March Hair

More shots of TUA and her amazing head of hair.



This is the beginning of Tua's month four.
54 degrees allows for an afternoon in the new buggy. Tua nods off immediatly after being harnessed in.

Maps and How to Pay for Them

This blog now has a ClusterMap feature. For no cost, we are able to see where on the world map some of the hits on this site are coming from. I confess, it appeals to the voyer in me to have this random bit of information (regardless of how accurate it might be) accessible. There seems to be no hangups with this system so far. Spam levels haven't spiked and our credit cards seem to be in order. ClusterMap, however, must have some means of putting bread on the table. If you click on the map on the bottom left of this page, you will be redirected to the designated site upon which our map is layed out in larger scale. Above the map you will note a series of advertisments by various internet groups. If you glance through these, you will find that the subject matter of the most recent blogs is the variable from which is drawn the theme of the days advertisments. Thursday of last week was the day we added the map's html to the layout. Thursday was the day that I had written briefly of the incident with the stream running through our basement. By 9:30 the next morning, ClusterMap had posted five ads on our map page. Every advert heralded the best solution to a wet basement. The ads change each day, and each day I am amazed what the marketeers who read these pages come up with that might pique my interest enough to want to hit their site. Yesterday, I saw one of the more amusing ads that ClusterMaps has generated. We have some friends who recently posted on their blog pictures they had taken while at the zoo. The post also included a short story of a monkey snatching a biscuit away from their daughter. The first day their ClusterMap came online, the ads were centered on the animal kingdom including ads for animal ringtones. One ad read---MONKEY- BID FOR MONKEYS ON EBAY.....Now there's an auction I'd like to witness.

Thumbs

Tua has found her thumb....
Dichotomous forms of distraction...
Here is my dad holding the near bed-time Tua. In this shot is modeling a woolen coverlette made by Disana of Germany. Before you jump to any conclusions about my apparent diaper fashion savvy, I will have you know that I know next to nothing about the labels or the designers behind this niche. When I sit down to write these scripts, I'm constantly calling on Bug for clarification as to what Tua is wearing in a certain photo, where it was made, who designed it, and most importantly, why we just had to have it. I do know this much about the above modeled piece. These woolen coverlettes will not leak. They are designed as another line of defense and are the preferred garmet between the hours of 11pm and 4:30 am. Should anything pass through the cloth diaper, the wool save the day (or the night, in this case). I still prefer BUMgenius. It is the easiest diaper to put on when you are half asleep.

Lake Effect

Beginning May 1st, anyone crossing from the U.S into Canada will be required to have a passport. This will undoubtedly increase the time it takes to get to Montreal by a significant amount. We live a little over two hours from the border and have had, on several occasions, the opportunity to venture into Quebec. From the cuisine to the architecture, to the staunch refusal of the natives to speak anything but Quebecois, you would think the body of water you crossed was the Atlantic and not the St. Laurence. In February and March, Quebec also happens to be the destination of thousands of Vermonters who prefer the vast lakes and backcountry areas for snowmobiling. One can evidently go for days and not see another soul. And if that weren't reason enough, there are also vast stretches of lakes and fields upon which riders can reach speeds that they would be prohibited from reaching in the States. One such party of hopefuls made the excursion two weeks ago. After trailering their sleds across the border, they parked their vehicles, loaded their provisions onto the machines, and headed north for a five day adventure. Days one, two, and three, went by with no outstanding activity. They were blessed with good sunlight and increasing snow depth as they ventured north. The morning of the fourth day they were treated to a sunrise over a lake with no name and, from their camp, no apparent terminus. After breakfast, they determined that they would try to cross the frozen expanse at the fastest speeds their sleds could take them. Two miles out, their spedometers were reading well over 150 mph. It was at that point when one of the riders realized that the surface of the lake had changed. Instead of the ice they had started on, there appeared before them a broad expanse of water, still with no end in sight. The rider who noticed radioed to his companions, and all three no doubt began to mull thoughts of eternity.
The story ends well enough. It seems that momentum and speed override mass and weight and in Canada, where you are allowed to move faster, you are allowed to use these physics to live a bit longer. Fifteen minutes later, with shaking hands upon the throttles, the adventurers finally reached the other side of the lake. Upon their return to civilization, where they were able to retrace their route with the aide of map and distance tools, they were astounded to learn that they had 'skimmed' across five miles of open water. Quite a feat when you consider the combined weight of sled and rider to be greater than 900 pounds.
By the way, this story, regardless of its truthfulness, has about 10 different morals to it. At this point in the evening, I'm too tired to explain any of them.

Frosted Takes

Tua in her new diaper coverlette. In its former life, this garmet was a sweater worn by someone from somewhere else. A company called Righteous Recycles remakes woolen sweaters into warm, leak-proof covers. The rest of these shots are from this morning. We awoke to a land that had been dusted by a few inches of snow. Everything was frosted over nicely and despite the flat lighting, the pictures do the work.

The Good South Wind

Today is the third day of Spring and I am pleased to say that warmer temperatures have crept their way into Vermont, at least for the immediate present. It was warm enough to take Tua out into the world for a walk in the woods without first bundling her beyond recognition. Because her head was free from blankets and woolen scarves, she was able to see. She kept her eyes open throughout the entirety of our amble through the woods. At a stream crossing, her ears caught the sound of rushing water and her eyes tracked the sound to its source. We paused just to watch her gaze at the stream below us. It made me wish that I had the retentive capacity to recall the first time I saw water moving over rock. For the rest of the short hike, she was gurgling loudly as her eyes darted from object to object along our path.

World Water Day

Today is World Water Day. The theme this year was "Coping with Water Scarcity." Events were held around the world, though primarily in the global South, to commemmorate this. I've posted a BBC sponsored site below. It contains entries from dozens of souls from all over speaking of the impact that water (or the lack of water, more accuratly) has had upon their lives. Here in Bridgewater, Vermont USA, we celebrated World Water Day by having another small river flowing through our basement. It's not nearly as bad as the flood last week, and right now it seems pretty much contained. Ironic though, having water that I don;t want on a day highlighting the immediacy of water scarcity. America has more resources than we know what to do with, including good, clean water. If we could only give more of these resources freely without considering our own needs as much as we do, I'd say we might be onto something. I will retire this evening thankful for water. Hopefully, the basement will be dry by dawn.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6480887.stm