Owl Prowling

So why, you might ask, did I drive all the way across town to get in a swim at the Stoney Point Y today rather than just stopping in at the downtown Y, just 5 minutes away?

Well, first, I needed a swim to get rid of the pinch between my shoulders due to sitting at my desk, reading 48 (!) portfolios for the Scholastic National Arts and Writing scholarships over the last couple of days.

I decided to drive 20 minutes rather than 5 because I heard the water was warmer at the Stoney Point Y . . .

OK, OK, I also wanted to be out near where the Eastern Iowa Airport Snowy Owl has been seen.

Here he is; wouldn't YOU like to see him?

I sometimes think of him as "Karen's owl," too. She saw him once when she was driving back from Coe late at night, flying just ahead of her car!

Karen was lucky. I want to be lucky too, and see that owl. The way to get lucky--or at least luckier--is to put myself where that owl might be.

Probably by now, everyone's heard about the snowy owl irruption. Owls have been spotted all over Iowa, as you can see here. (The owl and cross shows where a dead one was found)

I found a cool video about snowy owl irruption on Cornell U's birding site. It takes a while to load, but the photography is amazing.

In hopes of seeing one, I went on the Iowa Birds listserv to find out where and when they've been spotted. There were a number of posts this weekend about the bird by the airport. Bruce drove so I could look for owls. We went out there each day of the weekend. The boys came a couple times, but they spent most of the time looking at their electronic devices.

In three trips out there, we have yet to see the owl. I'm disappointed. I REALLY want to see one, and it's so tricky. I mean, that owl could be anywhere out on those snow-covered cornfields!

But the owl-prowling has been surprisingly enjoyable, even without owls. The landscape is eerily beautiful--the snow drifting along the fence rows, the tan of the corn stumps poking through the drifts, the cozy farmhouses and beautiful barns. One day, we saw huge skeins of Canada Geese wheeling and unraveling above us--they must have been considering spending the night in a cornfield.

And there's something fun about the boondoggling aspect of these owl-less prowls. Bruce seems to enjoy himself--he was the one who offered to drive. He likes to explore. It reminds me of some of the trips and boondoggles we used to take before the boys were born--and gives a little glimpse of the future when we'll be boondoggling together again, just the two of us.

The Celebration

No birthday cake for Robbie this year. His requests were Chex mix and chai ice cream.

We found a recipe for the ice cream on Recipe Source, and used his favorite Chai tea bags to flavor it.

He had some friends over on Sunday to celebrate. This is how a teen boy invites people over for his birthday: (Robbie on the phone) "Hey. Doing anything this afternoon? Wanna come over?" Mom: "Why don't you tell him it's your birthday?" Robbie: "I don't want to make a big deal about it."

They played Magic: the Gathering, Wizards (a new card game from Aunt Ellen), and TrackMania, a racing computer game.

Of course, they also made and ate ice cream.

Happy Newt Year

It's an exciting new year here in Iowa--with the caucuses just a couple of days away, the candidates are swarming!

Bruce has been busy seeing them since this summer when they first started arriving here. As of New Year's Eve, he'd seen all but 2--Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Mitt was scheduled to be in town January 2. But the closest Newt would be was Waterloo, 50 miles away. Bruce was considering a New Year's day road trip to see him.

Although I'm not the expert that Bruce is, I've been to see a few candidates. The first was Tom Harkin the year he decided to run for president. Then came Howard Dean, who I heard, but did not see--a hazard of being a small person in a big crowd. I went to a big rally for Clinton and Gore at Quaker Oats. Of course, I also saw Obama in 2008 when he did an MTV program on Coe's campus.

But I'd never been to see a Republican candidate. They just don't interest me. I guess that makes me a democrat. The candidates this year seem particularly unappealing--angry and mean and some a bit crazy. Newt certainly seems to have a mean streak, and he does have some crazy ideas like school custodian jobs for kids and Obama being born in Kenya. But the idea of a little boondoggle to Waterloo with Bruce sounded fun. And even if Newt's a bit of a nut, he's a farily smart nut--so possibly interesting to hear! So I decided to go and see the guy.

Here's the bar where he appeared.

It was packed.

We stood near a door where we couldn't see very well, but could catch all the action in the parking lot--news media folks, people with NEWT 2012 stickers on their lapels and earbuds in their ears, security and police.

I figured I'd make the most of being small and rather inconspicuous, so I made my way through the crowd to check things out. C-Span guys with mikes on huge poles were wandering around and a couple of reporters were jotting notes on pads. The waitresses did their best to take orders, but they looked frazzled.

I talked with a few people, too. One woman said Newt was the first candidate she'd seen this year. "We used to live in Des Moines, and there were a lot more candidates there," she said. People standing near us, a retired couple and their daughter who looked to be about our age, had seen some other candidates. "Who are you leaning toward?" I asked. "I know who I don't want," said the man. I expected him to say "Obama," but he said "Ron Paul."

Eventually, the Newtmobile arrived. I went out to take a picture.

Someone handed me some stickers and a sign. I gave most of the stickers away and stowed the sign on the bar.

Because I couldn't see the stage, I planned to get a photo of the Newtster as he walked in--I was near a door and could duck out to snap a shot. But I got spacy from standing so long and missed it! Mostly what I saw was a short-ish guy with a big head and white hair.

He didn't speak for long--just long enough to berate his opponents for "going negative" and to tell us that he is the most qualified candidate for the job, having Worked with Ronald Reagan to End the Cold War (Go Noot!)

Then it was time for questions. He answered a few about getting jobs back from overseas (lower taxes!), the federal reserve (secretive, needs a makeover), NASA (bureaucratic, but we still need a goal in space), and something having to do with guns (been an NRA member for years). His answers were articulate (Bruce's word). I thought he sounded slick. He seemed to think he was pretty smart. I bet he'd talk your ear off with pedantry if you'd let him.

It was interesting that although the audience seemed appreciative, most of the people weren't bursting into spontaneous applause. "Did they yell 'Noot, Noot, Noot'?" asked Eli. Sorry to disappoint, but they didn't. I gather the Iowa republicans there this evening haven't really decided yet about who they'll caucus for. That's also what the polls are saying about our state in general.

At the end, Newt offered to talk with anyone who wanted to come up and ask him questions, which was cool. I think the tween-age girl near us was going to take up her copy of Newt's book A Nation Like No Other, to get signed. She, at least, looked like a true Noot fan.

Iowa Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas in Iowa this year. As you can see through the windows of this picture, we have no snow, which disappoints the boys, who'd love to go sledding. Still, it's sunny and pleasant outside, and there's a tree inside, which the kitty finds delightful.
She got a crocheted catnip mouse in her stocking, which got played with and chewed all day on Christmas.
Here's Robbie playing with the new computer the boys got from Santa. Mom and Dad said the old computer was perfectly fine, but Santa understood a teen boy's needs.
Eli's wearing the Vectrex sweatshirt he got for Christmas--Vectrex is a vintage gaming system. He likes the idea of old computers, but he also is glad to have that new one in the basement.

I could have included pictures of me reading my book about Broadway shows, or Bruce grinding coffee in his new coffee grinder, but I am terrible at remembering to take pictures!
The Dudeks visited us Christmas day--Mike, Susan, and Erik. It was so great to have them here! We had dinner together, opened gifts, and the boys had a great time talking about computers and--here--playing Magic. Eli's not playing; he's just goofing off.

Happy Boxing Day to all!

Thinking of Louie

I love this picture of my nephew Louie. In a way, it's not that great of a picture--you can't even see his face. Just his back (with "Dudek" on his sweatshirt) and my kids goofing around with him when they were little. That's Robbie in the red, and Eli in the background in green. The time stamp says 11-27-99.

But this is what I think of when I think of Louie: Visiting his family--my in-laws--in Chicago, and my boys having a great time playing with him and his older brother Erik. First they were supervised by the grownups; later, the boys would be off on their own playing with Legos and balls. Still later, video games and bikes. My boys loved their older cousins, and I was always thrilled that Louie and Erik played so nicely with my younger ones.

This weekend, Louie's friends and family are posting pictures of Louie on facebook. Today would have been his 19th birthday. He died last spring of lymphoma.

I won't see Louie again in this life. It's a physical sensation, this loss. When I think about Louie, it feels like someone kicked me in the chest.

Looking for this photo in my albums gave me a chance to think about those years before we knew about that lymphoma. There are pictures of the boys at the zoo, at various museums (visiting Chicago-land museums was OUR family's Black Friday tradition for many years), and playing in the Dudeks' home. I have a mental image--though no photos--of Susan, my sister-in-law, great with child (Louie) at Thanksgiving, 1992. He should have been born in late November. He wasn't in any hurry.

What if we had known what the future would bring for Louie, for us? The shock, the struggle, the loss, the grief? I think that's why I love those old photos so much: because in them, we didn't know. We were all just living, enjoying life.

The sermon at church this morning was on the Annunciation. Pastor Paul pointed out that it wasn't really an announcement, because the angel waited for a reply. "It was a proposal," he said. "Mary could have said 'no.'" Mary knew that accepting this proposal meant she could be in trouble as a young unmarried woman, pregnant. But what she didn't know was the real future: riding to Bethlehem at 9 months pregnant, fleeing to Egypt, watching her son's ministry grow, watching her son die.

She didn't really know the future. But she said yes.

Louie was on my mind this morning, so I interpreted the sermon in the light of his life and death. None of us knew the future when he was born, either. We just loved him. And when the future unfolded, we lost him.

But still. We don't yet know the rest. We don't know our future, and how Louie's life will impact us. God keeps urging us--Louie's friends and family--to go on. Despite the foot on the chest, we'll say "yes," too.

Picture-perfect Thanksgiving

Things have calmed down here after the pre- and post-Thanksgiving excitement--time for me to look at and share some photos.

OK, these aren't my pictures--they were taken by my sister-in-law and brother-in-law! But they are such a nice reminder of our lovely holiday together.

Here I am with Robbie, making pie crust. He's learning the family pie crust recipe, and does very well with it.
Uncle Bill carving the bird.
Sammy! He loved being read to. I was glad to oblige.
T-Day! That's Kim hiding behind the pendant lamp. :-)
Uncle Ken is a children's librarian in Atlanta. He's a great kids book reader, and did a lot of reading--to the delight of Sam.
Sammy and his aunties.
Smiley boy.
My boys requested that we visit the Atlanta Botanic Garden. It was great--both inside and outside there were beautiful things to see.
Here we are eating pizza and pasta (and gnocci for me) at a cute place in midtown Atlanta.
Sam and three of his favorite people: Uncle Ken, Gabi, and Sheena the kitty! What a great trip.

Reading and rereading

I read The Scarlet Letter this past week.

Actually, I re-read it. Last time I read it, I was in 11th grade.

This year, Robbie is reading it for 11th grade Humanities. "This is a really stupid book," he said. "I thought it was good," said I. "You're crazy--you don't remember it," he said. So I reread it.

It is a really good book.

I found the copy I read in 11th grade, which was also the copy my mom read in college.

"Lois Hoffman, Amer. Lit, Fall 1954" it says inside the cover. It also has some of her notes--in fountain pen ink--in the margins.

To help Robbie get through "dat book," as he called it, I read a few chapters aloud to him on a few evenings this week. It reads aloud nicely, as long as you're good with long-ish sentences.

Robbie didn't like the ending. "Why does Dimmsdale die? He met with Hester in the woods, and decided everything was OK, and he told Chillingworth to stop poisoning him. So why does he die?"

I told him I didn't think the book was completely realistic ("yeah, duh!") but more a symbolic romance. Experiment: what happens to different people when they are touched by sin?

I haven't been reading much recently. That's what happens during the term. But I did update the Book List widget on my blog--I haven't been completely illiterate. And I certainly enjoyed Scarlet Letter!