These must be the halcyon days of fall

Fall is here: the leaves started changing, the nights started cooling, the days turned rainy and grey... and then came a return to the sun and warmth of the previous season.  Some would call it an Indian Summer, but we think a more appropriate term might be "paradise."  Sure it's hot, but we try to remind ourselves that instead of complaining about the heat we could be breaking out the hats and mittens like this time last year, and who wants that already?  So we took advantage of the hand mother nature dealt and made today a hiking day.  There's something a little odd about sweating through your shorts and t-shirt while shuffling through richly colored fallen leaves, but we didn't complain back in July or August so why should we now?  Not to mention that when we went on hikes back in July Calvin was a very different kind of hiking partner.  Back in July he enjoyed looking at the things we pointed out but was basically just along for the ride in his backpack carrier.  Today Calvin seemed to be doing most of the pointing, followed by that babbling noise that sounds suspiciously like a well posed question that we just can't understand.  He spent half of the hike in the backpack and the other half pushing his own little feet through the downed leaves.  He found a squirrel, a cat (inappropriately out of doors), a spider, and even a wee little frog, and he made sure to point them out for our own viewing pleasure.  He amazes us.  We love watching him discover the natural world we love so much, and we are thankful for these halcyon days of fall.

Driving edamommy up the wall

Animals of all kinds are able to identify their offspring by the unique sound of their call.  For whales this sound is a haunting bellow, for birds a beautiful song, and for dolphins a cheerful chirp.  Other animals are not so lucky - next time you are compiling your sympathy list you might consider including that poor hyena mother, or the mom to a baby howler monkey.  And somewhere along that scale, of course, fall human mothers.  We hear it all:  tears, screaming, laughing, babbling, and, we can't forget, whining.  Who can forget the whining?  At this point in time we are convinced that the whine is the single most identifiable sound in Calvin's vocal range - we can pick it out of a busy room anywhere, and it often sends us heading in the opposite direction if possible.  Unfortunately the whine is also the most frequently heard sound, and it has a long list of uses to which Calvin is forever adding.  Over the past few weeks Calvin has begun to take an interest in "driving" things around the house, such as toy cars, elephants on wheels, and even blocks without wheels - he will drive anything that will push easily, and of course he accompanies this new driving skill with motor noises that sound suspiciously similar to his ear-piercing whine.  We try to remind ourselves that this is creativity at its earliest and best, but that's hard to keep in mind as we sit through lunch watching and listening to Calvin driving his edamame across his highchair tray, wondering if we wouldn't prefer that baby howler monkey after all.

Fancy footwork

Look out America, there's a new So You Think You Can Dance contestant in the making! He's no Danny Tidwell (who, by the way, should have won this season) yet, but he practices his newfound art every time he hears anything remotely resembling music, and we've captured a few choice moments for your viewing pleasure. The first part of this video was taken last week, after his second dance class, while the rest of the video was taken this afternoon, after his third class. We like to imagine that we see improvement.

Music credits go to Fisher Price, Propellerheads, and Mario Spinetti.

The daredevil

Pick a good one

When the temperatures cool, and the late day shadows lengthen, we find ourselves hungering for the traditional colors, smells, and flavors of fall.  Last Wednesday, well after the sun had gone for the night, we sat bundled up on our deck, huddled around a smoky fire drinking hot cider.  On Friday we went through our recipe box, moving all those warm weather recipes to the back and replacing them with those rich and spicy fall recipes, like squash dishes, and stews.  Then today we made that oh so cherished seasonal trek to the apple orchard down the road.  It was the opening weekend of their annual Country Fair, complete with petting farm, pony rides, play areas, apple and pumpkin picking, haunted outbuildings, and, of course, fresh cider and doughnuts.  The trees and grass might still be green, and the warmer days of Indian Summer still ahead of us, but we just couldn't wait any longer to enjoy that wonderful grocery list of fall pleasures.  For some reason Calvin doesn't seem to remember having been there last year, and he greeted the occasion with wonder and excitement.  He loved the llamas and the swings, was flabbergasted by the corn, and was perhaps a little too enthusiastic about the apple picking (it was hard to explain to him that we were supposed to wait until later before eating apples we picked).  An orchard, particularly this orchard, is a very pleasant place to be during the changing of the seasons, and this visit will certainly not be our last. 

The classic apple picking pictures are in our Sept 15-21 photo album.