grammie rosie

I am missing my grammie today. She passed away 4 years ago, and I miss her, almost daily. What I miss most is how she made me feel. I always felt special to her. She was always interested in what I was doing; who I was becoming. As a child, I was always at her house. As I grew older, our relationship evolved. I lived close to her until I moved away from Maine. We spent many hours together. She would tell me stories of her life, we would look at old photos, and we would talk. I knew most of her friends, and she most of mine. Strange, I don't know hardly any of my friends grandparents. People enjoyed being around her. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile let you know how happy she was to see you. I miss those eyes.

Often she and I would go shopping. She was always up for an outing. She enjoyed sitting in the mall, while I shopped. When I would return, I would almost always find her chatting away with someone..."well they just started talking to me" she would say. When I was in college (OT school), another student, who I had never met, made it a point to tell me that she met grammie a church retreat, and how much she enjoyed meeting her.

She was always willing to go on an adventure and try new things. She loved sushi and Thai food (both of which she tried in her 80's). In the summer she would go camping with us, and rarely turned down a chance to travel. Her motto was "I'm 80, who is going to tell me no"

She turned 90 the summer before she died. She fell and broke her hip, while making her bed. She came through the surgery fine. I called her to talk, the night after her surgery. We were joking about me not making my bed, and how she was too nosey to die....that she would be around till she was at least 100. She laughed, and then said "no, it's ok, I'll go when it is my time." The next day she had a heart attack and died. I am grateful she didn't suffer and remained fairly independent till the end. Her mind was sharp, and spirit was young.



To celebrate her 'Joie De Vivre', I'll leave you with this happy yarn, colorful like my grammie. Stormy Sea, dyed by Gale's Art, 250 yards of worsted weight, 2ply. Destined to be mittens for my niece and my friend's daughter:

first day of school

Today was Whyboy's first day of first grade. All I can say is what a difference a year makes. Last year he clung to us, tentatively walking in with his class, looking back to see if we would follow. J was the only parent, who stayed on the playground in the morning, those first few months. Whyboy needed him there, and J needed to be there. Slowly he felt more sure of himself, and found his way on the playground and in the classroom.

Last week when we went to meet his teacher, he announced "I love the smell of school!" Over the year he grew to love school and embrace the community. This morning he threw down his backpack and took off to the playground, looking for friends. He cheerfully greeted his classmates from last year, and was happy that some would be in the same class this year. He walked confidently up the stairs, into first grade with his class, without a look back. My tentative kindergartner had become a confident first grader. I watched him disappear into the building, with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes...I now know why my mom cried every year on the first day of school....Bittersweet. It's going to be a great year.

biking and spinning

Yesterday, my spinning mojo finally returned. I am participating in the Tour de Fleece on Ravelry. I have been in a bit of a slump, and not spinning as much as I hoped to. Most of this is due to being knocked out with an ear infection, and being on antibiotics for 3 weeks. I am finally starting to get my energy back. I cranked some Neil Young (Everybody Knows This is Nowhere), finished the singles and started the plying, for a 4 ply cabled yarn. I will discuss the full process in a later post.

This morning, we headed out to bike the Sugar River Trail. A nice level trail built on an old rail bed, through the rolling countryside.

We stopped for lunch in Monticello,WI, at the M&M Cafe. It is a little diner with great food. The pie is supposed to be wonderful, but we were saving room for ice cream. Whyboy always needs a bit of encouragement to finish the ride. After lunch, we headed across the street to play in a local park.

On the way back to the trail head, we stopped to take pictures of cows. Whyboy peddled hard on the way back....ice cream is a powerful motivator.

zoo tripping...

Today Whyboy, J. and I headed out to the Milwaukee County Zoo. Someone at camp had told Whyboy there was a cobra there, and he is in a bit of a snake/reptile phase now. Needless to say he was very excited. I don't really understand the snake fascination. He was dismayed at not finding any garter snakes in our yard this weekend. He came up with the idea of releasing mice into the yard to entice the snakes to take up residence.

Once we got to the zoo, he asked every 5 minutes when we would get to the snakes. It was a nice day, sunny with a bit of a breeze. We wandered through the exhibits. They have a great Big Cat exhibit with cheetahs, and snow leopards. There is a platform that lets you get eye to eye with a giraffe. Whyboy liked seeing these animals, but he was holding out maximum excitement for the reptiles. Seeing the Mongoose and Meerkat peaked his interest (they kill cobras, you know). He could hardly contain himself when we finally entered the exhibit, and right there was a King Cobra. He was mesmerized. The Cobra just was just laying there, but to Whyboy this was as good as it gets...eye to eye with a Cobra. "He's playing dead" he told me. He learned from PBS Nature, that snakes will play dead when they are in danger...this only added to the charm.

In the gift shop he found Cobra and Meerkat figurines. He is planning a Rikki Tikki Tavi celebration. He has been watching Rikki Tikki for weeks. So far the plan is that we will invite our neighbors (the girl is 2 1/2 and loves Whyboy), have cake, and play "Mongoose Games" (Rikki Tikki Tag and Cobra Hide and Seek). Since we couldn't find a mongoose, the meerkat will have to do. The cobra and mongoose (meerkat) will decorate the cake. I am surprised he went for the substitution, he is usually a stickler for authenticity.

I made good progress on the Vanilla socks on the drive to and from the zoo. I really need to get some spinning done today for the Tour de Fleece. Thanks to Seabluewool for the words of encouragement.