Quick Update

Lots to write about, no time to do it, story of my life.

I haven't told you all about the fun bowling outing with Erin and Lance...and yesterday we had a great time at LumberJack Days in Stillwater, but now I'm prepping to leave for the North Shore in a few hours.

Here is what I do have to update you with before I go.

Andrew has been reading like a son of a gun lately. Yesterday alone he probably hit the books for over 2 hours, and that was squeezed around our day trip to Stillwater. Right now its just Garfield comic books, but he's read three of them, so I'm not gonna complain. Before that he read a book called Tut-Tut and he's been hitting the dangerous book for boys pretty hard too. He set up a little reading fort under my scrapbook table and I'm thrilled. He's close where I can enjoy him while I'm crafting (or staring at the blank page which is lately the case) but he's nice and quiet, except for an occasional giggle.) Heaven!

Here are the process photos of the 2nd Chrysalis being formed. You can see in the second photo that it is still wet. It happened while we were out on a walk yesterday morning. We figure we missed seeing the transformation by a couple of minutes. In the first photo the caterpillar is in the "j" position and you can see its inner juicy greenness ready to burst out. I took this just as we went out the door for our walk, and we were gone about 45 minutes...

Tonight, he seems to be slipping away...

We spent a nice family day together.

We now have two chrysali instead of one.

As I was helping Andrew get ready for bed it hit like an arrow to the heart...time is speeding away from us, he's so tall and independent and moving away from us. My babies are all growing up.

Then my bro sent me the lyrics (and a link) to this song. I of course am a big stinker and like this version better than Joni's. Sorry Joni, I'm a baby music listener and my tastes are more limited than they should be.

Besides, with SCC's child dead this year, the song is even more poignant coming from his lips.



"The Circle Game" -- Joni Mitchell, 1970
Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you're older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him, Take your time, it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Rebirth

At our house right now we have a monarch caterpillar about to form a chrysalis, and a brand spanking new chrysalis. Andrew's friend Ronan is out of town, so Andrew is babysitting Ronan's caterpillar as well as his own. Last night one of the caterpillars attached himself by a thread that looked like a spiderweb, to the top of the jar. all last night he wiggled and wiggled and this morning when we left the house at 10am he was still wiggling but looked pretty much the same.

When we came home, he was done forming his chrysalis and his skin was laying on the bottom of the jar. Now we wait 7 or 8 days...very exciting!

The other guy is done eating and is starting to weave his tether web. By tomorrow he should be in his chrysalis too.

Here is a link to a great video of what happened today, since we missed it. Unfortunately I can't embed it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPk1SRk0UOs

Chef Andre

We had a great time yesterday with the extended family. Fun time in the morning with our nephew Danny, and a great time in the afternoon with Erin and Lance.

For dinner we went to Benihana, Lance and Erin's favorite restaurant. Benihana does hibachi style cooking right at your table, and we are hooked! Andrew is so in love with this style of cooking, he came home and began his training to become a Japanese habachi chef. Good times!

I was within an INCHY of blowing my top...

...and then someone mentioned inchies. So I did some. And I loved them. And now I've cooled off a bit.

Each of these is 1 inch square or the larger ones are 1.5 inches square.

John Lennon Unplugged about Peace

My uber plugged in cuz Josh Lewis put me on to this video. Fascinating on several levels.

Words of Hope on a Dark Day

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land" (Isaiah 1:19).
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves." So Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil." Then he said, "go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors--empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "there is not another vessel." So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest." 2 Kings 4:1-7

Jason Graduates from Basic!

Thanks to my ex, I have lovely pictures from Jason's graduation from Basic even though I couldn't attend. Look how manly my big boy looks!

The smoke was a series of colored smoke bombs they let off at the edge of the forest that rimmed the parade grounds. Then the men came marching out of the smoke in formation. Sounds amazing.

A happy moment with photos on a less than stellar day.

Gustav Mahler

"The content of my entire life is poured into my symphonies. In them I have expressed all my experiences and suffering. It is truth and poetry set to music. If someone knew how to read it well my whole life would be transparent to him. So closely entwined are creating and living, for me, that it seems to me if henceforth my life were to flow as peaceably as a brook in a meadow I could no longer make anything of value." Gustav Mahler

"Art should be an ax for the frozen ocean in us." Franz Kaftka

"As a conductor and a composer I am sure of everything. But as a human being I am riddled with doubt. To be human is to be uncertain." Gustav Mahler

"Strange; when I hear music, even while I am conducting, I hear quite specific answers to all my questions, and am completely clear and certain, or rathr I feel quite distinctly that they are not questions at all." Gustav Mahler

"Creation is a mystical process. The residue of mystery always remains, even for the creator. I find in the end that one does not compose, one is being composed." Gustav Mahler

"I believe in the end art's purpose is deliverence and uplift from suffering." Gustav Mahler

"In order to express yourself in a piece of art you need to be secure in yourself, know yourself, have confidence in yourself, finally, love yourself." Gustav Mahler