Fauna Among the Flora at Herb Garden Entomological Zoo

 

Reece's Favorite Insect

 

Swim Conditioning Class

At 5.5, Kallan is the youngest in a class of about 15 kids. We are taking this one session at a time because it is all very new, a bit intimidating, and frankly, rather cold. There are some bright points to help her build her confidence and enthusiasm. She is an awsome little swimmer with good speed, nice form, and deep diving ability. The coach is very supportive and encouraging--"just get out there and do what you can and what you feel comfortable with; take a break whenever you need to"--sort of thing. And, Kallan already has a special friend, Carly in the pink goggles and swimcap. She is 7.5, but exactly Kallan's size, and the girls are birthday sisters, both born on 2/17.

Chesapeake Waterman: Unconventionally Attired

 

Juvenile Night Heron at the Dock

 

Our Morning Save

A cycade found on the parking in Severn Park and carried to Willow Oak Herb Farm for release. We know it is probably nearing the end of its lifecycle, but the farm provides more opportunity for a peaceful end than vehicle tires on pavement. 

Al Fresco Hair Cut

 

All Greens

Snails, clams, conch, periwinkle, mussels, oysters, octopus, lobsters, Dungeness & blue crabs (souks), shrimp, tilapia, flounder, eels... and that was just the live items. We chose mussels and a beautiful calabash (Cinderella) pumpkin, as well as sushi rice, dried anchovies, and lots of nori/kim. But, there is so much more to marvel at and examine packets of leathery dried squid; fresh jellyfish; skate fins; whole baby shark; vegetables and fruits in new shapes; colors; and sizes; and unrecognizable foods, packaging, characters and words on aisle after aisle--one entirely devoted to different types of nori, another for rice. You have to examine and re-examine items, slow down, take time, discuss, consider. Its a refreshing shopping adventure that is unexpected outside ethnic urban neighborhoods.

Fun at SERC: Programmed & Serendipitous

The topic was blue crabs; a subject both attractive and familiar to our crew. The trot lining was unsuccessful across the board, but Reece inticed a juvenile to the upper most layer of water, but it swam off smuggly without breaking the surface. A friendly cormorant clowned on the dock entertaining us while the wiley blues evaded our lines. Afterward, we visited with Zach/Cindy and Amelia/Adam/Rochelle. SERC allowed the kids to release back into the wild an adorable baby watersnake that they had found entangled in a spider's web earlier in the morning . The kids freed it together in the rip rap near the docks where there is plenty of shelter and other water snakes are evident. 

Chrysalis: Day 9

Can you see it? This morning it was still a milky jade; this evening, the distinctive orange and black wing pattern is apparent. Our butterfly is forming.

Intently Restringing "Cuckoo" Beads

 

Outside Annapolis

We had to stay sharp to avoid interfering with the Labor Day racers, but we amused ourselves by counting colors and identifying spinaker styles. A three-pointed star became a sharks tooth design--actually a much better image than the stellar description. This was the most spectacular and ambitious design; they were not winning however.

Swingin on the Boom

 

Waving Across the Waves

 

Rendevous with Majestic: Zach, Cindy, & Doug

An Avon launch to dinner in their cockpit with various tasty nibbles, wine, and mojitos while the kids pounced, explored, and invented in every nook and cranny topside and below.

Asterias at Anchor

Tucked in the Wye River just past Drum Point.

Art Underway

Watercolors--what could be more appropriate! They painted lighthouses, sailboats, powerboats, seamounts and underwater volcanoes, fall leaves swirling in the breeze, and a gypsy dancer. It all wiped clean off the boat, vinal cockpit cushions, hands, feet, fingernails, and foreheads.

Sunday Brunch with Liz and Doug

New construction and new additions: a little girl due Dec. 1 coinciding, if all goes well, with a new house on their beautiful lot on the West. Doug has an extremely well stocked garage, so they are always a gracious and technically equipped destination for a shake down cruise. This time we did not require their assistance. Our only mishap: wrapping the dinghy painter around the prop was solved by a chilly dawn swim before the coffee was brewing.

Post Party: A Jubilant Departure for the West River

 

Emily's Party

A memorable affair with a treasure hunt, cupcakes to decorate, an antebellum cake, swimming, pinyata, and a pirate seige in the tree house.

Fairy and Batman...

Off to Emily's "Costumes Encouraged" 6th Birthday Party. Kallan is proudly displaying one of our gifts, an embellished tie-dye flag for her new tree house. It was a group effort: I folded and tied and attached the trim and webbing sleave; Kallan dyed; and Kallan and Reece each sewed on a jingle bell to the free corners.

A Package from France!

 

A Prodigy is Born?

More like a prodigal. We did discover at today's lesson that the mandolin and violin have the same strings and range and are played using the same fingering structure. So, when we are proficient on the violin in a few weeks; we should be able to slip seemlessly over to jammin' on the mandolin... OK, maybe there's a few months or years of screeching ahead of us.  But after you have spent way too much time torturing the neighborhood cats by scraping your way through the black hole version of twinkle twinkle little star, it is amazingly amusing and even cathartic to pick up the mandolin and prove that you can sound almost as retched chicken plucking your way across the double strings of another beautiful instrument. Somehow, it makes you feel more accomplished and woefully untalented at the same time.