Well, the weekend started off with the news that the AP had called PA, and in turn the election for Biden. Despite my being glued to the radio for the past week, it almost happened without my realizing it. I was getting the children ready to go out the door, “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on in the background. And in the space of time it took to leave the house, get three kids buckled into car seats, and turn the car radio on… it was a new America. You could almost hear a massive sigh of relief. Around here, anyway. I’m sure there are other areas of the country where the news was met with less enthusiasm. I find little comfort in the close election results. The two party system which our political system is built upon makes working together quite difficult. The binary often leaves no room for moderation.
I am excited about Kamala Harris, though. It seems silly to be excited about something as superficial as race and gender, but representation does matter.
Sunday the weather was beautiful and we had a family outing to the beach. Who would’ve thought we’d be going to the beach in mid November? As the priest who gave the homily in church that morning said, “Go outside today. The weather is beautiful. If you don’t believe in global warming, I don’t know what you believe in.”
We went to Flag Ponds Nature Park, as I had read it was a good beach to go hunting for shark teeth and fossils. We arrived at 3pm, pretty late given that the beach closed at 4pm, but we still managed to get in an invigorating hour of digging and splashing. There were all sorts of shells, fragments, and fossils to be found. The eight year old might have found a shark’s tooth, but we’re not sure. I had told the kids not to wear their swim suits because no one would be swimming, but I kind of regret that because they went into the water anyway. Note to self for next time: when going to a beach, always wear your bathing suit.
Every since the early days of our courtship the Husband and I have had this thing were we take pictures of our feet at certain landmarks. We hadn’t yet taken one of our family of five – I guess since we hadn’t really been anywhere since the baby started standing. So we took the time to take one at the beach.
The early fall sunset made for some beautiful light over the cliffs and sand banks. I loved the varied topography of this area – you could really see all the different geographical elements at play. This year I’m discovering all sorts of places to be outdoors in Maryland, and I think it’s one of those silver linings.
Monday was yet another day with no school. I somehow had missed that on my calendar, or I might have maybe planned a getaway to a cabin in the woods. As it was, I furiously searched for potential cabins with availability to no avail. Then I realized, that our admission to Shenandoah from last week was good for seven days, so I bundled the kids into the car, packed a lunch in the toddler hiking pack, and back we went. This time we hiked the Miller’s Outlook Trail. Even the baby walked a little bit! She set off determinedly down the trial for about a quarter mile, before agreeing to ride in the pack. The hike was definitely longer than I had thought it would be, and we almost turned around before getting to the outlook.
“Let’s sit and have lunch here,” I said to the kids as their energy and spirits were flagging. We sat in a pile of leaves next to some boulders and ate our sandwiches. While we were eating, group of hikers came by. We exchanged hellos. Then the eight year old piped up:
“Is the end far?”
“Not at all!” one of them replied. “Only about ten minutes.”
“Well, I suppose if it is that close, we should keep going,” the eight year old said.
And so we did. And were rewarded with sunshine pouring over a magnificent view.
After I got back and looked at the map, I discovered that I had started us at the wrong point, and that there was indeed a shorter path to the outlook.
Wednesday was the start of several days of rain. It was also Veteran’s Day. In Canada, we call it Remembrance Day, which I kind of prefer the more active name. The Husband had the day off. He had really wanted to sit in a coffee shop and read, but… COVID. So I made chocolate walnut scones in the morning for him. The recipe is from a book we picked up when we were in England years ago. It’s called Irish Pantry, and I feel like most of its recipes are perfect for cold, hunkering weather. Because our oven is still broken, I used our toaster oven and only made half a batch, freezing the rest for later. Later being that evening. Scones are easy enough, though, that I think I should make and freeze them more often so that we can have effortlessly have a fresh scone whenever we want. One of those “future me” thanks “present me” kind of things.
This week’s drawing technique was hatch and cross hatch – using lines to create shading and value. Knowing that I wanted to draw something furry, and as we have no pets, I composed a still life featuring my grandmother’s coat. I also drew some inspiration from the cover of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and added the hat and shoes. I had done a rough version of this in pen, but the final version I did in pencil. I think I ultimately prefer the version in pen; the pencil version seems a little soft to me. While I think I’m still struggling with the actual line drawing of things, I’m finding that I really love creating value – patches of light and dark. I’m fascinated by how often you can make things darker, but it is more difficult to make things lighter. So you have to be careful about how dark you let things get. Lessons for life, perhaps?
Some things this week:
There is a tree at our first house, that is brilliantly red for about one week every fall. When we lived there, we always took a picture in front of it. This past weekend, the Husband was over at the house prepping it for our next tenants and he texted me: “If you want to come over with the kids the tree is ready.”
A country divided:
Quotes of the week:
The three year old: “I am not available to go for a walk.”
What We Ate:
Saturday: Meatball sandwiches. Frozen meatballs cooked in the InstantPot with tomatoe sauce. Mozzarella. Hoagie roll. Really tasty. There might have also been a salad involved. Can’t remember.
Sunday: Breakfast Tostadas. Tostadas were an exciting new discovery this week. Versatile like tacos, but with the satisfying crunch of nachos. We topped ours with sunny side up egg, black beans, and avocado.
Monday: Tostadas again. Like I said, exciting discovery. This time fish and purple cabbage slaw. The Husband cooked.
Tuesday: Stir fry – tofu, greens, bok choy, shitake mushrooms – with noodles.
Wednesday: Chicken Divan from Cook’s Illustrated Skillet Dinner book. Tasty, a little heavy.
Thursday: Sausage Kale Soup.
Friday: Pizza, salad, and Hello Dolly! Last year I took the eight year old (along with my mom, my brother and my niece) to see Hello, Dolly! onstage starring Betty Buckley. It was an old fashioned, big hearted song and dance musical. A little outdated in style and subject, perhaps, but it delivered an evening of unbridled joy. Joy, I think, is underrated these days. The eight year old loved it, and last week I borrowed the Barbara Streisand movie from the library for her movie night. The sheer enthusiasm for life in the dance numbers doesn’t get old – I love the casual precision of good dancing. We have been singing “Put on your Sunday clothes” ever since. The three year old requests to listen to it before bed. If there is a number that expresses unbridled optimism, it’s that one.