Spring Changes

Spring is humming in Southern California. The blue ceanothus blossoms are thick with bees in search of pollen. After the loss of our bees and the subsequent swarm at a friend's house, shaken into a box and relocated here, we are back to two hives thanks to an additional swarm that simply moved into a prepped hive Eric had readied and placed empty on our property. Although I've heard bees do this and even heard fellow Backwards Beekeepers give sworn testament that it has happened to them, I had my doubts we'd have the luck for it to happen to us. But there they were. In the hive. Busy. Buzzing. Doing the work that bees do. It was like finding a wrapped present left on your doorstep containing exactly what you hoped for in your most delicious daydreams.

With spring comes extreme hair. After over a year of repeated requests by the boys for mohawks, Eric pulled out the clippers and granted their wish.

And my youngest son sports some facial hair...at least for a brief time. A distinguished gentleman to be sure.

Cork Bandolier

Pirates, or at least pirate weaponry, are hot again at Camp Ramshackle. My youngest son with his art director sensibility decided he would like to make a bandolier. We talked about the project and came up with this idea that made for a fun afternoon project. Plus, he looks pretty wicked and ready for the high seas now. Calico Jack, take note.

Materials:

29 corks

2 toothpicks

tape

2 pieces twine, approximately 48" each

Drill

Steps:
Tape the toothpicks to the end of the twine. This will serve as a sewing needle to attach the corks. We color coded the toothpicks, which helped us assemble the corks without twisting the bandolier.

Drill two holes in each cork about a half inch from the ends. I used a larger drill bit so it would be easy to pass the toothpick needles through the holes.

Sew the corks together using both twines parallel to each other.

To secure the cork in place, loop back into the same hole.

And tighten. Once all your corks are on, size the bandolier to fit your pirate, then tie off the ends.

Eight!

And so it happens, an eight year old guy is in our house. He celebrated with a cake customized to suit his fancy: white chocolate dipped strawberries on a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla frosting. Originally, he had hoped for a cherry cake, but we're outside the season by about two weeks. He solved the problem by suggesting strawberries instead.

Not so long ago, he was just a wee guy. In some ways the baby days seem like only yesterday, but other times it does feel like eight years, taken step by step and savored with the small and big developments over the years: a crawl to a walk, a walk to a run to riding a bike...

...one handed.

Happy birthday, sweet son.

Five! And the Question: Are Skaters Born or Made?

Five year old snow leopard at the LA Zoo.

Chocolate chip ice cream cake. Ice cream made by five year old in the morning. Our first homemade ice cream cake. I'm extremely grateful it turned out.

Destiny. Elation. 

We live very close to a skate park. When we are out walking in our neighborhood, more often than not skaters roll past us on way to the park. My sweet five year old from his days in a sling to rolling in a stroller and beyond has been mesmerized by the sport. At two when his speech was just forming, he would stand on a flat rock outside on the kitchen porch, balancing with arms outstretched and jump off, "A flipper!" his word for skaters.

And so, on his fifth birthday, celebrating with a good friend and his family, my youngest son got his first skateboard...and a mom-made hat at his request & a framed comic drawn by his older brother. Happy birthday, sweet son.

Return of the Bed Top Bivouac

My youngest son has been lobbying for a bed top bivouac off and on for months. Eric built one for our oldest son long ago. I attempted a rebuild a few months ago, but the sticks I used were not stable enough and the bivouac fell apart after a week or so.

My youngest woke with a singular focus: to rebuild the bivouac. Before the heat settled in, I cut some branches from a small Eucalyptus and removed the secondary branches and leaves.

We moved the posts inside and assembled a new, much sturdier, bed top bivouac.

Graciously received and thoroughly appreciated.

Previously:
Bed Top Bivouac

A Sparrow's Tiny Departure

An almost eight year old at our house is now officially a free n' two wheelin' bike rider. So exciting, the side by side run, holding onto his bike seat, "Okay, Mom, let go!" And off he goes and goes and goes. While we were at one of our local parks enjoying the flat long pathways, we stumbled upon a baby sparrow. I walked past and noticed a tiny still bird not moving despite my closeness. The sweet young bird still had a few of fluffy little feathers of a baby bird newly fledged from the nest. My sons and I think she may have been mouthed by a bird dog also in the park.

My youngest son sat with the dying bird, laying some sticks flat around it. "What's happening, Mom?" he asked. I said the bird was letting go of its life energy.

Slowly and gracefully over the next fifteen minutes, this bird stopped breathing. The jagged breaths ended. Calm beauty remained.

I dug a small hole, my son gently pushed the lifeless body into it. We covered it with dirt. I am reminded of my dear Moxie. I think of my friend's good friend & family who said goodbye to their son this summer.

“to live in this world

you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go” 
-Mary Oliver
excerpt from In Blackwater Woods

Unexpected Delight: Casting Pond Refill

While camping in Mammoth Lakes, my youngest son found a cast off broken fishing pole, truly a treasured find. Thanks to his treasure, his interest, and his older brother's, in fishing or rather casting has increased. Luckily, we live near the Pasadena Casting Pond. When we marched over to spend the day, we were surprised to find the newly revamped pond being refilled.

You can cast anywhere, as the oak trees on our property wrapped in fishing line will attest. A few dry casts were thrown, but the bulk of time was spent playing in the water.

We have gone back regularly to watch the developments. The pond is now completely full and resuming it's steady algae growth. Our casting continues.

Summer Road Trip One of Two: Part III Adventure Playground

On our late June/early July trip to northern California, the boys and I made a plan to visit Berkeley's Adventure Playground. Built in 1979, the Adventure Playground is one of the greatest things the hippies ever did. Inspired by the way kids play on vacant lots using available materials and imagination, the Adventure Playground offers a space for kids to alter the playground they play on using paint, nails and saws.

The playground in Berkeley's Marina is idea for kids seven and older, although younger children are welcome as long as they are within arms reach of their grown ups.

My seven year old entered the playground and was gone, climbing the structures, riding the zip line (for 6 year olds and older, much to my almost five year old's disappointment. We decided we would come back when he was six.).

If playground goers want to use tools or paint, they must earn them:

My youngest found a "Mr. Dangerous", a protruding nail in a play structure, that was promptly nailed flat by one of the blue-hoodied staff.

My oldest earned the use of a hammer by offering up the rope swing to one of the staff who was demonstrating the safe use the equipment to a summer camp tour group. We followed up our visit with a trip to Moe's Books followed by hot chocolate at Caffe Mediterraneum. Moe's is the same as in my memory, but Cafe Med seemed different, although I think all the furniture remains the same. Perhaps all that has really changed is the experience held in my memory.

Kid Jam Business

While I was tucking my youngest into bed one evening, he informed me he was going into the strawberry jam business with details about how he would make it and what he would do with his earnings which includes taking over the duties of buying groceries. He informed me I need only make a list, he'd take care of the rest. The next morning, he showed me the recipe he would use that he found in his High Five Highlights magazine.

We dove into the project. I assisted with the grown up things (reading, lifting heavy pots, etc.), but this guy lead the entire project from the hulling and mashing of the strawberries...

to the stirring of the jam...

to the filling of the jars and preparing them for the final water bath. He's already made two sales. His first to his oldest brother. We made a second batch, strawberries hand picked at Underwood Farms, before we headed out on a road trip of northern California.

Annals of Play

The armada readies for sail to friends and family. Senior son's creation.

Marble track. Free-for-all general marble bedlam in the interior, the sound of glass crisply colliding, the ping of the marble meeting metal. Picked up one by one and lined up like a precision acrobatic team to orbit the rim, spinning round, then gracefully descending to the concrete. A slight push sends them around again with the red, green, yellow swirls in the center fluttering like tiny flags. Youngest son's creation.

And the reason why I've been away. My sweet mother's day gift. The house dirties. Dog hair swirls in tufted eddies under the couch. Suppers are pulled like a miracle from quickly assembled foods. In the evening, the kitchen is tidied. Dishes cleaned. I sit down and play, go to bed too late, and wake up in the morning with my body hazy from lack of sleep to start the cycle over again. I am in love.

First Newt of the Season

Our after school canyon adventure with classmates marked the first catch (and release) of a newt this season.

Other wildlife sightings: juncos, one raven swooping low through the canyon & many squirrels. None held.

From fellow adventurer Julie Desmond on the newt (thanks, Julie!):

It was a California newt. They go through a terrestrial phase (non-breeding, where their skin is all bumpy) and an aquatic phase (breeding, where their skin becomes smooth and they develop a swollen 'vent' (what we were noticing on its underside) and rough 'nuptial pads' on their hands each year once they reach maturity (after 2-3 years). They tend to return to the same breeding spot every year, sometimes traversing miles over land to get there (they're often seen in large numbers after spring rains heading to breeding spots). Their skin secretes tetrodotoxin, 'a potent neurotoxin which can cause death in many animals if eaten in sufficient quantity' (but note that the poison can also be ingested through a mucous membrane or a cut in the skin, so care should always be taken when handling them). Tetrodotoxin is the same toxin that pufferfish produce.

Spring Garden Through the Lens of a Four Year Old

Joshua Tree Redux

We headed out to Joshua Tree to take in more desert spring.

Kids in rocks.

Pinon pine.

Departing lunch at the Inn.

A garden wander.

Brazen visit from a juvenile Cooper's Hawk to close the adventure.