Old Fashioned Days, Again

Martin chose the girl's bedtime tonight to go ahead and cook up the deer burger patties sitting in our fridge. It wasn't long before the delectable smells of bread baking (my concession to Merry's wishes for simplicity--no more bread from the grocery--) were eclipsed by Martin's venison chili. I'm sure Pa's freshly killed buck simmering on Ma's stove smelled wonderful to Laura and Merry, but I have no fond reactions to the edgy, bitter smell of dead deer or the tangy taste of its meat. In fact, it makes me sick to my stomach. So I took a break from feeding the baby to sleep to spray the entire upstairs with vanilla room spray--imagine that delightful combination.

But I did think you all would enjoy seeing pictures from our recent trip to an "old fashioned" village here in Pennsylvania. Merry was so excited that she withdrew and became very shy (a pattern she started early--frowning furiously on merry-go-rounds, etc.). In fact when the school teacher asked her to ring the bell, she could barely pull the rope. Elspeth (of a disposition not given to much introspection or consequence weighing) evidenced no such reservations--she would have rung it dry given the chance.

Merry internalizes much and I think she filed away this bright, cool day in particular for further inspiration. She even found an old fashioned toy--a wooden cup and ball on a string--at the gift shop, something she had patiently saved her money in hopes of finding someday.

Martin's got this bowl full of deer meat and chips and he's waving it under my nose. "It's really good," he says, "Take a bite."

No thanks, Pa.

Obama!

Obama fever rises in our house daily. Every time I pass a yard with the blue sign I want to yell out the window. Yeah! That's right! ObaMA! ObaMA!

Martin and I have been getting through the debates lately by eating varying amounts of junk while we watch. I steadily worked through the girl's gummy bears: an attempt at sugar therapy to keep me skating through the morass of folksy talk in the VP debate. (And counting Palin's winks: Three in total. If I were a bird, say, even a relatively large bird with a fountain of yellow feathers and Big Bird were running, I would not vote for Big Bird just because Big Bird is a bird.)

Tuesday evening--we bundled the girls off to bed with ten minutes to spare, in which we loaded up on food and headed up to the computer. We settled on the couch, I with a mega bowl of ice cream, Martin with the salt and vinegar chips. One minute to spare. And then Martin disappears. "Hurry up, Martin!" I yell--and there's nothing but groans. Did I mention Martin, when stressed, gets incredible tummy upset? He finally joined me, rather green, and I ate his chips after I finished my ice cream.

I usually steer away from politics in my blog, but I have never cared more about any election as I do about this one. I think Obama and I feel hope and energy. There's so much I feel is at stake, and though neither party is perfect, I am excited about all that Obama can bring to this country of ours: to education, health care, diplomacy, energy, the environment.

For my children and me:

Yes, we can!