Home, for a Minute

Home, for a Minute

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Today is the slender filling of home in a very large travel sandwich. Tomorrow we leave for three weeks in Scotland. Was this trip planned by a madwoman? Yes, of course, and that madwoman would be me. 

So yesterday and today it’s a flurry of laundry and repacking, of settling in but not settling down, of checking lists and paring them to a sliver of their former selves. 

Tomorrow evening we take off for a country I visited once decades ago and found much to admire: castles and lochs and vistas galore. 

But before that, the dust will be flying. 

Freeze Frame

Freeze Frame

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Back home now, with only a few items missing, and none of them mine (or at least not that I’ve noticed so far), I think about what this week means to my family, the role it has begun to play. 

The toddlers, two going on three, may actually remember this summer’s trip, and if not, they will remember next year’s, I hope. The baby had a new place to crawl — actually a couple of new places, if you count the fair. The pre-teen was given a little more freedom. And the adults had a chance to reconnect and have fun. 

The months and years pass, and while this week doesn’t completely slow them down, it does freeze-frame them. And that will have to do.  

(What a difference a year makes. Photos by CCG.) 

Rosy Glow

Rosy Glow

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There are stands of ancient hemlocks in New Germany State Park, an oasis of green trails and lofty heights. A cathedral of a forest.

And then… there are the streams, and the late day sunlight slanting on them.

In some spots the light struck the creek at such an angle that it gave the water a strange, rosy glow, as if it were blushing or bleeding. As if it were lit from within.
Vacation Loop

Vacation Loop

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The sign says “End County Maintenance,” another way of saying “No Outlet.” But from the beginning I was intrigued by a break in the fence, a parting of the trees.

Last year I discovered it, and this year I’ve enjoyed it: a cut-through path, one that connects our street to the main drag of this neighborhood. 

The cut-through has created a loop walk where I thought there was none. And I’ve been strolling it this week whenever I can. 

(Not the loop walk but part of a detour, which is a vacation loop of its own.)

Baby Crawl

Baby Crawl

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On your mark, get set, go! And the babies were off and running at the Garrett County Fair Baby Crawl. 

Our entry in the race was a little more interested in socializing with her competitors than she was in winning the race. 

It took the babies in this heat quite a while to reach their moms. One of them was fast asleep and did a face plant on the green mat. As his mother said, the baby crawl was scheduled during morning nap time.  What can you expect?

In and Out

In and Out

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I write to the sound of little voices and big thuds. The house we’ve rented is one of those shaggy old cottages that spring up around lakes and beaches, perfect for several generations of a family gathering for a week or two in the summer. 

Right now the toddlers and their parents are upstairs, and I’ve hit the first floor in a rare moment of calm.

The temptation is to be with my kids and their kids every moment, but sometimes, like now, I find myself alone while chaos reigns all around. And in that moment (and sometimes it literally is just a moment), I savor the togetherness … without being a part of it. 

Quality of the Air

Quality of the Air

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Last week’s heat exploded in a series of storms that set fires, blew circuits and knocked at least one radio station off the air for a few minutes. I was in the car when Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony suddenly went to static. 

But the result is a welcome bout of cool air, especially up here in Maryland where the family has gathered for a week of hiking, kayaking and hanging out.

For me, it’s also time to ponder the quality of air that makes this corner of the state a special place. It’s not just cooler and clearer but, at 2,000 feet of elevation, it’s closer to heaven, too.  

A Fox on a Walk

A Fox on a Walk

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Today, on an early walk, I spied a fox crossing the road. Given its location and direction, it could well be the critter I see dashing across my backyard early most days. 

What surprised me is that the fox was heading into the deep woods, not the patch of trees (mostly downed) that fan out from the back corner of our property. 

This gave me a new appreciation for his range and rambles, for the ground he covers and, by extension, the life he leads. 

As I grew closer to the grove where he was hiding, I spied his cute little face and perky ears. He was looking at me as closely as I was looking at him. 

(Top, the woods where I saw the fox, and above, a couple of his fellow wild creatures, grazing in a neighbor’s yard as if they owned the place.)

Mood Lighting

Mood Lighting

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All day long they absorb the sun’s rays, so by the time night falls they’re ready to go. 

The new deck lights emit a spectral glow. Thanks to the cut-outs on their frame, the shadows they throw are squiggly and whimsical.

If you’re looking for complete illumination, they’re not the way to go. But if you’re after mood lighting, a way to be in the darkness but not completely surrounded by it, they’re just the ticket.

 

Soon-to-be-Gone

Soon-to-be-Gone

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Sometimes I feel like a documentarian. My subject: the felling of trees in my neighborhood. This is not a job I sought or welcomed, but when the giants go, I want to record their passing. After all, they have shaded us for decades, have been beautifying this place for a century or more. Some of them are over 100 feet tall, and I treasure them.

The one meeting its maker today is visible from my office window. I write this post to the sound of chainsaw and wood grinder. The tree is healthy, but its owner fears it might fall on his house. And who can blame him, since a tree fell on the house of his neighbors and damaged it so mightily that they had to move out for months. 

It’s a little like shuttling old folks to the assisted living center earlier rather than later. Prophylactic placement, or in this sense prophylactic felling. All I know is, once again I’m recording the soon-to-be-gone.