagiarizing or drinking too much or smoking too much.  Those are the easy things to do that you're not supposed to be doing.  Do something that takes some work, and that you care about, but that has no relation whatsoever to your GPA.  For me, that was radio, but it doesn't have to be that for everyone.  It should be something you care about, something that connects you with people, and something that challenges you.

Wow, where did the preachy advice-columnist persona come from?

Oh yeah, it all started with the autoclave.  I think that might be a great opening line for a story.   Where was I going with that again?  When I started this post, I had some sort of idea, but now it's gone.  Oops.  But I just couldn't let this post sit here unfinished.  So now, a month later -- on LEAP DAY! -- I am finishing it up.  And here's a funny note.  Back when I was looking up "Autoclave," the band, I was pleased to see that one of Autoclave's members (Mary Timony) is doing quite well with her new band, Wild Flag.  In the month between when I started writing this post and when I am finishing it, my favorite song has changed. I am now listening to the song "Romance," which is by Wild Flag on crazy-person repeat.  And thus, full circle, my digressions have come back around.

It all started with the autoclave.

Conversations with Lucy (TM) and Various Local Adventures

A few days ago, Lucy and I had this conversation at the breakfast table:

Lucy: When will Carter have puppies?

Me: Oh, honey, Carter's a boy dog.  He'll never have puppies.

Lucy: So why didn't we name him Daisy?

The logic is strong with this one.

Or maybe not.

So today we had a great time at Fruitlands Museum, where they were hosting Animal Adventures, a terrific opportunity to meet (and touch!) some curious creatures. As you can see, Lucy was very excited:

Highlights from the show included this Kinkajou:

Lucy had learned about the kinkajou from the show Diego.  When she told me all about it (after watching the episode) I kind of thought it was a made-up animal.  I had never heard of such a creature.  Well, I stand corrected. 

We also got to see a skunk!  I didn't get a good photo of it, but it was adorable.  Oh, and it had been de-stinkified, so it was all good (non-smelly) fun.

A big hit with the audience was the Chinchilla:

 The chinchilla was Lucy's favorite part of the day.  That's one soft critter!

We also saw a snake, but Lucy chose not to join the other kids in the snake-handling:

It has been a busy week here for family and kid-focused events.  After all the Winter Fest stuff, there was Lowell Kids' Week, which has events for the local school vacation week.  On Friday, Jake took both Lucy and Ruth to see a concert, and on Saturday, I took Lucy to yet another Kids' Week crafting event, this one at the Boott Mills, where she made a snowman:

We also finished the Downtown Lowell Scavenger Hunt that we started on Monday.  It was great fun, and had us out seeking public art and architecture. With a little help from our Park Ranger friend, we finally found this bell:

It's been fun to explore Lowell!

There's always so much to like about Lowell!

Today we spent some time at events during Lowell Kids' Week.  Seriously.  More free, fun, family-friendly activities.  Lucy made her own bobblehead, got a balloon animal, and drew a picture on the Family Mural Wall.  Lucy also got to try on a Park Ranger uniform, and got to meet the famous Spinners' mascot, the Canaligator.  It was just lovely.

Yup, that's her bobblehead.  Awesome.

There was also a very cool downtown scavenger hunt.  The map featured pictures of different locations, buildings, and sculptures in downtown Lowell, and questions about them.  It was a good chance to grab a few photos of some of the lovely sites downtown:

That's the scuplture "Homage to Women."  I particularly like how the pigeon is getting into the spirit of things in this shot.

That's a cool clock, also featuring this thermometer:

Well, that's not a good shot of the thermometer,  but Lucy really liked how she fit right under it.
We also stopped by the Kerouac park that we always pass:

They have engraved quotes from his writing onto these large marble slabs.  I rather like the effect here of the reflection of the mill building on the shiny marble:

That's all from here. 
Oh, but wait.  I keep having to add to this entry. Lucy wants me to mention that there was also face-painting.  You may have noticed the big pink heart on her cheek.  Yup.  Facepainting.  She loves it. 
Also, I can't believe I didn't mention that we picked up our own (free) set of Lowell National Historic Park Civil War Trading Cards.  Seriously.  Trading cards featuring famous Lowellians who were connected with the Civil War.  Awesome!  Apparently there are other sets at other National Parks.  Now we need to go visit all the other parks.  (I think we might need to get Lucy a National Parks Passport.)  One of the set of five cards features Lucy Larcom.  Woo hoo!  Lucy LOVES Lucy Larcom!

Hope you're enjoying your Presidents' Day holiday in a presidential manner.

Winterfest-ier

Today we were back at Winterfest, and boy was it terrific.  We went the Museum Mitten Madness events at the Lowell High School cafeteria.  It was set up with all kinds of activities for kids.  Lucy got to meet The Cat in the Hat:

 

He was telling riddles.  They were pretty bad riddles, involving food puns she didn't understand, but it was all very funny to her nonetheless.  

The Cat in the Hat was at the Visiting Nurses' Association (VNA) table, where she got to make a paper chain featuring her favorite foods.

We also got to meet LuLu, the sheep mascot of the Textile History Museum.

Lucy went from station to station, making each craft, including a beaded bracelet, a decorated fleece scarf (the pink one she's wearing in the pictures), a feathered and bejeweled mask (shown here):

and a rag doll.  She played bean bag tosses and a hockey game (that she played last summer at the Folk Festival):

She also got some crayons, a coloring book, a fire-fighter hat:

I didn't know they came in hot pink!  She got to visit some real sled dogs:

and there were CUPCAKES (to celebrate Charles Dickens' Birthday!)

There is just SO MUCH to LOVE about LOWELL!!!!