Bearing up with Baby

Talia, right before Felix's birth:

 

Me, likewise:

Whoo hoo!  Were we ready then? More urgently, are we ready now?

And urgent it is:  Talia, at her penultimate doctor's visit a few days ago, was informed that the baby is now predicted to arrive a week early, namely 24 April. I wouldn't have put much stock in this had Talia herself not also commented that "the baby is ready."  She said this in the exact tones of the possessed child in "Poltergeist," as though channeling the baby--or rather, "The Baby"--itself.

Although I don't think she meant to scare me, I nevertheless leaped into action and immediately start turning the house upside down in search of her Camelbak water system, the one absolute requirement for intensive work of this kind (or so I am instructed).  So far it eludes me, and neither you nor Talia are surprised, though you, at least, have not sweetly threatened to go out and buy another one if it doesn't turn up very soon, and I thank you for your confidence in me.

More successfully, we have sorted through four giant boxes of baby clothes which, if nothing else, served as a helpful, even exciting, reminder of just how tiny, and soft, newborns are.  We have located all of the pram parts, disinfected them where necessary, and aside from inflating the tires we are ready to roll.  This week:  further preparation of hospital bags (now resident in the station wagon) and start to get more specific with Felix about our plan to suddenly abandon him--possibly while he's at school, possibly while he's asleep, possibly in the middle of the day--while we go get the baby out; as you may imagine, it's not an altogether easy thing to explain.

The crib to be borrowed should arrive tomorrow and I made room for it today.  We are discussing announcements with printers.  And yes, we have chosen names.

Ready?  You bet we're not.

Big Fruit

It may have struck you as odd that I have blogged so little about food.  (If you are wondering why this might be odd then you probably don't know me well enough to be reading this, and besides, The Gallery of Transport Loss is much more enjoyable.)  It has not been for lack of things to say.  I am back in America, and have wasted no time in gorging on all that I have missed in my years abroad:  ham, as you may recall, but also Reubens, burritos, sushi, BBQ chips, proper Chinese food, and above all pizza, about which more another time.

But today I write about none of these things, but rather about an apple.  Oddly enough, this apple I have never before seen in America, nor anywhere else except, once, in Japan.  Odd, too, because apples are not a type of fruit that typically interests me (having grown up in an orchard I've had my fill).  But this apple, this apple I say, is really special.  It is the Pacific Rose, a New Zealand variant grown under tightly restricted (commercially speaking) conditions in Washington State, and now, though perhaps only temporarily, available.  We love it, for its crispness, its wonderfully fine grain, its delicious flavor, and, not least, because it is as big as Felix's head (not that that stops him):

Nor should it stop you:  if you are in America then search them out.  If in Europe you may be out of luck, though I am very curious to hear if anyone can find it over there.

And while we are on the topic of oversize fruit, how about these:

Texas beauties, available continuously thanks to the miracle of refrigeration and the Costco distribution system.

Still more Mooi Marin

It's pretty clear there's no end to the mooi in Marin, but I'll keep blogging about it anyway.  So:  Took another hike this weekend, this time a total of about 8 miles round trip (couldn't have done it without Felix's trusty loopfiets, or Talia's trusty legs), each mile more gorgeous than the last.

Go West young man!

Wildflowers were everywhere.

 The ring on the surface of the water is what appears after a gray whale does a quick sounding.

Stopped for a quick picnic lunch.

Gorgeous land, sea, sky.

The beach in the distance is on the other side of Bodega Bay. Might be wadeable at low tide.  We'll go camping there this summer.

Elk!

At this point the sand got too soft for the bike, and soon after we decided to turn back, about a mile from the point itself.

This photo was taken about 5 hours into the hike.  The stamina of both subjects is amazing.  Felix and I had spent the last mile or so playing "run over Dada's shadow," a game that he found endlessly amusing and which gave me a blister.

 I don't know how one gets to this beach down below, but one day I will.

Finally, we arrived back at the ranch from which we'd departed. Still functional in some sense, though I think the buildings are used to tend to the elk, not cattle.

Golden Gate Bridge, part 2

Happened to have been next to and under the bridge yesterday:  beautiful from that vantage point, too, and even more interesting.  Turns out there are tons of surfers, windsurfers, kitesurfers (see the second picture, below), and the like playing in the currents underneath the bridge.  Also turns out the entire thing was built right over an old (Civil War) fort.

Never been here, probably never would have been, but was meeting a friend from out of town.  Tourists are sometimes quite worth following.

More Mooi Marin

From a recent hike in the hills beyond our house (shades of Ithaca!):

Not sure I've seen a photo in which we look so much alike.

Aren't they just the cutest?