…-27 wind chill. Schools closed on account of cold for the 2nd time in 14 years. Brrr!

On the upside, it’s bring your kids to work day! (though the bossman didn’t get the memo)

California 2007 Overview

We were a little inconsistent about taking pictures and didn’t get any of our friends Angela, Traci, Wasi, or Julie and none of the San Francisco part of the trip when we visited with Geoff and Dawn.  We may need to take another trip soon to remedy this.

Looking down Capitola Ave. from the defunct Capitola Theater on Monterey Ave. New Year’s Eve 2007 in Capitola, CA.

We snapped 650 pics on our trip to California. So i should be able to post about 2 a day until our next annual trek. :)

While in California, I spent exactly 15 minutes on the internet. And survived. Happily. I’m considering steps to address my internet addiction. Although it may more accurately be described as information addiction, as it extends beyond the internet. At home I consume magazines and newspapers over books. While driving I’m listening to podcasts that ensure a constant steam of info snippets. NPR, tech news, football updates.

If, instead of listening to this aural assault on my commute, I instead tune in to, say, Thich Nhat Hanh, I find myself substantially more serene and happy. Commuting is a pretty wound up experience for me in general, as I lack compassion for my fellow commuters and their failure to engage fully in their current activity. So as I soak in the sage advice (“If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace”), I try to beam warmly as I express color commentary on the navigating techniques of my kindred travelers.

Wisconsin libraries offer free downloads of audio books to compatible portable audio devices. With this service I’ve been able to get The Art of Mindful Living and The Present Moment. w00t!

In the last three weeks Griffin has asked about war, death, and where babies come from.  We’re in the big leagues now.

When we were at a hotel in California he switched on the TV one night and a PBS documentary about the Civil War was playing.  It wasn’t graphic but he got the idea and was immediately freaked out and outraged, saying “You don’t shoot guns at people!  Just at animals and trees!”  (Animals and trees?  Maybe being born in Wisconsin gives you innate knowledge of hunting?)  We explained that wars are a very bad thing where people hurt eachother but that the Civil War happened a long time ago and that what was on TV was just a story.  He was still shaken up, asking “There are no wars now?  There are no wars today?”  By that point Julian and I were shaken up, too, who wants to tell their kid that there are wars all the time?  I think we convinced him that he’s safe, at least.

Last week one of the ant farm ants died for real this time.  Before I could scoop it out Griffin noticed and asked me what was wrong with the ant.  I said I didn’t think the ant was doing very well.  Griffin looked at me and said “I think it is dead, mom.”  I’m always a step behind what he knows and understands.  He asked me why the ant was dead and I tried to explain that ants don’t live very long.  Then he wanted to know how long people live and why things die and what it means to be dead.  Various friends have had to explain death to their kids and I thought I was sort of prepared for this but apparently not.  The main thing I had in my head was “Don’t compare it to sleep!” and of course the first thing that popped out of my mouth was that it doesn’t hurt the ant and that it’s like being asleep. 

Then a few days ago Griffin asked me where babies come from (several friends and a sister have recently had babies, another sister is pregnant).  Again I thought I was prepared for this and gave him the whole “When a man and a woman really love one another they can decide to have a baby” talk but he wanted to know, specifically, how does the baby get into the woman’s tummy?  I think I gave him an age-appropriate overview, but whew.  I wonder what question is next?

(Sorry I’m taking so long with the California pictures and stories, I want to make sure the people in the pictures are ok with posting them here.)

The Palo Alto, docked indefinitely at the pier at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, CA.

Reference links:

• Concrete Ships.org
• S.S. Palo Alto
• California Coastal Records Project

Must. Migrate. Before. Saturday.

We were apparently the only flight to arrive in Madison on Sunday due to the heavy fog, so I’m grateful we made it back.  We’re still scrambling to get caught up on things like groceries and laundry, next year I think we’ll come back on Saturday just to have a bit of buffer.  Pictures and stories coming soon, but until then I thought I’d share this.  When I picked Griffin up from school on Monday he said “Let’s get some food and go back to the hotel!”  The kid likes to travel.

…right back where we started from (we’ve been watching the O.C. lately and I couldn’t resist).

We’re in Capitola, enjoying the brisk, beautiful, sunny weather and the ocean.  I’m doing some laundry and have a bit of time to post.  We’ve already seen friends we haven’t seen in years and Julian’s mom and Corky (and Gypsy!) are coming down to Capitola today.  Friday we’re heading up to San Francisco to see Julian’s dad and Dawn and a few other friends.  It’s very good to be here and it will be very hard to leave.

More details and pictures when we get back…