A nice vacation, and we’re glad to be home. In celebration I went out on Saturday and blocked up the first twenty feet or so of the fir that John dropped before we left. Then, in the pouring rain, I rolled the blocks down the hill and up a bit of lumber into the jeep, …

Well, yesterday we went to the local theme park. It was approximately 40,000 degrees outside, but we lived to tell the tale. My kids, like myself, have an abhorrence of any ride with a circular trajectory, when that trajectory is more violent than a Ferris wheel. Jess insisted that Emma ride a roller coaster this …

I cheerfully acknowledge that mine is not Approved Behavior for men my age. Men my age are supposed to have a boat and cruise around on the lake, wearing sunglasses and radiating superiority. They bear the required goatee and mandatory debt. They do NOT dive into the lake with the dog. They do NOT swim …

It’s been pretty warm around here. If you live in Tucson or Manhattan you have my condolences, but “pretty warm” for us is above 90 degrees, with 70% humidity or higher. Our SIP house stays delightfully cool, and when it’s hot I’d rather be inside. We leave all the windows wide open all night, and …

Maybe I should start marketing pictures of our Romaine lettuce (I think that’s what it is) to seed catalogs this year as champions of Romaine-ness. And if you steal a copy of this picture to represent as your own lettuce, I wouldn’t blame you. I don’t think anything we’ve ever grown has looked that healthy. …

Okay, a few more pictures of our hike. Here’s Becca on the tippity-top of Chicago Peak, shooting the opposite direction of the image I posted yesterday. This one gives a better sense of altitude. Here we are on the trail, heading out. The ridge above leads to Chicago Peak, so named (I assume) because the …

Did you ever perform this summertime ritual–lighting sparklers on the Fourth of July? Do you remember the hissing sound of a burning sparkler, the pinpricks of heat as stray sparks hit your hand, the tiny vibrations coming down the wire? What kid in America has not written his name with the brilliant chattering light? What …