Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Mountain Rendevous

We certainly are very fortunate to be able to have a beautiful getaway close to home. We got a chance to see our homies for a weekend in the mountains of West Virginia, where Jimmy Lisowski and his friends (who now have become our friends too) own a gorgeous cabin. Chris was there and even Bob Klug and Bella came for a side trip on their move from Buffalo to Hudson, NY. It was marvelous to be able to be with such awesome people (and dogs)! The picture above is the view we got on what was definitely the most adventurous portion of our weekend. Damien, Chris, Bob, Jimmy, and I went on a crazy 12 mile mountain biking excursion. It was steep and treacherous. It was difficult and exhilarating. It was so rocky, wildly exhausting, and the views were brilliant! When we finally had arrived at the expansive vista, our tired bodies and spirits were uplifted and we knew we'd actually survive the journey. This was after we met the thunder and lightening storm and torrential downpours as we rode along the highest point on the ridge. The last two miles were amazing single track through blooming Mountain Laurel, purple slate, and mossy switchbacks. We all had wounds, stories of flying through the air with our bikes left behind us, scars from timber-bashing, sore wrists from maneuvering over large boulders, and giant grins on our faces. It was truly great.




We spent the rest of our time together relaxing, swimming, eating, and enjoying each other's company.
When we got home, Damien helped me build some brick planters for my little garden and we added some potted jade and peat moss. Sure feels like summer down here.


Saturday, May 12, 2007

Bringing the Wicked to Virginia



Ed & Juliette, our dear sweet peas, drove down here from Northampton MA, and brought the "wicked" with them. I easily fell back into using my native Mass lingo and we really did have a wicked awesome time together. We went to the bald cypress swamp out by Virginia beach, rode our bikes around Bell Isle here in Richmond, ate lots of wicked delicious vegan food together (including Ethiopian mmmm), explored the city, clotheslined a few coffees, and just enjoyed each other's good company. We miss you wicked bad!



For my birthday (which is the same day as my dad's) Damien got me a beautiful whitewater kayak paddle. I thought that was it. I was so excited I said I wanted to go look online right then for whitewater kayaks (we only had 1 whitewater boat, in case you're wondering our other boats are for flatwater- so the paddle was the perfect impetus to finally go ahead and buy a 2nd whitewater boat). We ran inside to get to the computer, and I took a step backward when I saw a beautiful kayak sitting on the kitchen floor! It had a giant pink bow on it. What an amazing present. Here's a picture of me using it on the James River after a set of rapids you can't really see in the distance. I've named her Clementine.


There is officially only one month left in the school year!

Happy Mother's Day too to our extradordinary mothers.