Vermont Visit Part III: Sunflowers

Have you noticed that I like sunflowers?

If I can't be in southern France this time of year to pretend like I live in a sunflower field, I can always go to Vermont! Something about this happy, very summery flower makes me smile, even on a cloudy day. I guess that's it: if you can't have sunshine, sunflowers can provide a glimpse of brightness. As the song goes: You are my Sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey.... You know the rest.





Besides being pretty, following the sun, and making me smile, sunflowers are quite useful (it's also a very smart, and geometric plant!). You can of course eat the sunflower seeds, and cook with its oil. Pretty soon, this very same oil will be powering up cars, machines, and who knows what else. You've got to like a pretty plant with possibilities!

Vermont Visit Part II: Friends

Old friends, new friends. To reunite with old friends, and to have our children start new friendships, is a pretty special thing. Haley did a great job at being the biggest sister to them all, but at the same time, a great friend. She played with the other three year old kids, but also helped bathe them, comb their hair, read them books, and even sang lullabies. There were moments when the adults got to have adult conversations while the children play happily in the next room. We heard a few squabbles, but for the most part, there were giggles, and laughters, stories and dances. I imagine (and hope) that as they grow, their relationships will grow with them.




As for our dear friends, we are happy to be close (in distance) to them again. Randy was arguably our first friend in Santa Cruz when we moved there in 1999. We met with him one evening at a sushi shack for dinner, and a few days later, we were kayaking with him and his cousins amongst all sorts of sea animals at Elkhorn Slough just south of Santa Cruz.




From that weekend on, we have shared many special memories with Randy, and Amy joined in not too long after that. We missed them when they moved away from Santa Cruz to start a new life in New England. Now that we see what they have found and created for themselves, we couldn't be happier for them. Their home is a lovely old farmhouse with plenty of space to grow a garden, build a boat, soak in a hottub. Us city folks were treated to country living at its best. Both Claire and I enjoyed harvesting salads and basil from their garden; Momo loved finding little creatures that otherwise drove Amy crazy; Randy offered us the best hot tub soaking experience under the almost-full moon, under the Vermont skies. I have not even talked about the blueberry picking and the swim in the lake... We have already invited ourselves back for another taste of Vermont country life. I hope they are okay with that!

Vermont Trip Part I: Pompanuck

The first place our Vermont friends, Randy and Amy took us shortly after we arrived was Pompanuck . It's magical there, they said. And knowing them, we believed them.

We drove a short distance, crossing the state line into New York, before reaching Pompanuck. It's a home, a retreat, a community, all combined into one. The central buiding pictured here is not far from what I would call my 'dream house'. In the center of this round two-story building is a fireplace that connects the first and the second floors. It is also the source of heat for the whole building comes winter time. On the periphery of the round house are bedrooms, treatment rooms (for massage and such), bathrooms with claw foot tubs, a large kitchen, living areas, etc. etc. The wall is a combination of cement, wood, and bottles that make the whole wall a piece of art in itself. Outside, there is a big beautiful and productive vegetable and flower garden.



There was also the pond where all the fun occurred on this lovely afternoon. This particular pond is more fun than others, especially for the kids. From the moment I looked in, I saw all sort of fish swimming about. With just a little closer attention, I discovered several newts near the shore. And after a few minutes, there were frogs jumping around everywhere. Simply put, it was a kids' heaven. They spent a lot of time trying the catch the creatures, putting the unfortunate ones in the bucket, releasing them and catching them again.



Last but not least, there was the 'surf board'. With either Jim or Randy acting as the propeller, the kids had a blast riding on the board, and pretending to 'surf' on it. Before we knew it, we had spent the whole afternoon at this, indeed, magical place.

To Eat or Not to Eat

One of these is very poisonous, and the other is edible.

As I was walking to pick up the kids from summer school today, these two plants were growing right near one another. As a child, I am sure I would have picked that red ripe delicious looking fruit off the vine without thinking twice (or asking my mother).

It is a good thing that neither Claire or Momo have shown interest in doing that, because it is that very fruit - nightshade - that belongs in the poisonous plants category! It is related to the potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and several other nightshades in the same family.

The other plant, Day Lily, on the other hand, is quite edible. Certain species of Daylily is sold in Asian markets and is called 'golden needles'. Some are medicinal, but mostly, they are incorporated into soups and vegetable dishes.

But not all Daylilies are edible, and not all nightshades are deadly poisonous. One must always ask oneself: to eat or not to eat!

Leaves

A bit early, but a good reminder of what is to come!

Ducks

It doesn't really matter how we end up looking as adults (men or ducks), all babies are cute cute cute!

We found these guys at Codman farm last weekend where we get our farm fresh eggs right from the source. Our next pick up day, these little guys won't be quite the same...

Date with Momo

Occasionally, we go on a date with just one of the children. It's a treat for us as much as it is for them. One child, one parent, one on one attention is something that doesn't happen much in the world of twins.

Today I had a date with Momo while Jim and Claire spent some time together. Momo requested that we took the subway train to the New England Aquarium. And as for Claire, she just wanted to have a date with Daddy at HOME, eating tuna sandwiches. Go figure!

I had a big task ahead of me. To get to the aquarium by the subway, it involves changing three different routes: the red, green and blue lines. I was not sure how Mr. Momo was going to handle it all, but I must say, he had never behaved better! We spent three solid hours together on the trains, at lunch, at the aquarium. And of course, we had ice cream. It was one of the best dates I have ever had.

Claire had a great time with her Daddy, too. Sorry we have no photos to prove. Next time Claire and I get to spend time together, I wonder if she will want to eat sandwiches at home, too??!

Visitor

Our friend from Santa Cruz, Sam, is visiting us this weekend. She is the first of, hopefully, the many friends who will come visit us this year! We have shown her a little bit of our life here, but it is almost more fun talking about our Santa Cruz home with someone who knows exactly what we are talking about. The kids seemed surprised to see her here, but treated her as if we just saw her yesterday. Well... I guess it hasn't been quite two months yet since we left...It sure feels a lot longer than that!

Walden Pond

Another Walden Pond visitor told us today how unusually pleasant this summer has been here. As I listened, the sun was streaming down through some omnimous-looking, but benign clouds. Our children were all having a blast in the pond, pretending to swim, looking to catch minnows. The air was warm, and dry. I acknowledged what the lady told me, but inside I already knew that it was going to be the best summer ever. And I'll bet it's because we are here.

Walking home from school

It's a nice walk to and from Cambridge Nursery School. We have been fortunate that the weather has allowed us to stroll and take note of the houses, the trees and squirrels along the way. Today was especially lovely - the best of New England summer. We can't complain!

Codman Farm

I think we will be here often.

4th of July

We spent the early part of today at Walden Pond, before a mass of people arrived for the holiday swim. Then we visited Codman Farm: a community farm where several animals live, and where we could get farm fresh eggs from the free range chickens that roam the property. I had wanted to join a Community Supported Agriculture program with one of the farms in Lincoln, but it is too late in the season to join. So all we can do is visit these delightful farms that are open to public during the short growing season here. Winter is still surreal to me, which is fine for now!

Tuesday Market

There seems to be several farmers markets in Cambridge throughout the week. Today was my first chance to experience one of them, the so-called Harvard Farmer's Market, right in front of the Science Building where I used to take the summer intensive Chemistry class many moons ago.

To their credit, I have a very high expectation coming from the land of fresh, year-round produce. Nonetheless, I was quite disappointed at what I discovered. I would go so far as to say that I was sad.



There were barely ten stalls of vendors, two or three of which didn't sell produce, but pastries and other products. And the produce stands offered few goods, all rather sad and wilted. There were few fruits for sale, and barely any fresh flowers.




I am hoping that it's still early in the summer and more goodies will show up as the growing season ages. I wanted to take some good photos today, but all I could do was a photo of some very tiny pieces of cheese, and some sad looking kohlrabi... And no, I did not buy them.