gringo noir

Washington, DC

2009-08-04T12:04:00.001-07:00

So, spent a week in DC with the extended family. Contrary to the expression on H's face, it was a lot of fun. So much to do, I think the boys are having a post-urban-vacation letdown. R pointed out the window yesterday and said, "A taxi! Just like in Washington, DC and Chicago! [thoughtful pause, and then] I want to go back to Chicago or Washington, to, you know, just hang out."

We had some good museum visits, plenty of sightseeing, a great condo, plenty of sweat, and just a little touch of illness to begin the week. There are some stray pictures up at Flickr.

Raleigh

2009-07-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Took the day off and went to Raleigh to visit a couple of museums, eat some really great barbecue, and — most importantly to H + R — visit the Lego Store. Now H is about 4h into the the construction of the AT-TE Walker. He should be finished up by morning. Photos (not of the Lego construction, which doesn't really photograph well) here.

2009-04-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Winter Strikes Back!

2009-03-02T04:42:00.000-08:00

Hunting for Spring

2009-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

The weather here is mild, absolutely nothing to complain about. But, I think everyone in our house has been affected differently by seasonal affective disorder, and spring here is really quite dramatic. So, today, we went to the Arboretum with our cameras to hunt for the first signs of the changing season. R said you "can feel spring on your skin." I asked what it feels like, and he replied "warmness." True enough. They found all sorts of chutes, buds and blossoms and particularly liked the Okame Apricot tree, and the Arnold Promise Witchhazel. While the Bloodgood Red Twig Dogwood is very striking, I think we were more interested in the name, which is fairly difficult to say quickly.

You can see the highlights here. Also, while you are there, take a look at our frigid (note the Merry X-mas in ice on the inside of the hotel window) but enjoyable Christmas in Chicago, about which I haven't written a thing. Busy times. Good times, though.

More to come.

a walk in the woods

2008-11-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, we all took a walk in the GC woods. We sat on a log and talked about the changing seasons as the boys fought each other with sticks. Nice time...

whew!

2008-11-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

So, for years I have had a low-level worry about what might happen if, as my children grew older it became clear they did not share my political viewpoints. Of course, I would love them the same, but there is the Alex from Family Ties model.

Well, tonight, H said that there was a girl at his school who would like to vote for McCain if she could because if Obama becomes president, he will "take all our taxes and give them to homeless people." H got a puzzled look on his face and said, "but that's a good cause, right? I mean, what is the problem with that?"

Thats my boy.

More to come

Charlotte

2008-09-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Greensboro is a fine place to live. The locals like to say, "a great place to raise a family," which usually means, it has great parks and no nightlife or culture to speak of... Anyway, we are quite happy here, but occasionally get the urban jones, e.g. nice Italian restaurant, classy hotel, traffic, tall buildings, good brunch, a museum or two... So, this summer, on the spur of the moment, we took off for a weekend in Charlotte. Thankfully, our boys love hotels and all the accoutrements associated with them. So, we hung out in our room in the Omni, watched a movie or two, wandered around downtown, watched a bike race, ate at an Osteria, and went to the Discovery place. A good weekend.

Here are a few pictures.

Facebook ate my blog

2008-09-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, looking back over my blog, I realize that I haven't posted anything for quite some time. The main culprit is facebook. Not sure why, but I really began to use facebook a lot more this summer — perhaps I hit the critical friend mass... Whatever the case, it ate up the limited amount of computer doodling time I had. But I have a series of posts which have been simmering and which I will get up soon enough.

Lego Platform

2008-08-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

This is the platform H+I built for his Legos. It slides (thanks to H's clever design) right under the bed.

these aren't very good pictures...

2008-08-17T15:25:00.001-07:00

but people have been asking me what we have been up to recently, and this tells part of the story. We moved — within the house that is. Our friends who were living with us temporarily moved out, and so R graduated to H's old room, H graduated to the larger bedroom, and I got a home office. We bought new furniture for all three rooms at IKEA — 16 boxes / 2 days worth of assembly. L repainted both rooms while I turned assembled. Everyone is pretty happy about the move, except now our bedroom looks pretty lame.

Other things about which I will post in the near future:
- a weekend getaway to Charlotte
- one year in Greensboro and a party to celebrate it
- a new semester, which begins at 8:30a tomorrow.

From Smythe's The Conquest of Arid America (1900)

2008-08-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Conquest of Arid America By William Ellsworth Smythe: ""

a trip to the museum

2008-07-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

LEFT: Barkley Hendricks, "Self-Portrait"

Took the boys to the Nasher Museum at Duke. The purpose was as much to make art as to look at it. I wanted to see the Barkley Hendricks exhibit before it closed. It was interesting, although the boys took some time to get used to his portrait style. At first it was a bit underwhelming.

But the real highlight was taking pictures. Everyone had at least one camera, and we took lots of shots. Both the boys were pretty diligent, but each pursued a different artistic methodology: R was unabashed, taking pictures of everything, pretty rapid-fire and switching between two cameras. H was much more focused, taking multiple shots of the same thing with a lot more attention to color (he has always favored the blurry, color field shots) and composition.

The pictures really should be viewed as a whole to get the effect. So, rather than post a couple of images here, just visit the flickr site for the full effect. And while you are there, also check out R's home series.

A fun Sunday.

well...

2008-07-10T11:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the interruption in posting. I've been busy writing. I am now back down to a normal workload, and trying to get caught up with everything.

This is really just a message to let those few readers who remain know that I am still here and intend to become more regular in my postings in the future.

Took H the Weatherspoon Art Museum, where they had an exhibit on Latino / Latin American art, which was pretty interesting. One of my favorite pieces was "1492 Indians vs. Dukes," by Rubén Ortiz Torres. He is from Mexico City, but lives and works in Los Angeles. His work plays with a number of popular stereotypes, such as the low-rider lawn mower. [see below]

H did a little sketching, particularly of a tiny sculpture of a woman, sitting on the edge of a 2in square wooden block, staring at a gold earring stuck in the wall. I didn't get the artist's name, but he took a shine to it.

Next up, SECCA in Winston-Salem to see Maggie Orth's exhibit on electric textiles, capable of changing color and patterns.

I should be happy, and I suppose I am...

2008-05-29T12:31:00.001-07:00

but at this point, the process overshadows the outcome. This summer, my office has been gutted for major renovation. It will be great when complete, but that means that for the summer I am officeless.

Baby A

2008-05-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

So, we have a one year old in our house now — baby A — and he is a hoot. A very happy and outspoken child, determined walker, and amenable deliverer of coasters. Our bric-a-brac has migrated upward to the mantle + top shelf, and we now have baby gates at both ends of the stairs. The boys have really enjoyed it, and it is fun to watch them interact. A now knows where all the good toys are, and H+R enjoy playing the part of the elder statesmen.

Two Teeth

2008-05-19T17:28:00.001-07:00

H lost a tooth one week ago [see post below]. Without that one for support, the adjacent tooth quickly began to wander. We started calling him "snaggletooth" — much to his chagrin. We urged him to get the other one out as well, as it was hanging and sort of creeping us all out. So tonight, I tied some dental floss to the tooth on one end, and to a belt clip on the other. We joked about clipping the floss line to the dog's collar and throwing a piece of bacon across the yard. H thought that was so funny, he threw his head back laughing, and out popped the tooth... Alas, we didn't get the snaggletooth pirate picture we had joked about — H in pirate garb with that tooth. But I can doctor the one I have up to create the effect.

Bozo Texino

2008-05-17T11:45:00.001-07:00

Monday night had the chance to attend a showing of "Who is Bozo Texino?" — a film by Bill Daniel, which was showing at Elsewhere, a local artist collaborative. Very interesting film — he spent sixteen years riding the rails across the west, tracking old car markings and the people who made them. Almost made me miss being in Texas, almost. Elsewhere is always worth a visit on its own, as is their website.

School Carnival

2008-05-17T11:38:00.001-07:00

The elementary school down the street had a carnival today. I gave each of the boys some tickets and let them go. They had a blast — both boys wanted to BE dunked in the dunk tank, although R gave a few shots at dunking the teacher who was taunting everyone.

the Update

2008-05-15T05:08:00.001-07:00

This week, our friends BJ, J + A from Texas relocated to Greensboro and are currently living with us as they get settled. We are very excited that they are here, and sure they will love the region. It has also been a real treat to see A who is 1yr old. We haven't seen him for about 10 mos. You can track their move here. And once both of us get our blogs back in shape, it will provide stereoscopic coverage. I'm sure pictures will start to flow soon.

the tooth is gone

2008-05-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

H's tooth came out last night, with a little help from BJ's mother who was visiting. He swished saltwater, put the tooth under his pillow, and found $2.25 [and the tooth] there this morning. He asked L last night if the tooth fairy had any cash. She told him he might get an IOU. He is lucky he didn't get postal stamps and car wash tokens...

Honeysuckle

2008-05-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

At the park around the corner from our house the other night, BJ + I taught the boys how to suck the nectar from honeysuckle blossoms. I used to do this at my grandmother’s house when I was about H’s age and remember convincing myself that I was “full” from the effort and didn’t need to eat dinner. Both boys took to it very industrially. R grabbing large handfuls of blossoms [see photo below, which absolutely cracks me up and makes a great wallpaper / screensaver shot] and methodically working each one; H designing a more efficient system of nectar extraction, then distracted by his [incredibly] loose tooth. Just nice to know that should they ever be forced to forage for survival, they won’t have to forgo a little sweetness after dinner.

No news is good news

2008-05-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

We have been very busy lately — all in a good way. I'll catch up soon, but in the meantime take a look at the video clip below, and the Flickr site for some new photos of A's 4th birthday party.

" "

Lego Derby, part I + II

2008-04-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

A number of people have asked me about the Lego Derby we held on 23 March. Sorry for the delay in posting the results. The derby was a profound success. In all, thirteen cars entered. So, it was a crowded track and a full race with 31 heats. There was a lot of excitement, as the early favorites all fell by the wayside, victim to the “Danger Zone.” The track measures about 30 feet, and I installed side rails, and two lane dividers [total of three lanes]. But, I ran out of the material I was using for the lane dividers, so I suggested to H at the last minute that the last piece of track should be open track — no lanes. To make that a bit more appealing, I called it the Danger Zone. It turned out to be a pivotal part of the race, as many cars did fine when they had a lane to bump up against, but spun out of control once they hit open track. In the end, the cars had to be heavy enough to build momentum, but not so heavy that they dragged out of the starting block; and they had to roll straight, with the least amount of friction, specifically between the wheels and the lane dividers and side rails.

Given those criteria, the winning car turned out to be L’s Block of Cheese. It wasn’t pretty, but it consistently kept its nose down and powered through the danger zone as many faster cars [mine included] flipped, spun or crashed around it.

Second place went to HBA, and third to Chris. A fun time was had by all — you can see some of the action on the flickr site. In fact, it was so much fun, and there were a number of friends who were unable to make it on the 23rd, so the following weekend we did it all again. Special kudos to BJ, who clearly made the most arduous journey to compete. He flew out from San Angelo, TX on Saturday, and the effort paid off for him. His #14 Shark Attack finished a razor-close second place to the unstoppable Block of Cheese Machine, which again finished first. In third place was HBA’s little orange #2, followed by one of RBA's two-wheel cars [two wheels + axle], and FD's heavily modified car, which was a real testament to perseverance and adaptability, as it initially wouldn't make it down the track at all.

So, we have a full-fledged lego-epidemic here, with pieces strewn about the house and the boys nearly constantly engaged in cannibalizing wheels as they make, destroy, and remake their cars. Tonight, some friends stopped by for dinner. The boys quickly made a car for both of them, and we went out to the track. Turns out one of the cars may be a real contender to beat L in the third Lego Derby which will happen sometime soon. So, if you are in the area, come on over for some practice runs on the track. Otherwise, watch the flickr site for more updates.

HandFont

2008-03-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out how HandFont — a professionally designed font based on my handwriting — is a professional necessity so that I can get reimbursed for the $249 it costs to do it. I do grade / comment on papers electronically, and this would allow me to do so in a more unique way. But the fact remains, the students can still read my comments fine in Lucida Grande.
Anybody have any ideas of why I really, really need this? Or, if you are looking for an overly extravagant gift idea...

So...

2008-03-11T22:12:00.001-07:00

wrote out a lengthy, perhaps even brilliant post explaining why I have been so derelict in posting recently, and recounting the move to our new house this past weekend. But somewhere along the way, as I was trying to upload some pictures, it disappeared. Likely caused by me falling asleep at the computer.

So, the short version is — bittersweet move, love the house, miss the short commute to work + the woods, the kids + dog are doing well with the move, the house has nice flow, there are pictures on the flickr site, more later and come visit.

two more pictures

2008-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

fairly frightening picture of H, in which he looks like he is fifteen. Something about the sharpness of the chin and jaw. A good looking young man, but still very troubling.

R is playing it cute.

Snow

2008-02-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night brought a bit of a surprise. Around 9:00p the light rain turned to heavy snow and it kept up for about three hours. By midnight, the campus was buzzing with snowball fights, snowman-making, and general mayhem. The boys woke up without any idea, as many people in Greensboro did. Of course, Guilford County schools closed for the day, so we took a walk in the woods.

Book meme

2008-02-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Mr. T tagged me, so alright...

"Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more."
The nearest book is Edward Tufte's Envisioning Information. Page 123 is the index, so maybe that isn't the best book. Second nearest book is Noel Ignatiev's How the Irish Became White. I'll report for both and let the reader decide.

"Find Page 123."
[easily done]

"Find the first 5 sentences" [which appears to mean, summarize the first five sentences]
various items re: Edwin Abbott - aerial photography. [Tufte]
A brief excerpt from a novel which relates the story of how the main character murdered an African American with a pump handle. This begins the chapter, "The Tumultuous Republic," which traces the effect that anti-Black riots by Irish in the middle of the 19th century had on Irish understanding of their own whiteness. [Ignatiev]

"Post the next 3 sentences."
- "Aesop's fables 65; Akahata [Red Flag] 28; Albers color demonstrations 92-93" [Tufte; so I know these aren't really sentences, but in the absence of periods, I used line breaks to signify a sentence]
- "That is a passage from The Quaker City, an 1844 novel by one of the most remarkable writers the country has ever known, George Lippard. Now forgotten, Lippard was the best selling author in America before Harriet Beecher Stowe. Before he died in 1854, two months shy of his thirty-second birthday, he wrote twenty-three separate books, ranging from thick volumes to pamphlets, scores of uncollected stories and 'legends,' hundreds of news and editorial columns, and wrote or collaborated on several plays; he also founded his own publishing house, edited his own weekly paper, and lectured widely." [Ignatiev; not good writing — Lippard nor Ignatiev]

Tag 5 people.
Anyone interested? Consider yourself tagged. Beej?, Em?, Madame Yocum?

Snowing at the Beach

2008-01-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

Over the MLK holiday weekend — one of the few holidays which the Quaker college observes — we went to the Outer Banks with our friends, B, K + G. K’s sister has a beach house in Kill Devil Hills, just up from Nags Head.

The beach was just across the street, so we braved the cold a few times to go collect shells. I think you can see in the pictures why we didn’t last very long. The wind off the ocean was pretty fierce, and on Saturday, as we were walking back to the house, it started to snow.

In general, we didn’t mind being home-bound. We had books, games, the Wii, plenty to eat and drink, a few movies, nothing to do and some really great views. The only problem was the refrigerator. We got in on Friday night. As we were unloading the car and opening up the house, we noticed some brown sludge on the floor surrounding the refrigerator. When we opened it, we very quickly realized the problem. It was dark and scary in there, and we quickly closed it. Curiosity got the best of us and we opened the freezer, for just a split second. Perhaps you have seen those very odd commercials for a flooring company where the couple smells the milk and falls over. Yeah, that. The smell was explosive, singed the inside of our nostrils and sent us all flying. Apparently, what happened was the last people to leave the house at Thanksgiving hit the wrong breaker by accident.

So, we spent the next hour or so feeling sorry for ourselves and steeling our nerves to attack the cleaning. We made a lot of plans – a lot more than we needed. Strategizing helped to postpone the inevitable. It took us about two hours to get it cleaned out. My job was to carry the trash bags full of rotten food down one flight of stairs to the second floor, then across the balcony to the side of the house where I would drop them into the open trash cans below. There were quite a few bags, and I was very glad I didn’t miss, as it was about 20 degrees.

The refrigerator is not reparable — the seals surrounding the freezer were ruined, and the liquid death had oozed into the elements at the back. We tried to buy a new one and have it delivered that day, but they couldn’t. So, we had coolers, and the natural freezer out on the balcony. We were fine. We just didn’t cook as much as we had planned. I don’t yet have a picture of the freezer, but K said she has one. When I get it, I’ll add it here.

On Sunday, we drove over to the North Carolina Aquarium, then down to Hatteras. It is a fascinating landscape, incredibly tenuous. I'd love to spend some more time there when the weather is a bit more accommodating.

There are more photos at my flickr site.

The Scientist

2008-01-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

Recently, I got a call from H's teacher. He had entered an essay contest with the local National Science Center Museum about why he wanted to be a scientist and his essay was one of those which were selected. So, I've included the essay + the morning news program from his school in which he was featured.

We are very proud. And excited about the fact that this means a family membership to the museum for one year. Thanks to Steve for the video.

the morning commute

2008-01-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

This week GM touted their “robot car,” or what they call autonomous driving. The idea, of course, is that the car can drive itself, and with the advances in GPS, wireless and on-board cameras, etc., it is quite close to reality. DARPA [the folks who brought us the terrorism futures market a few years back] funded a big research project which GM + Carnegie Mellon won with a Chevrolet Tahoe.

So, when Rick Wagoner claims that, “autonomous driving means that someday you could do your e-mail, eat breakfast, do your makeup, and watch a video while commuting to work," I don’t see this as an improvement, and not just for the sorts of jokes the late-night comics would make, if they had the writers to write them. Working under the rather specious assumption that all technological innovation is good [remember Honda's 4-wheel steering from last decade?] the robot car promotes commuting at a time when we should be making the obvious changes in the way we have organized public and mass transportation. If anything, we should be working to make the individual commute less viable, not working so hard spending so much money and energy to make it easier for people to stay in their cars and drive more often and further.

What is more troubling is the way the news covers this — they play right into carmaker's hands. Even the title of this article is “Automobile's future is electronic and green: GM chief.” I know that cars are more efficient and we are in the middle of an alternative fuel revolution, but conflating the greening of the automobile with the expansion of its use is like the old joke about pasta + antipasto canceling each other out.

Today, our budding scientist [H] said he really wishes there were no cars, because before cars there was no global warming. When L said that life sure would be different without cars, his matter-of-fact reply was, “Yes. There would be no global warming.” [duh!]

Christmas, pt. II

2008-01-04T18:58:00.001-08:00

Santa was good to us this year — he brought the whole family a wii. While both boys have really taken to it, there are a couple of highlights: HBA has been teaching me how to play tennis, particularly how to serve. RBA likes to box. For those who have never seen wii boxing, you hold one remote in each hand and throw punches at the screen. In addition to that, he has developed a dance to accompany it, which I will have to video. These pictures hint at it, but look for the video soon enough.

Deer, pt. II

2008-01-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

RBA has been going next door with me to our neighbor’s house to feed her cat while she has been out of the country. He is my “flashlight point man.” It is a short walk, maybe 50 yards. But he walks very close to me, holds my hand, and looks with his big eyes into the woods between the houses. The other night he told me he was scared of deer. I told him there was nothing to worry about they are more afraid of us, than we are of them. As we walked out of the house, he said look!” About 15 yards in front of us were two deer — a mother and a fawn. She froze, looked at RBA, then looked back toward our house, then back at us, then back toward our house. I told RBA to be very still. There was another fawn in front of our house. We stood and watched for a few seconds. When I told him, “see, they are more scared of us as we are of them,” he smiled and then quickly walked out toward the mother. About four steps in her direction, her white tail went up and they flew off into the woods to the right. RBA yelled, “Daddy, look!” On the way back to our house, he told me he is no longer afraid of deer.

Christmas, pt. 1

2008-01-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

So, a bit of a delay. My apologies for that, but the holidays have kept us busy. This year was a new Christmas experience for us — we spent it as a nuclear family here in NC. In some ways it was difficult for everyone — feeling the absence more acutely at holidays, and all that. But in other ways it was great. We had lots of quality time together and have actually been able to play with some of the gifts the boys received. Packages began arriving here a week or so before Christmas, and it hasn’t stopped yet. Some of the highlights — a bow + mallow [a bow which shoots marshmallows]; Heely’s, and the Wii. Labeling those as “highlights” is not to suggest that other gifts people have sent were not also well-received. But these three lend themselves well to photos. Pictures of the boys watching Mr. Bean’s Holiday aren’t that compelling, although the audio track would be. HBA has a pretty good Mr. Bean impression, which you will have to call to hear as I can't get a sound file to load.

So we now have small marshmallows decomposing across the front lawn, and I am wondering about the diets of local wildlife. The bow is quite satisfying to shoot, very tactile, makes a nice “thunk!” sound, and sends the marshmallow about 30 feet. This picture series does a pretty good job of capturing it. We developed a game where we aim the bow straight up and try to catch the marshmallows as they fall — certainly not good training for a real bow with arrows. The hardest part was discouraging RBA from chasing after the marshmallows he missed, picking them up off the ground and eating them. It was an instinctive reaction for him that was almost impossible to stop. He would grab them, pop them in his mouth, laugh, and immediately say, “sorry!”

More on the Heely's and Wii soon — I've got quite a backlog of posts to work through.

The Christmas "tree"

2007-12-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

So, some have asked to see photos of the Christmas "tree." Here you go. The story is, we live in a small house and annually feel guilty about putting a dying tree up, struggling to keep it as alive as possible, then throwing it away. So this year, the boys + I took a walk in the woods and collected dead + down branches, bound them up and put them in a vase. The result is above, in a very poor quality cell-phone image... But you get the idea.

a few more pictures:

2007-12-07T16:47:00.001-08:00

A few more pictures. There are plenty more here and here, (thanks to my sister).

Thanksgiving

2007-12-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

So, we are just now catching up after the Thanksgiving break. My parents + sister came into town and we had a mini-Christmas celebration. Nice time had by all. We walked in the woods, collected and compared leaves, looked them up on the computer to determine their identity. We collected pine cones, interesting branches and made crafty things with them. HBA wanted to recreate the family stocking tradition, so we made stockings out of felt and decorated them, then rushed all over town buying stuff to put in them.

We saw the local theater company’s production of an Appalachian mystery play — “A Beautiful Star,” which we enjoyed a lot, although we were glad that RBA fell asleep prior to the Isaac / Abraham scene, in which Abraham struggles with and prepares to sacrifice his son. Thought it might be a bit much for him, and I was glad not to have to field those questions. However, since then, he has grown quite attached to the Beautiful Star soundtrack. He claims that his favorite song is “all of them.” HBA prefers “Waterbound.”

Over the course of the weekend, we ate a lot, ate well, and ate often, particularly Lucky 32 — the perfect holiday. Although, came to work this week, saw this, and felt guilty for our gluttony. In the end, so glad they had the chance to visit. Here are a few photos, thanks, in part, to my sister.

cursive

2007-11-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

I went to visit with HBA’s second-grade teacher recently for a regularly-scheduled conference. Her report was glowing on all accounts except one. He takes after his father — not exactly a natural predilection for sports. So, he tends to sit on the bench with his teacher and comment on the happenings of the playground, or a new idea which has sunk its roots into his mind. His teacher thought we might want to encourage him to become more involved with sports, or something of that sort. So, on our bike ride home, I told him about how I regretted the fact that, when I was in second grade, I spent many a recess sitting with another student at the tether-ball pole, writing in the dirt with a stick, teaching ourselves cursive rather than playing with the kids our age. He seemed sympathetic to my story, and I thought I had passively gotten my point across. The next day, H was very excited to tell me that he had decided to teach himself cursive on the playground as well. In fact, he had spent recess that day sitting on the bench explaining his plan to his teacher. Since then, he has taught himself cursive — a script far superior to mine, which is really just scribbled print with some superfluous curls thrown in for effect.
The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Walk in the woods

2007-11-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

The woods are currently alive with color. RBA + I went for a rather lengthy walk yesterday, and discovered all sorts of interesting sights, including "Leaf Man," a mysterious creature with the body of a young boy, but with a leaf for a head. Luckily, I caught a picture before I fled.

I also tried a few shots of the woods from the back porch. None of the shots capture it, but this is the best I’ve been able to get. It still catches me off-guard sometimes.

The tulip poplar tree

2007-11-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Back in the woods behind our house is a huge tulip poplar tree. The tree is native to the region, and is characterized by ubiquitous tulip-shaped leaves, and an [apparently] phenomenal blossom in the spring. This particular tree is about 150 feet high, 64 inches in diameter, and at least 250 years old. It is listed as part of the county’s treasured tree program, and is literally revered within the college community, partly for its historical significance. The tree matches a number of descriptions of a meeting place on the underground railroad from the early 1820s. Early Quaker farmers who owned this land in the early 19th century were instrumental in establishing the railroad, and standing on the steep ravine near its enormous base, one can easily imagine that this would have been a fairly effective hiding place 185 years ago.

When we moved here, a number of people told us we had to go see The Tree, and all of them provided very helpful hand directions, e.g. “Down the road by your house, off to the left, then left, then right, down a ravine and it is right there. You can’t miss it, etc.” So, I tried and couldn’t find it; I chatted with another new faculty member who had also received the same advice, but she couldn’t find it either. So, our families got together to pool our collective wisdom and couldn’t find it, and barely made it out of the darkened woods alive thanks to our trusty flashlight. I called campus facilities on a lazy Saturday and one of the guys had some spare time, took me out to show me a very fascinating beech tree with wonderfully gnarled branches. But not the tulip poplar tree. My sister + brother-in-law came to visit, and we, again searched for the tree. She suggested that this may be some sort of new faculty prank. Just as we were about to give up, we ran into a Kenyan exchange student on the path. We asked him if he knew The Tree, and he graciously offered to take us directly to it.

The Tree is pretty phenomenal, and, of course, impossible to translate into photos. Four of us wrapped our arms around it. This past weekend, RBA and I took a long walk through the woods, back to the tree which is currently bright yellow.

we have deer

2007-11-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

We live on a college campus. Our house backs up to about 200 acres of woods, which is full of all sorts of wildlife, of the undergraduate and non-collegiate type. We regularly see deer very near our house in the evening. Two in our driveway the other night; five in front of our house last week, with one venturing within a few feet of our front porch. I have tried to snap a few pictures of the deer to no avail. As comfortable as they seem to be around us, they grow understandably skittish as I approach slowly with the camera.

So, here is the best shot so far. In fact, I like the picture, more for its abstract quality. I'm sure there will be more to come.

a few more pictures

2007-11-10T17:15:00.001-08:00

life in the south, pt. 2

2007-11-10T16:49:00.001-08:00

a lazy Saturday... I rehabed LBA's mountain bike — stripped it down to a single gear, new road tires — and we rode our bikes over to a neighborhood park. RBA is now, by his own description, an excellent mountain biker, although his training wheels tend to get caught on the roots which cut across the trails in the park. We fully enjoyed ourselves on the swingset, skipped some stones in the lake, then retired to Elizabeth's for pizza. All in all, a great Saturday. I suppose we all have to pay the piper tomorrow with some house-cleaning, homework + grading, but it was well worth it.

The Walk

2007-11-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, the boys + I participated in a local walk for peace. It consisted of a six mile walk from the Friends meeting house across the street from the college to downtown Greensboro. We made it for about two miles before the lure of Ben + Jerry’s distracted us. Both boys were real troopers, although RBA took three strides for each of ours. Both boys waved their signs + yelled whenever someone honked, which was a surprisingly common phenomenon.

There were a few hundred people, which was heartening to see. Lots of kids involved.
Some local news coverage here [where you can see HBA in his red OU cap, and me standing next to him] + here.

life in the south, pt. 1

2007-11-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

So, this summer, we relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina from what the locals proudly called the nation’s “heartland.” While the move was professional, it was also an attempt to reorient priorities. We are learning to live in the south, and to simplify — surprisingly sympathetic processes. I will periodically post updates on our progress on both accounts. Work + school are keeping us busy. I am still occasionally astounded by the intricacy of the landscape, the colors and the overwhelming lack of linearity. It has turned cold. The leaves are falling. A crimson red oak leaf sits wrinkling on my desk. Others occasionally listlessly float by my office window. There is a fire in the hut, and the smoke wafts across the campus.

first post

2007-10-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

no time... too busy... but that is when it matters most. More to come.