Mixed messages

I just finished "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. It was a very interesting story of the survival of a castaway, though rather gory at times, and made me think about to what lengths I would go to live. Sadly, I'm not moved to say much more about it, though I wish Smitty weren't quite so far away so we could talk about it.

Next up is a French novel, "Le sabotage amoureux" by Amelie Nothomb. French publishing is interesting. The book I bought is a high quality paperback, their version of a hardback, which is so intelligent. Who really wants to pay for a hardback? But it's strange how large their margins are, how big the type. This is really a novella, padded out to 186 pages. And French titles run up the spine, rather than down it as in English. Does anyone know what other countries/languages do?

And my final comment for the night, I played my flute for the first time in years today, and it was so enjoyable! I've played it maybe two other times since Abigail was born, but really all I was able to do was sound out some kids songs and play school fight songs for her to dance to. Today, though, she was at Nana's and I could pull out my old classical works. I'm not exactly a virtuoso, but my fingers haven't forgotten what to do. It was so relaxing and refreshing, feeling myself sway a bit along with the crescendos and decrescendos, my fingers fly through glissandos and trills. I should do that more often.

Ja, ist gut!

From time to time, Abigail will take extra long naps, which means mommy gets to watch a bit of Globe Trekker, the not-too-meddled with new version of Lonely Planet (which thankfully still has everyone's favorite traveler, Ian). And then Abigail often wakes up groggy and hot and needs time to wake up, so mommy can watch even more travel TV! This has the benefit of introducing her to a love of travel -- as evidenced by her wistful statement "I want to go to Paris when I'm big" -- and a perhaps not so beneficial side, as I saw a couple days ago.

The episode was about cool festivals around the world, and she was relaxing while they talked about Oktoberfest. At first, she was excited about the carnival rides, asking if that was the county fair I promised to take her to this fall. When told it was a far away city called Munich, she asked what else is there. When told a castle (which I know there's not, but you don't get all thrilled about cathedrals when you're 3), she asked incredulously, "A real one not made of paper?" Wide-eyed joy at the thought of castles and kings and queens and so forth. But of course, the TV show didn't just show rides. It showed many drunken people holding gigantic steins of beer. So my little darling looks up at me and asks, "When I'm big, will I be able to drink?" Uh, er, well, um, "Y-e-e-e-e-s, sweetie, when you're a lot bigger." Quick, I need more pictures of the ferris wheels! What did I get? A Mexican town's celebration of the Day of the Dead. Hmmm, time to turn off the TV.

Happy Fourth!

About a week ago, Brad and I took off for a wonderful mini-vacation in Asheville to celebrate our fourth anniversary. I did all the planning and Brad did all the driving, so it worked out well!

First we headed northward to the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina. I'm sure I drove past here once for a day hike with friends, but we were totally unprepared for how beautiful the drive was off the interstate. We took off on a state highway that coursed through a valley between foothill mountains. The way was dotted with adorable white houses, most of which seemed to have a horse pen in their yard. And the weather was beautiful; we'd finally escaped the Charlotte smog and found a perfect blue sky marbled with clouds.

winery
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

There was of course a purpose for our wanderings, the Raffaldini Vineyards. The setting was obviously stunning, the wines were quite tasty (I especially liked the Vermentino, a slightly minerally white) and we struck up a two hour conversation with a couple of baby boomers, a Wake Forest professor and his wife, a Hospice volunteer. We were obviously in very different stages in life, but it was a surprisingly pleasant and engaging coversation -- and I think we were all happy after three glasses of wine and summer sun.

Brad swore he was sober, so we finally headed west to Asheville for the night. It had been years since I'd been there, but I could so easily live in that city! We stayed in one of the many bed and breakfasts in the historic Montford district, which was of course charming. This was our room, and I was quite proud of myself for picking it!

We trooped off to dinner at The Flying Frog Cafe, which was fabulous. The restaurant is strange mix of upscale American, French, German and Indian cuisine. Where else could Brad have enjoyed his bratwurst and I have scraped up every drop of the sauce from my lamb korma zaffrani? The decor was also an interesting blend of styles; one section had huge, comfy couches, another open section had tables with carved chairs, and we were in a secluded set of tables, each draped to look almost like a Moroccan tent. And, to keep the eclectic feel high, there was our waiter. I never got his name, but I refered to him as Dieter. He had severe German-style glasses and close-cropped hair, and he never smiled. Up loomed this grim figure, who sternly stated -- not asked -- "I hope you are having a pleasant evening." I found him highly amusing, no doubt a very troubled and misunderstood artist who was forced to sell his soul by serving us bourgeois cretins. But he saved the best for last. As he brought out my quite delicious banana cake, he looked directly at us and asked, "Would you like to see the plate trick?" The plate trick, how can we refuse?! So our already rather strange waiter took the great big leap to bizarre as he rotated his wrist, then his elbow, then his shoulder to take my dessert on a mystifying route to the table. Who needs entertainment?!

The next day, after breakfast and not-nearly-as-pleasant chat with the boomers at our B&B, we wandered around Asheville briefly before heading off to hike. Ah, the art nouveau and deco architecture! The art and antique galleries! The fascinating people watching! What a great city.

triplefalls
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

But the mountains were calling, so off we went to DuPont State Forest for a 3 mile hike of three different waterfalls (seen here, Triple Falls). The park is just outside Brevard, and I highly recommend it if you're around Asheville or even Greenville. At first, the weather was gorgeous, probably in the 80s. As we went up in elevation, though, so did the temperatures, and on our way to High Falls, we were dripping. If only we'd had our swimsuits like the rest of the hikers we saw! Each of the falls had a great swimming hole, especially the smaller Hooker Falls. The trails had some pretty steep sections, but we figured if the 70-something couple we passed could do it, so could we. I was satisfyingly tired when we were done.

Then, sadly, it was time to head back down the mountain, which we did via U.S. 176 and S.C. 11, quite the nice drive. Until Gaffney, that is, and no, not just because of the Peachoid (see also here, here and here). In the course of conversation, Brad innocently said, "So, you'll be 29 Sunday, huh?" at which point I let out a blood-curdling scream! No, not about the age, really. We were driving with the windows cracked, and I was holding the top of my window when I must have been struck by a giant cicada or something. It hurt a bit but mainly scared the crap out of me! I didn't know if it had come in the car, and as I was desperately searching the floorboard, I hear Brad yell, "Ow! What the hell was that?!" He was also hit, this time in the ear and by a small beetle that did wind up in the back seat. We thought we were in for some kind of freak insect storm and quickly put up the windows, though thankfully we were spared a barrage of goo on the windshield. I never did find my cicada ...

After that, the trip ended uneventfully, though it felt like a heck of a lot more than a day and a half.

princess
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

And where was our dear child for all of this? Down at the beach with Nana and Pops, having a wonderful time. But here are a few pictures for good measure. This one probably from June, and the one below from a strawberry picking trip with Grandma back in May. Isn't she cute?

berries
Originally uploaded by HFBW.

Mommyflix

Our YMCA is ridiculously expensive, so I'm going to try out some workout videos from Netflix to see if there's anything I can tolerate. Well, a bellydance video linked to Carmen Electra workout videos, including striptease and lap dance. I did not add those to my queue (sorry, dear), but I did find it interesting that another title under "Members who watched this also enjoyed" was a Baby Einstein video. Hmmm, wonder what general population is trying to lose weight, reinvent their sex lives and eek out some sanity? :)

By the way, ams, I have two great Baby Einstein DVDs if you'd be interested at some point. Abbey outgrew them a long time ago, but they were good for at least a shower!

Interpreter of Maladies

I just finished "Interpreter of Maladies," a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. As I worked my way through the collection, I was amazed at how human her characters were. Yes, all the stories centered around Indians, though only a few were set in India, but other than adding interesting details and flavor, these stories could have been about anyone. She has an incredible talent for believable voices and relationships. Most of the stories ended rather cynically, but I guess that's life. Not really tragic, not really sad, just flawed. I thoroughly enjoyed "A Temporary Matter," the first story in the collection, which Brad has already addressed very well. I also thought "The Third and Final Continent" was particularly good characterization, following an Indian man as he first arrives in Boston and meets his 103-year-old landlord. You could really picture the characters' mannerisms and hear the ever-so-slight awkwardness of phrasing of a non-native English speaker even after four decades. Excellent.

Exactly what doctrine is this?

After a successful week at VBS, Abigail has taken "God is love" to heart. The week had an archaeological theme, and she loves her little "treasures," especially the tiny magnifying glass, as well as the small wooden cross. Which she put to good use the other night. Brad had just announced it was time for bedtime stories when our adorable daughter brandished her cross, holding it at arm's length toward her father, as you would do to fend off a vampire, and said, "Jesus loves you! You can't say that to me!"

What, no garlic in that little treasure chest?

This consumer's report

Time for my own product review. While not as exciting to the common 20-something as a new Mac, I have a new toy. A new vacuum!! Now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!

It's a lovely red Kenmore, which is absolutely leaps and bounds ahead of my old vacuum, that which shall not be named. I had to empty the canister after every room -- and I've now vacuumed two days in a row! How exciting. How disturbing, too. What kind of filth were we living in the past few years, the exact years that my child was most likely to be playing on the floor? But hooray for my Kenmore, which has a lovely self-propelled action and very easy canister removal and replacement, plus a snazzy little flicky thing for cleaning out the hepa filter. A definite thumbs up.

More posts on the way. Long holiday weekend + visiting mother = several thoughts not put down on "paper."

Hear the Eco?

I recently read "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" by Umberto Eco. I highly recommend this book, especially if you love to play with the meanings of words and the concept of memory versus reality. But rather than repeat myself on here, just check out my review from my old paper.