In a dream I possessed it

What a year, huh? What a month, what a time to be alive. 

In dog news, Clover is not immune to the generalized national anxiety disorder and was so disconcerted by 1) the sound of melting snow sliding off the roof and 2) the fact that Mark and I were away from home at the same time and probably 3) news* on the radio, left on to "keep her company," that she nibbled through the handles of the tote bag that hangs on the basement doorknob and holds dishtowels and cloth napkins destined for the laundry. It was the first illicit chewing she's done since she was a wee pup and shredded an entire New Yorker, cover-to-cover, into confetti. At first we panicked, misconstruing how the handles had connected to the tote bag and estimating there were about six missing inches of handle. Luckily, we didn't see "intestinal obstruction" etc etc online and immediately whisk her off to the emergency vet, but instead looked again at the tote bag, correctly lined the handles up and realized she'd only detatched them from the bag, without actually ingesting any fabric. 

She's sometimes a nervous wreck, but zooms, gleeful, through the backyard paths dug in the snow (more coming this week, but there's ~ 9 inches out there now). A person can walk the paths like a labyrinth too, if a person doesn't worry about the neighbors thinking they're crazy!

In bird news, I've noticed several robin gangs recently, hundreds of them in enormous rounds** swooping from tree to tree, down to the ground, back up together to gobble withered, frozen February berries, ravenous and noisy. 

In dream news, I dreamt I was talking with Oona about her dream of taking a cross-country road trip. "It's actually," I told her gently, "a pretty great reason to get a driver's license." She agreed. David added, "Plus, cars are great!" And then, I told a dream joke: I said, "Although your mileage may vary."

Fun fact: William Burroughs' parents paid him an allowance until he was 50.

Blast from the past.

RIP David Lynch.

5 Early Signs.

*BBC News because it sounds less real when it's in a British accent.

**A round of robins, or a breast of robins, or a blush of robins, take your pick.

Fingers sticky if I could only hear it

The air is translucent again, after days of thick, sticky heat, and birds singing through it in the yard. It feels like Maine!

Isaac was here for almost a week, and so was Oona, and there was some A+ cousin time, Zoë and Isaac and Oona (and sometimes Jonah) heading to the lake, to visit the food trucks on the Eastern Prom. Friday night, Adam, Oona, Zoë, and I watched Stop Making Sense in Congress Square Park, alongside a five-year-old's rollicking birthday party (birthday boy in a suit, much dancing along to the movie). 

I do keep thinking I should write more here, as a way to keep track of the Things and When they Happened.

Like this, a Kettle Cove picnic-by-the-sea on a hot August evening, with banh mi and cold seltzer and a raspberry swirl pound cake made by Oona and me. No Frisbee was played, no swimming was done, but there were Good Dogs there.

Or this, early on a Saturday morning, after we heard a rumor that Cong Tu Bot had reopened for breakfast only, and just the four of us headed out first thing to sit outside and try their breakfast sandwich and coconut yogurt with lychee and mango and sweet Vietnamese iced coffee and brilliant green pandan coffee cake. Pictured: walking there from where we parked the car, from across the street, I thought, my family!

follow me in merry measure

introducing charlie the dog, minnow's san francisco cousin and the newest addition to the family. my mom is visiting him (and his humans) right now, and she sent me a few snapshots.

he is a little guy, about ten pounds, possibly a jack russell terrier/chihuahua mix, with a big dog personality (according to my mom, and that's the ultimate compliment). i can't wait to meet him!

there goes summer over the hill

we had a bonus post-vacation week of sweeties, of dog walks and korean tacos and bubble tea and bookshops and movies and wading pools in the drizzly rain.

i'm certain that there's no one minnow would rather have spent his ninth birthday with. here, jonah and oona sing happy birthday while presenting him with a birthday-candled frosty paws (oona blew the candle out for him before he carried it happily away in his mouth).

katonah

my dad, isaac, and i handed the sweeties off yesterday in katonah, which is more or less halfway in between new jersey and cambridge. my family lived there for about nine years, from when i was eleven until i was a sophomore in college. it's not where i'm "from," but at the same time, it kind of is.

oh, before you continue reading this, you really should be listening to katonah by rufus wainwright. even though we weren't burying jack johnson or anything. still, the song is about katonah, and even mentions  "taconic" and "westchester," words that are not often sung about.

we had lunch at the katonah restaurant, which was a diner when i lived there (though it was always called the katonah restaurant). holly and i used to go there for fries and diet soda. was the wait staff always this cranky? i can't remember.





















we drove up wildwood road, past our old house. some of the houses look exactly the same (same names on the mailboxes and everything). ours is unrecognizable. i didn't take a picture because there was a guy out front working on something. there is odd siding and a pointy roof and a second story and a wide stone chimney where once was a basic l-shaped, flat-roofed ranch. there is still a day camp directly across the street (holly and i both worked there several summers. i could stumble out of bed in the morning, throw on my katonah day camp ringer t-shirt, and stumble across the street to work).





















 i went to katonah elementary for sixth grade. i learned to juggle there.





















i have blocked so many memories about john jay junior high (now middle school) that i'm not even sure if it looks different now. probably. i still have nightmares about trying to find the right bus in this circular driveway.





















and finally, a stop at my high school. and there you have it, the tour down memory lane! isaac was very tolerant about getting his picture taken in scenic locales and hearing stories about how what is now a pizza place used to be the other deli, also known as the "murder market," though i don't really know why. i pointed out the scenes of various crimes, my friends emily and eva's house, the house where "crazy esther" lived, the path through the woods we took to walk home from downtown, the things that are the same and the things that have changed. i almost feel sorry for people who stay in the same place, or maintain their connection to it consistently. because it's really fun to have the perspective of returning somewhere after years have passed.

last day with the sweeties

today is the last day; this afternoon i will drive them to cambridge, and tomorrow on to new york state, where we'll return them to their other grandmother. the sun came out yesterday, so we went to fort williams. i lined all the cousins up and told them to look serious.

 jonah was meditative.























 zoë was glamorous.























 oona found a rock that curiously resembled a letter B, which inspired us to create a font from rocks.























 some letters were more challenging than others.























 we went to otto for lunch. jonah and oona gave their pizza two thumbs up, though oona thought the sauce was a little too "bunchy."























 and then, bubble maineia! jonah, isaac, zoë and i had bubble teas, and oona had some ice cream. we walked all over town and all the way home.























 buddies.























 aspiring farmer with a farmer's tan.























 last night we had another little bonfire and made s'mores. mama d came over briefly and commented that this is what life would be like if mark and i had had five children. if that's true, i wouldn't mind it one bit.

a couple of sweeties

day one with two of my very favorite sweeties, robot and pink (or should i unmask them, too? oh, okay: they are really jonah and oona, my bruddie's kids). mom and dad picked them up in vermont, where they were spending a couple of days with their other grandmother, and mark, isaac, and i met them in portsmouth for a sweetie hand-off at the friendly toast.

we ate some delicious cheesy fries and other treats, but jeeze their prices have gotten so high. granted, their portions are humongous, but still. i'm becoming more of a silly's fan all the time.






















jonah and oona said their goodbyes to mana, pop, and lulu, and then we drove (via a very long, scenic coastal route) home to portland.






















mark and oona made a perfect fire in the fire pit.






















 yay, lighting things on fire!






















all day today it's either been rainy or that strange hot-cold-humid that makes you want to go see a movie. i took the sweeties to see toy story three, which was awesome. it was really really funny, until the end when it was incredibly sad. i can't remember the last time i didn't cry at a pixar movie (oona kept me company and cried a little too).






















 tomorrow, i'm hoping for a little sun, so we can take long walks and maybe take a picnic to the beach!