Urbaniak is In

Time to assemble this thing.

Vermont Spring

Peaks of the Groton range this evening, after a late snowstorm. Temperatures up into the seventies in a couple of days, they say. Picture taken from the road in front of our house.

What do You Walk With?

What do You Walk With?
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

She walks with a leaf and a rock, like some kind of pagan. He walks with a pen and a sheaf of papers.

By the way, you can't really tell in the picture but the field behind them is an amazing, vibrant green--especially compared to everything else around here, which still has one foot in late winter.

The kid can draw

The kid can draw
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

Drawings by Fergus, aged 10 (apparently based on illustrations in a "how to draw" book--but still). Matilda, here, is giving a truly withering look.

Return of the Hermit Thrush

I'm no birder, but I was happy when I got home this evening to hear a couple hermit thrushes warbling in the woods. Sure, it's just another Sign of Spring, but it has a melodic and slightly spooky call that I love (it's much more haunting in real life than in the sound clip below). Oh, and it's the state bird of Vermont.

• Recorded by David L. Ross, William W. H. Gunn
Courtesy of Macaulay Library
© Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

ShoeGlut

ShoeGlut
Originally uploaded by baseballpajamas

It's a hard time of year in Vermont, in terms of footwear. It was 80
degrees around Easter, but the last couple of days we've had rain
during the daytime and woken to snow on the ground in the mornings.

This complicates Spring Cleaning.

Right now, our little entryway/den is cluttered with 26 pairs of
shoes. For 4 people. The picture shows Lauren's 10 pairs. Even I have
5 pairs scattered around the room. But what can I cull? The sneakers?
The sandals? The snow and mud boots? It's a dilemma. But in our
clutterworld, something has to give.

I Have a Sudden Desire to Buy a (Stained) Trailer Home

About this commercial Errol Morris says, "The best commercial ever made (I should be so lucky as to achieve this level of excellence.)"