Neary’s Dream

Neary’s Lagoon WaterJust blocks from our house is one of my favorite places to walk. It’s called Neary’s Lagoon, a wildlife refuge. It is so close to downtown Santa Cruz and the Sanitation Department (poop plant) but when you are in it you feel like you’re in an enchanted area. When Luke and Kyle were little we went there often to walk over the pontoon bridges, feed the ducks and sit on the grass. Luke called it Mary’s Bagoon. I still call it that. Some years ago, the city did a huge reconstruction project to make the poop plant bigger and that took away a lot of the grass area but what are you gonna do? We don’t appear to have stopped eating.

Today I went alone. I came to the first grass, and … Continue reading ‘Neary’s Dream’

Spongebob’s always smiling down

SpongebobA neighbor left a Spongebob pinata on our doorstep a while back. Bob is now strapped to the ceiling in the room where Carl and the boys do yoga every morning. Luke finds it creepy because whenever he does shoulder-stands, Spongebob is staring right down at him… (And there’s something creepy about a guy who is always smiling, don’t you think? —Luke)

Kyle’s New Accordion

Well, we got an accordion the other day. I never thought that would happen. It all came to pass because Kyle is into Tuvan throat singing. He listens to it and imitates it. Sometimes there is an accordion for accompaniment. Have you heard it done? Wow. I’d never heard anything like it. It involves getting harmonics going in the throat. There is a whistle sound that comes so that a whistle is coming out from down deep…not by blowing out the lips. It’s interesting and soulful. D’vora, a friend, was selling her accordion because her back couldn’t handle it. Have you picked one up? Accordions and banjos have more in common than being the butt of countless jokes. They weigh a ton! He tried hers out and it was definitely a fit. I’ll admit, the singing can get pretty deep throaty, loud and intense! I have to leave sometimes. Most times it is beautiful. Kyle has a real feel for the music. I don’t know how many polkas he’ll be playing. Stay tuned.

Kyle the Channel Surfer

On Saturday nights at 10:30pm Kyle and I watch Seinfeld reruns. He also likes to watch “Whose Line is it Anyway?” a half-hour earlier at 10:00pm. However, sometimes there’s a movie on instead, so he starts his ritual of ‘channel surfing.’

Kyle

Basically, he holds down the “next channel” button which makes the TV switch channels about once a second. He says that it “sharpens the passive staring skills” but it drives me crazy! I want it to settle somewhere! Five-hundred miles an hour is hard on the eyes when the scenery is constantly changing. To be honest, I usually get up anyway because I don’t really want to watch anything besides “Whose Line is it Anyway?” I’ll admit, I’ve done a little surfin’ in my day but I don’t let that get in the way of telling him to “Stop!!!”

I’ve heard that men channel surf more than women. I wonder if it’s true or if men just do it when women are around to drive them crazy!

On your marks, get set… Raspberries!

OK, I lost. Kyle and I had a raspberry picking contest. Like the boy’s last contest, the goal was to pick the most berries in 20 minutes. I enjoy picking raspberries in the evening, snacking as I go, even if I get scratches on my arms. Racing is not relaxing. It was fun though. I wouldn’t want to do it every time.

Because I lost, I have to write four posts in three days. I have never been a blogger, thinking I really don’t have much to say that anyone would want to read. That may be the case but a bet is a bet. We picked nearly six pounds of berries. That’s one big pie.