Back from Florida

I haven't posted in quite a while. We just got back from a long weekend visit to Florida. I got to see Charlie & check out where he's living (I approve), see Tom and Christy and meet Miss Lily (she's a sweetie) and go to a Tigers Spring training game (they beat the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the ninth -- a great finish)!

I'll post some pictures later -- we had a wonderful time, but it's good to be home. Now there's laundry to do and other stuff to get out of vacation mode and get in gear to go back to work tomorrow :-(.

Spring is FINALLY coming!

I haven't posted in a long time! It's just been so grey and gloomy and nothing has inspired me. Friday, though, I heard a sandhill crane flying over and today I heard a redwinged blackbird down by our pond. It was sunny and in the 50s here today. I know that doesn't seem very warm to those of you who live in Florida, California or Georgia, gentle readers, but it's cause for celebration here. I'm thinking of getting the Beetle out this weekend!

Some interesting sandhill facts: they mate for life (they can live to be 20) and usually only have 2 chicks a year. The males do a really crazy mating dance, jumping into the air and flapping their wings. Here's a picture of a pair of sandhills for your education and enjoyment.

Pictures of Lily

Now that Crit has posted some pictures of Lily on her blog, I can, too. I've been excited about this little one since the first moment I heard of her existence -- I'm almost surprised at how excited, considering I'm a great-aunt and not a grandma. What a blessing babies are (and, oh, don't those big cheeks look familiar)! I'm really happy for you, Christy & Tom. I'm so looking forward to seeing the three of you when we come down in March -- tell Lily her auntie's on her way soon!

Arnold Ziffel

The year of the pig (and the cute little pic I chose) made me think of one of my favorite pigs, Arnold Ziffel! Here he is, for all of you who remember him and, especially for those of you who don't.

Happy New Year!

Today marks the beginning of Chinese New Year -- and 2007 is the year of the pig. According to one site:

"Pig is a Lucky and Mild-tempered Animal
President Ronald Reagan was born in year of Pig. He was very happy to know that Pig is a very lucky animal in the Chinese horoscope. The Chinese see that pigs eat food all the time, enjoy sleeping all day long and worry about nothing during their entire lives. Therefore, pig is a lucky animal.

According to Chinese Five Element astrology, the animal sign Pig contains Water and Wood. Pig doesn't fight with Metal, because Metal, Water and Wood have a Circulating Relationship. Pig doesn't fight with Fire, because Water, Wood and Fire together have a Circulating Relationship as well.

But the Water element will fight with the Earth element. Earth animals are Cow, Dragon, Sheep and Dog. Cow contains Earth, Metal and Water. Cow and Pig don't fight directly, because Earth, Metal, Water and Wood are in a circulating sequence. We can find the similar circulating relationships between other Earth animals with the Pig, so it doesn't have a face-to-face conflict with the other animals.

Snake and Pig have a Fighting Relationship. But Snake contains Fire, Earth and Metal. If we put Snake and Pig together, we can still find Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal in a circulating sequence. This means that the fighting relationship between Snake and Pig is not that serious. The conclusion is that most of people born in year of Pig don't have any unyielding argument with other people. Since Pig-type people have more peaceful lifestyle than others, they are therefore luckier."

I was born in the year of the Snake. According to this site, in an explaination of the Chinese Zodiac, Snake people say little, are very wise, have financial fortune; but also can be vain, selfish & stingy. I'm glad (I guess) that I don't believe in Zodiacal truths.

So HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, everyone!

the chickens' auntie seems to know everything . . .

I had some fun on the last two post's of jonemo's dailylondonphoto blog and got an honorable mention! Check it out here. I don't know everything, but I sure knew those two -- I LOVE LONDON!! The only bad thing about the daily photo blogs from England is that they make me want to be there all the time, even more than I already do.

Weird Al didn't win!

The Grammys are over and, sadly, Weird Al Yankovic's album "Straight Outta Lynwood" didn't win the Best Comedy category. As the mother of 3 boys, I've heard a lot of Weird Al and am disappointed by this, as I'm sure you all are. You can, however, catch this video of "White & Nerdy" from YouTube. I think this could be right there with "Amish Paradise" as one of my favorites. Enjoy (but beware -- it will be stuck in your head all day)!

Snow in South England

Today it was sunny and in the low to mid 20s and it felt downright balmy! People were walking outside without coats, just as though it was spring. Now I know why God sends us -9 degrees and a week of sub-zero windchills -- so we'll think 25 is warm!

We've had snow on the ground since right after New Year's; not alot, but enough to stay around. On the other hand, snow in the London area is so rare that all the bloggers take photos of it. Here's one of snow in Oxford from the Oxford Daily Photo blog I look at.

I think it would be great to live somewhere where snow was an enough of an oddity that it warranted comment. I guess we'd seldom have a white Christmas, though, and I'd miss that.

The Next Generation

No, not Star Trek . . . the first member of the next generation of our family! Last night at 9:35, Lillian Wayne Reynolds was born, weighing a chubby, but cute, 8 pounds and 13 ounces. Out of deference to her parents and grandparents, I'm not going to post a photo here and will allow them to post the first ones. Nevertheless, we're very excited and happy that everyone -- mother, father, daughter and, yes, even grandparents came through the delivery just fine(though I think the grandmother was touch and go for awhile). Happy Birthday, Lily!!

Daily Brighton Photo

This is cool! I look at the Daily Brighton Photo blog (Brighton, England, that is) every day. Dean Harvey, who publishes the blog, asked for guest photographers from Brighton and, when I asked him if Brighton, MI, USA was acceptable, he said yes. So I sent him a couple of photos from our ice storm and he posted one of them. Now I'm published on both sides of the Atlantic!

I might take some other shots of Brighton, MI to send along to Dean from time to time. If you haven't checked out all the daily phot sites, it's fun to do so -- there's a link to them on most of the bloggers' sites.

Winter, Mothers, Sons & Daughters

Yes, winter has returned to Michigan. We had an ice storm last week (when I took these photos) and have gotten a little snow (less than 1") every day since then. The winter sports people are happy, but no one else is. It's also been pretty cold in the teens & twenties. No wonder Charlie feels smart to have moved to Florida!

On another note, I've finally taken down the Christmas I never wanted to put up. For once, I'm really happy to have the house back to normal. I just never got in the mood -- perhaps if winter had graced us in December rather than January that would have made a difference. The only Christmas CD I listened to was Sufjan Stevens, and that was also in January -- after Christmas!

On a different note, we're all waiting for little Lily to arrive. Each generation's first baby is a great event! She'll be spoiled by everyone in a way that none of her subsequent siblings or cousins (once or twice removed) will be -- just as Paul was on my family's side (and Christy was, as the only girl) and Jim was on his dad's side. It will be a little sad for those who come after, but such is the way of the world.

Lily's pending arrival and the excitement leading up to it has also caused me to ponder the relationships of mothers and daughters, as compared to those of mothers and sons. It's always been fascinating to be out someplace, like the mall, and see a mother with a miniature version of herself at her side. I wonder what it would be like to have a daughter and see oneself mirrored there -- to see glimpses of one's own face, one's mannerisms or voice inflections copied and, ultimately, to realize that someone who shares your DNA will also share your experiences as a woman and, because of that, share a bond with you forever. It's like a chain with links from mother to daughter to daughter, with each a part of something that mothers without daughters can only imagine. I wonder if this is what Jim feels like when he looks at his 3 sons. I doubt it, since he doesn't ponder things in the same way I do. At any rate, in the end it's there's no gain in pondering it too much, because what is is.

So, hurry up, little Lily! I'm as anxious for your arrival as everyone else is. Arrive safely, but arrive soon. . .

Winter Has Returned

Well, our lovely, warm winter appears to be over. After months of almost snow-less, record-setting warmth, we're back to a typical Michigan winter. Snow, sleet, freezing rain and cold have returned. Today, we put the tarp roof on the chicken run so the girls will go out and get some air. Without it, when I open their door on snowy mornings, they look out at the snow and are too afraid to go out in it. There is real meaning to the insult "chicken".

Which puts me in mind of all the chicken-isms in our language: pecking order, spring chicken, tough as an old bird, going to bed with the chickens, hen pecked (just to name a few). You can easily think of more, if you try (or may start noticing now when you hear them). I think their presence goes back to the fact that, at one time, just about everyone -- country and city dwellers alike -- owned chickens as a handy source of eggs and meat.

On a happier note than our rotten weather, we booked our tickets for a long weekend in Florida in March. We'll get to visit Charlie, see Christy & Tom, meet new baby Lily and go to a Spring Training game (not to mention, getting to enjoy some warmer weather).

Today is Orthodox Christmas!

Because we have a Russian friend who is Orthodox, I'm conscious of the fact that not everyone adopts the Julian calendar and celebrates Christmas on December 25. So, Счастливое Рождество всем читателям (Happy Christmas to all readers)! Счастливое Рождество, Николэй!

Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Today "little" Jimmy (to distinguish him from his father) is 27! Happy Birthday, Jim! I can't upload any older photos right now, so here's a newer one that I borrowed from you and Bethany. I hope you have a great day!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! This is a Russian Christmas card, sent to us by our friend Nikolai.

The Sultan's Elephant

My new favorite blog, London Daily Photo, put me on to this. It's the Sultan's Elephant, street theater from London. The fully articulated, mechanical elephant walks, blows steam & water!

The video actually comes to you via LDP (from back in May), via Londonist.com, via YouTube. (There, now I've credited everyone who needs to be credited!) If you don't believe it's London, you can see the Eye behind the Elephant in the beginning.

London Daily Photo

I found this really interesting blog while doing a search for London. I think I'll add it to my links -- I hope there's nothing nasty hiding in the depths of it. What could be better than an new photo from London every day??? Jim, you should look at the photo for November 18. Don, look at October 26.

I've learned that there's a webring of Daily Photos from cities all around the world. What a great idea! If I were a photographer, I'd add Brighton to the mix.

Another Favorite Musical

Godspell!

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins was on tv tonight -- this is classic!

Listen to this!

You have to listen to Sufjan Stevens' "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". Here's an easy link to hear it on npr.org. It's on his Christmas boxed set.

While you're there, "Hanuka Gelt" by the Klezmatiks is fun, too!