East or West??

When is the last time you had this much fun in a bathtub? Lucy's mohawk is a bit more impressive than Isaac's. Her mane is getting pretty long these days--I've even produced a ponytail, but not a nice, neat one. I have no idea how other mothers get their girls to sit still to do their hair in these intricate bows and weaves and braids. I did pigtails for the first time this week and that is about the extent of my stylistic prowess when it comes to her locks. Poor girl--she got a mother that has no patience for doing hair. That would explain my hair either being chopped off or pulled back in a ponytail. I am determined to grow it out again, by the way--a decision which brought great derision and doubting from Daman this morning. But, I long to have long medieval hair again. I do like the short look, but just like the feel of brushing my hair too. Extensions, perhaps?
A while back, while I was getting pampered by my mother, Daman took the kids down to our old stomping grounds in Buena Vista, Virginia, for Southern Virginia College's Homecoming. For those in the loop, I am fully aware that it is now Southern Virginia University, but stand my ground on that absurdity of that decision and stoicly make my protest by refusing to acknowledge it. Anyway, he had a marvelous time, breathing in the blue ridge air and glorying in the small town charm of it all. I've seen pictures from the trip--none that he took--and it fills me with longing to return. Daman will hopefully be finishing up with school in June or so and if I get my druthers we will be heading a'south when that time comes. But, we might be westward ho as well--dry summers are awfully tempting. It is difficult to be in a time of so many unknowns, but we are blessed with agency, opportunity, and a healthy family that will be with us wherever we go so I consider us pretty lucky. Sure, it would be nice to have some paths settled on, but where would the mystery be in that? Who cares where we move in nine months? Let's just all jump in the bathtub and make bubble mohawks--let tomorrow worry about itself.

Down On The Farm

So anyone who knows me remotely well might say I have a minor obsession with the frontier life and a hint of a complex in that I feel like my life should be as simple and difficult as my pioneer, sod-house living ancestors. The jury is out. But, I do love any chance to revel in the simple agrarian life--bring on the cows, the chickens, the hayrides, the law of the harvest. As you can imagine, these moments are on the rare side in this neck of the woods. Political punditry abounds, and there are several plantings of presidential signs, but few are the opportunities to hearken back to the good 'ole days. But today we got to enjoy a fun trip to Cox Farms, a wonderful little farm in Centerville. Barn slides, hay rides, milking demos, kettle corn, free cider---the whole kit and caboodle. It was wonderful. It was chilly in the beginning, but well worth it. Lucy and I enjoyed the slides together immensely, I'm not sure who was laughing harder actually, they were just that fun. And Isaac even got a little milk on his hands. Take a look. . . .

Logan, Kyler, Isaac, and Joceyln, basking in the glow of the Virginia State Champion Pumpkin. I saw no posted signs noting that no radiation was used in the creation of this beast, so I have my doubts as to its ability to pass an Olympic doping test. Wow.

Me and the Goose--this was our last trip of five on this particular slide, and we even got a little air on the last bit this time. Hi-Ho-The Dairy-O. . . Isaac takes after his Dairy-raised father. He was a natural. This cow was awfully patient to allow at least fifty toddlers squeeze and tug her without skill or mercy. Isaac wasn't quite sure what to do with the milk on his hands. My response: "Lick it off!" I think Daman's Grandpa and Grandma Bateman would have been proud. And this is where I point out that Lucy just might be one of the cutest little ladies alive. Am I biased? Sheesh. She really loved all the farm animals and practiced all her vocal impressions as often as possible. Big blue eyes and and impressive "moooo"--what is not to love?

Why I Love the Woods

There are no computers, fonts, photo-cropping mysteries, inexplicable deleting keyboards, or other things that make me feel insecure about my personal accomplishments. Let me prove myself by building a fire. Give me a bucket to haul water and let me sit by a stream and show how deep I am by reading Thoreau or Austen. Then I can feel good about myself, right? I do appreciate computers. I love having our two week menu plan and grocery shopping list saved on the computer for easy planning. I love having kids journals typed and sitting neatly on the shelf. I adore email for sending quick notes and avoiding phone calls at all costs. I know it is just me, but my kids have some kind of phone switch that immediately flips them to loud and needy mode when they see a phone hit my ear. Does that switch come standard? Can I opt out on this next one in exchange for a mute button? Anyway, computers have their wonderful place in my life and I am grateful for them. I just wish I could magically know how to do everything I want to do. And I wish I had the self-control I am always trying to help Isaac have so I wouldn't grown at the computer with clenched fists and regress back to my childhood. Do as I say. . . .
So, I think I shall have to request a tutorial from my blogging expert sister-in-law, Kat. Hers are truly amazing. I've come to realize everyone has something that is truly amazing about them, that to the rest of us, looks like they were just born doing. I constantly remind myself not to resent that, but to embrace it and be grateful for it. My life is the better for it. And hopefully my blog will be as well.
Back to the woods. I am growing itchy to move on from Northern Virginia. The metro is exciting, the museums are great, and we are surrounded by wonderful friends. Isaac has this little buddy that lives just behind us and he adores the fact that he can scramble over the fence all by himself to visit him. I went out in the backyard the other day to hear them screaming at each other asking each other over to play. It really is a fantastic set-up, except that there are no streams for me to sit by, or at least none that I don't have to sit in traffic to get to. I crave the space and sounds of the mountains. Daman and I go back and forth on whether the desired mountains will be those of the quaint Eastern kind or the majestic Western variety, but I hope to be living closer to nature soon. For now I'll count the two little wild creatures that run around here as nature enough.

As Promised. . . .

Isaac is a big fan of Civil War history--we live in a perfect place, just down the road from the very first battlefield. Daman brought back a souvenir blanket from an airplane once and it was blue and gray. It was immediately christened the "Civil War" blanket and revered accordingly. Isaac simply loves stories--he will listen to them endlessly--and demand them repeatedly. If teachers can figure out a way to use stories to teach every subject, I am sure school will be no problem at all. Pictured here is our family at the Virginia monument at Gettysburg. We took a wonderful camping trip at our beloved Potomac Appalachian Trail cabin and then we went to see the battlefield. This monument overlooks the field where Pickett led 12,000 men on a doomed march against the Union line. They simply marched into death, returning with only 7,000 men. Lee was haunted forever by the loss. It was really chilling to be there. I'd like to say that it was a reverent moment for our little ones, but Isaac was mostly whining to go apple picking and Lucy was grumpy from rolling out of the cabin bunk bed twice during the night. Not that she should have complained--she landed on a nice, cushy Daman.

And here we are at the cabin. It was absolutely beautiful. We discovered the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club right after Lucy was born. They have a bunch of cabins all along the AT that you can rent for super cheap and they are stocked with tools and wood. We went to one when Lucy was about three weeks old (I can see you shaking your head, I know it was kind of crazy, but we made it). This cabin was a shorter hike in and oh so cozy. It was up a rocky hill from a stream with a footbridge. Lucy had several close calls on the rocks and Isaac had one serious fall. I wish we had a picture of that bump (Daman wishes he had a picture of my face). He fell of the footbridge and caught a rock square on the noggin. It swelled immediately and it took all my self control not to gasp with horror every time I looked at it and saw it continuing to grow. Isaac loves telling people how there was a "golfball under his skin." But, he survived and with the help of a lovely compost toilet, so did Morgen. Being six months pregnant has its challenges, you know.

Isaac feeling like a real man - working his tail off to maim that log. i think he may have dented his way through the outer layer of bark eventually. He was just warming it up for me(this is Daman now - look at me, i'm a blogger! - go easy on me, i've never done this before).

Me - also feeling like a real man (as if fathering 2.5 strapping young bucks wasn't enough). there's just something about hitting a log with all your might and seeing the chips fly and hearing that echo through the woods. really puts life into focus, y'know? so does cutting down really big trees and feeling your teeth rattle when they hit the ground.

My women. Not counting her trip into the woods at three weeks old, this is Lucy's first real camping trip. Morgen LOVES being out in the woods - anything that makes her feel closer to her pioneering sistas. I wasn't sure what to expect from Goose. She had a blast, however. had to keep a close eye on the runt - every time we turned around she was back to the straight up ladder to the loft that we had just told her to stay off of with our really stern voices.

It was completely dark in the cabin, so there was no way of knowing what they were doing, we just heard their rustling and giggling into the wee hours. above them is a 2 ft high opening for the top bunk where mo slept. i slept on the ground to get up to stoke the fire, keep kids alive, keep my gas to myself, etc... getting mo up there was quite a feat (luckily she didn't need to get up to go to the bathroom)

Lucretia in a rocking chair trying to kill herself - and loving every minute of it.

Dinner, or at least the dinner table. we had some rockin tinfoil dinners. chicken breasts wrapped in tons of bacon with onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, and mucho good spices. soooo good. amazing. wow.

Isaac, taking a break from living his dream of being a Chickasaw Injun brave for a quick photo op. no, not related to the camp trip at all. a good picture nonetheless.

A Time For Rededication.

Okay, so I've changed my email signature to have my blog address posted to every email I send out. This is my brave attempt at forced accountability. Now if someone should perchance look at that signature and after reading some tantalizing email from me are still stinging with curiosity to hear even more about me and my family and my thoughts on the world, then I better have something here for them to read that is slightly more recent than six months. That, friends, is what we call initiative, and I am just brimming with it today. After a recent relaxing and wonderful trip to my Mom's in NC, I have emerged prepared to launch into a whole new level of Morgen. I feel like I have so much more within me I can do and learn and offer and give and I just need to stretch. So, I can't promise lots of pictures or other such sophistication, but I am going to try to write more and shamelessly use this as a conduit to practice my writing skills that have somewhat atrophied since my Graduate School days.
For now, I have put Lucy off long enough, and I think she has sung every song she can think of, so I better go rescue her from naptime. I shall return with family updates soon.