Joy on the face of a child

Pure, anadulterated, partially naked, joy.

Friendship at three

We hit the Detroit Zoo today with Calvin's friend, Noah, and the two of them interacting together was a large percentage of the animal behavior I enjoyed while there.  It was amazing to watch them participate in actual conversation, sharing, and cooperation.  They discussed (seriously) the difference between a camel, as Noah called it, and a Bactrian Camel, as Calvin called it; They shared food at lunch; they helped each other get drinks from the drinking fountain; and they did all of this without prompting or help.  I was incredibly proud of both of them.  Watching them grow up, Calvin and all of his friends, is such a bittersweet thing.

There are several more pictures of their wonderful fun at the zoo (remember when I used to take pictures of the four legged animals at the zoo?), and since my mom hates scrolling through the plethera of monthly pictures to get to the most recent ones, you can click here to go straight to the first picture in the series and scroll through from there.

Dazed in Dexter

Our adorable little village, population a bit over 3K, hosts a somewhat rowdy and completely underdone little festival every August.  They call this little festival Dexter Daze, and before you let your mind wander into the various meanings of that second word, let me just say that it is not a rehash of the cannabis festivus that takes place every spring in Ann Arbor.  Activities at Dexter Daze, actually, range from shopping at the "artist" tents (including everything from woodworking to Pampered Chef), entering one of several raffles (with prizes from gift cards to playhouses), enjoying live music (from Elvis outside the bakery to RFD Boys on the stage), and eating, eating, eating.  The Daze takes place over two, well, days, and we had every intention of walking down Friday night, then spending Saturday hiding from the heat in the shade of our own home, but it turned out that we just couldn't stay away.  We did walk down Friday night and enjoyed great shopping at the library's book sale, followed by brats and ice cream from the food vendors and a beautiful sunset set to the tunes of a really great blues band on stage.  It was so much fun that when boredom started to set in on Saturday morning we decided to walk back into town to eat at the BBQ chicken dinner, served at 11am at a downtown church and peruse the sales tents on the park lawn.  Strangely enough we found that several people in town recognized and "knew" us already, either me, since I run through town four mornings a week, or Calvin, since he is, apparently, a celebrity at the downtown bakery.  That feeling of small town camaraderie is one of the things we really love about our new home, and it is the reason we felt compelled to walk back downtown after naptime to enjoy the final evening of the Daze.  The music, thanks to the RFD Boys, was just as good the second night, and we were joined by my parents for pizza and drinks in the beer tent, followed by another round of ice cream (did I just admit to that?).  My only complaint was the lack of beverage selection–next year they need something other than Miller Light.

Flying in the face of conventional wisdom...

...perhaps the earth really is flat?

Adult entertainment

And no, it's not what you think, but when the kids get to the age where they can play happily by themselves, dinner parites again assume that purpse that is a relaxing and enjoyable part of adult social life. We enjoyed just such an evening with good friends tonight.  Just don't ask my parents about their first escapade into that arena, around thirty years ago, while my cousin and I were off playing happily together...at painting the bathroom with toothpaste.