Pumpkin patch kid

Click for album

I guess we could have just walked into the supermarket and bought a pumpkin for Halloween, but what would be the fun in that? No walking amidst pumpkins of Brobdingnagian proportions in the blustery autumn wind; no watching Sophie try to stay standing on said pumpkins and then laugh at herself for losing her balance; and no seeing her try to hug, push, shove, carry, hide behind, and climb over those crazy giant pumpkins.

Visiting the pumpkin farm was as much an experience for Sophie as it was for us. She got to go on a hayride round the farm which she really enjoyed while Jude and I marveled at how incredibly ginormous the pumpkins were. I mean, Sophie could barely see over the top of some of the really big ones! At what point of the evolutionary process was it advantageous for pumpkins to grow this big??? All the better to be harvested and carved? I don't think Sophie appreciated the sheer size of those things- right now, I have a feeling that as far as she's concerned, those pumpkins are how real pumpkins look and the "regular" ones at the store are probably miniature in her mind :)

"I love you, pumpkin."

An apple a day

Eating her weight in apples

It couldn't have been a more beautiful Fall day for the quintessential Michigan apple-picking experience- sunny, crisp, and just chilly enough to make fresh donuts and warm cider the perfect treat after all that walking and foraging. The Cooks, Cooneys, Sophie and I (Jude was doing a bike tour in Detroit) visited Wasem Fruit Farm where the Fall picking season had just begun two weeks ago. MacIntoshes, Cortlands, Jonathans, and Honey Crisps were ripe for the picking and Sophie for one, couldn't wait to sink her teeth in almost each and every apple she managed to either pick from the tree or off the ground.

Chomp chomp chomp

She had a wonderful time running about with the big kids, stomping through the apple trees, crawling under the foliage for lower-hanging fruit, and just basically reveling in the experience of being able to pick something off a tree and then putting it straight into your mouth without having Mama take it away from you because it wasn't edible (for instance, a quarter or a bulb syringe...) It didn't matter that her pants were getting wet from the dew-damp grass or that she kept falling over the apples strewn all over the ground- she could RUN and there were apples to be eaten, and that was what mattered :)

There were raspberries too and those were even more fun for Sophie because unlike most of the apples which were too high for her to pick on her own, the raspberry bushes were the perfect height for her to look at, touch, and pick.

Sweet raspberries

Squishing it in her hands

Sophie also had apple cider for the first time. I wish she could experience fully the whole warm-donut-with-hot-cider-after-apple-picking experience, but she didn't seem too bothered that everyone was having donuts except her. I think she was just happy to have done something new, fun, and exciting. And the fresh cider was also probably tasty enough to distract her from the fact that she didn't get to have any fried dough.

More importantly though, she got to spend time with friends (both the kids and grown-ups) and so couple that with being out in the wide open orchard with copious amounts of apple literally within her reach, it was just the most perfect way for a two-year-old to spend a beautiful Fall morning.

Julianne and Finn- the best babysitters-in-training ever!

More pictures here.

Bonfire Nation

Think of it as Survivor meets Lost meets Woodstock. Bill calls it "Boy Scouts with a budget" :) Yup, and that's Bonfire Nation for you. Bill and Jolie invited us to this event held on 5 acres of land just outside Ann Arbor that is owned by their friend, Eric. It's an amazing set-up if you ask me: there's an area for tents, a makeshift bar, an adult-friendly zip-line, a beer-pong table, a gigantic wooden tepee, and of course, at the center of it all, the bonfire.

What's remarkable though (apart from the awesome "infrastructure" and the initial towering inferno of a bonfire), and the thing that really enthralls Jude and I is how this is the product of a group of people's simple desire to want to just hang out together and have fun. Everything on that piece of land has grown and evolved over seven years- the zip line has broken a couple of times, but they just make a stronger and stronger one each time round; they run our of wood for the bonfire, and so they go into the forest and chop down more dead trees; every time, there's a bonfire, friends bring more friends and other people are embraced into the group: things and people are just added on organically as part of the entire sensibility of fellowship. More than combustion, Bonfire Nation is about communion :)

For pictures and details of the bonfire itself, see here.

LiveSTRONGer

I can't feel my thighs, or my butt... No actually, I take that back. I can feel them- a lot. Because the entire length of my leg from my hips to my calves is aching to high heaven right now. Just getting up from the couch took so much effort I audibly groaned just to go to the fridge to get water.

Jude and I took our bikes out for the first time this year. Bill & Jolie- who we met via Libby- were going to bike into Ypsilanti and asked us to come along. It was yet another beautifully blue day and we needed little nudging to abandon everything to spend the day out :) These guys have been doing this for the past 7 years and know exactly the prettiest, most scenic route to take. Jude and I biked from our place to meet them at Gallup Park (about 2 miles or so), and then we all rode into Ypsi together (this leg is more or less 6 miles). The motivation for everyone apparently was that we were going to end up at the Corner Brewery where you would replenish all the calories lost with beer and cheese :)

This was the longest bike ride we've done- 16 miles (26km) in total- and honestly, I couldn't have gone on any longer even if someone paid me to- I don't know which would have given way first, my back, my butt, or my breathing. I have a feeling things are going to hurt even more tomorrow, which is why I've been icing my knee (just in case), and trying hard to massage my legs when I can. They feel so much like jello I can't even bring myself to get a glass of water because I don't want to have to maneuver down the stairs to the kitchen...

"Take me out to the ball game..."

Guess who went to her first baseball game today? :) Rick, Emilee, Rick's friend, Michael, Libby, Jude and I trooped up to Lansing today to watch the Lansing Lugnuts play the Beloit Snappers at Oldsmobile Park. I don't get the game much (what I know, I know from playing softball a couple of summers ago, and even that's not much at all...), but it was just a gorgeous day to be sitting out in the sun with thousands of other people, stuffing ourselves silly with greasy, overpriced food. I am convinced that spring just passed us over and summer's here already, because everyone was in their shorts and tank-tops, Emilee busted out her sunscreen, and there were definite "roast" casualties ;)

Anyways, we had fun just soaking in the wonderful atmosphere- parents and kids everywhere, the cheering fans, the overstuffed mascot (whom we really empathized with in this weather), and the all-round infectiously good cheer. Sitting there watching the game, eating hotdogs and listening to the Van Morrison and the Beach Boys that was playing, I could just imagine that I was experiencing the quintessential all-American Sunday.

In the end, we didn't stay for the whole game- and the Lugnuts lost- but all of us had a great time, and this girl is definitely looking forward to her next baseball game where she puts on another 895 calories for $19 while listening to The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup" and getting delectably roasted by the sun :)

[Photos here.]

Are you messing with me??

It was a gorgeous Sunday- the sky was blue, the clouds marshmallow-white. All the kids in our neighborhood were out in their shorts and t-shirts on bikes and scooters. Driving in the heart of Ann Arbor was great, with people smiling everywhere, milling on the streets with ice-cream, their friends, children, & dogs, and waving at you as you drove by. Sunlight does that to you I guess... :)

Walking along the trails in Pinckney was beautiful. It was cool without the chilly bite, you could see the spring sunlight peeking through the tall foliage. Hopeful small shoots were beginning to sprout and some tiny flowers were already blooming. Mountain-bikers shot us by as they zoomed through the trail, but were kind enough to always say "hi" and "have a good day". Like I said, sunlight does that to people.

Spring is indeed here.

Oh, by the way, it's going to snow on Wednesday.

In the bleak midwinter

This is our fourth winter here and I've never said this before- it's very very cold, it's very very windy, and there's much, much snow.

According to the Weather Channel, the Midwest is experiencing some of the coldest temperatures in years, and the lake effect and intense wind shield is not helping. There are severe weather warnings all across Michigan, and wind chill advisories till tomorrow afternoon.

Now that we've moved one of the writing desks to the bedroom just in front of the window, I've been looking at the weather develop throughout the weekend as I work. It is not funny- we're talking blustery winds, snow swirling everywhere, and a deep, intense cold seeping in through every little crack it can find. We have the heat up in the house, a hot drink perpetually by my side, and my woolly socks on so that helps, but I'm not looking forward to walking to the car later when we go to Rick and Emilee's for the Super Bowl game.

Weather report the last time we checked: 5F (-16C)
With wind chill: -5F (-25C)

Bundle up and stay warm everyone! And to you guys on the West Coast, we wish you were here! Heehee... ;)

Wedding reunion

It's been more than two months since Christine's cultural experience of a bridal shower, and our first full-fledged American wedding was wonderful to say the least. It was a really sweet ceremony- Christine almost had to choke back her tears when saying her vows, and the reception was a complete and utter blast too. It was obvious to everyone there that the two of them could not be more in love if they tried- Christine, the epitome of the blushing bride, and Josh, the adoring groom. They're just so perfectly cute together!!... Congrats again the two of you!

The wedding was also a reunion of sorts for us as all the SI people descended upon Michigan from wherever they've been since graduation. Most travelled in from the west coast and immediately thanked their good minds for having moved there in the first place when Michigan welcomed them with nothing but its beguiling dreary skies, fortifying chill and the refreshing dampening of rain. How nice. Ann Arbor just hasn't been the same without them and it was so heartwarming to catch up with everyone and hang out just like old times (except that now, everyone actually has a real income- well, except Kathy who's just that bit sado-masochistic like us- while we're still stuck under the poverty line...)

Anyways, highlights of the evening:
1) Sweet Adrien telling me that he had actually drafted a detailed email to me about how to solve my webpage's IE problem. I fixed it before he could send that mail but I was still touched and told him to send it anyway.
2) Allison's date, Rory, connecting with Jude on The Big Lebowski level, which made me realize that there will always be a part of men I will never understand.
3) Everyone hanging our at Forte in Birmingham after the ceremony over drinks, coffee and inordinate amounts of chocolate mints. We talked about absolutely nothing, but in the words of Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail, all those nothings meant more than so many somethings.
4) Our 7-car convoy navigating our way across southeast Michigan from Bloomfield Hills to downtown Birmingham to Pontiac without once losing anyone. I can't even begin to describe how cool we are for accomplishing that...
3) Marta reading an email from Josh he wrote 2 years ago just as he and Christine were going out saying how he would one day ask this woman to marry him. The newlyweds looked like they would have cried into their dinner entrees.
4) Two words: Hokey-Pokey (or is that one word?). And I'll just leave it at that.

All in all, I was just plain happy to see everybody again. The photos are up here, and I can't wait for the next wedding (I'm not naming names...) so we can do this all over again... :)

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
Brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine
and it's brighter than sunshine.
- Brighter Than Sunshine, Aqualung (from Josh & Christine's wedding program)

10 things we learnt from camping in the U.P.

Miner's Castle, Pictured Rocks, MI.
Originally uploaded by jyew.

So we came home a day early- well, technically not a day since we left the campsite past 9pm last night and drove through the misty, foggy night to get home at 3am this morning. We didn't get to bed till 5am... The weather was just too dreary to stay an extra night- we would have been stuck in our tents while it poured outside and we didn't want to deal with the yuckiness of packing up in the rain. And with high humidity and no wind, we would have been bug fodder in no time...

Nonetheless, all in all, it was a good trip, shower or no shower. It was great just hanging out with Rick, Emilee & Kumo, and the U.P. was gorgeous! A kind of rugged, untouched beauty I had never associated with Michigan. A shout-out to Ms. Anderson! We thought of you Melanie, although we didn't get a chance to go as far north as Sault Ste. Marie :) The U.P. rocks!

Some lessons we learnt:
1) We are sorely under-prepared for camping. If we're going to do more of this camping thing, we're going to have to spend way more time at R.E.I. How are we supposed to know that a simple sports pocket bucket would make all the difference between cleaned dishes and clean dishes??
2) When you're obsessed enough, even a camping trip becomes one extended Lost moment...
3) Everything tastes better cooked over an open fire- pork chops, franks, hot dog buns, marshmallows, potatoes, etc. I swear, if we had boiled water over the campfire, that would have tasted better too...
4) I like S'mores (which I had never had before). Ummm... that ultra-sweet, ooey, toasty, chocolatey, crunchy yumminess...)
5) Pyromaniacs are born when their friends systematically teach them how to build good campfires and they then spend the rest of the night throwing every possible thing into the fire to "just see what happens..."
6) Thankfully, even in our thirties, there are still things in this world that can take our breath away. (See Pictured Rocks)
7) There's nothing like using water freshly pumped from a well to wash up early in the morning.
8) The U.P. is sorely under-rated as a travel destination. There's so much to see and appreciate, and I'm not just talking about Mackinac Island and the people who gather there every year for the annual Somewhere In Time conventions...
9) Give my husband a beer, a deck chair and a quiet beach, and he can sit there forever.
10) I can survive three days without a shower. But just barely.

For more about the trip and the U.P., here are the photos.

Big Knob

We're off to the UP (Upper Peninsula) tomorrow, the Big Knob to be specific. We're meeting Rick and Emilee to do some camping we've been putting off for too long. It's going to be a 5-hour drive up north and maybe some hiking before we get to the beach/ campsite. I'm kinda excited, but nervous at the same time. This is only the second time I've been camping (the first time was with Olivier and the Lazzaros to Kentucky to rock-climb) and the whole there-might-not-be-a-proper-bathroom thing still bothers me a little... Bugs I can deal with; walking along trails, no problem; beaches and forests, I love; and even eating camping food is fine with me; but no shower everyday- errrm, not so much... What I am looking forward to though is the scenery of Northern Michigan and Lake Michigan that so many people rave about. And to see a beach again- oh, you have no idea how happy I'm going to be! :)

As for camping food- I think we've packed more than enough. Jammed-packed in our cooler are bread, bananas, dried fruit, soup, instant cup noodles, instant coffee (this girl ain't going nowhere without caffeine...), Chinese pork floss (novel, I know but so inspired no?? It was Jude's idea...), peanut butter, granola bars, crackers, 5 gallons of water, aloe vera drink and a couple of cans of peanut dessert. And I haven't even told you what Rick and Emilee are bringing- so far they've mentioned steak, mac 'n cheese, bacon and eggs and maple/ walnut cereal. Man... talk about a classy camping trip!

We should be all set in terms of equipment- we've got our tent, sleeping bags, cooking utensils, lantern, bug spray, ground sheet in case it rains, head lamps, foldable chairs, Swiss Army knife, and something no camping trip can be without- loads of plastic and ziplog bags. I'm taking my husband's word for it- he's the one who survived a massive rainstorm during military training in Australia with all his clothes dry and intact while the rest of his platoon-mates found themselves with soggy socks and underwear. All because he packed everything in ziplog bags. I always knew I married a smart man :)

So till Sunday when we get back!

Dancersize

Guess who did the chicken dance and the hokey pokey today?

I was doing a school visit and it was part of Governor Granholm's All Children Exercising Simultaneously (ACES) initiative, an attempt to get children to stay fit and enjoy exercise. Between 1pm and 1.15pm today, every school-going child in Michigan was exercising at the same time.

It was fun for about 5 minutes; after that, I felt like I was stuck in some alternate dimension between a 1980s wedding and a retirement home...

Does Jeff Daniels care about local politics?

[click for video]

This is downright hilarious, but only to the select few who understand what it means to chart the geography of Michigan on your palm... These people do their research man! As someone said, this is worth going home right now and missing a meal for!

Eastern Market

So we finally made it to Eastern Market today. We've been trying to make a trip there all summer but something always got in our way, one of which was a burning car on I-96 which distracted us and made us miss our exit... Anyways, it was a great expedition today- I love markets of all sorts- wet, dry, super, flea... The colors, the sounds, the smells (that of live poultry nonwithstanding...)- it was an absolute blast! And the bargains! Our treasures today:
1) A pound of portabello mushrooms: $3
2) A bunch of fresh basil: $1
3) A pound of red baby potatoes: $1
4) A generous piece of young ginger: 90 cents
5) 2 pounds of Concord grapes that Jude's been lusting over since we saw them at Whole Foods (where they were going for $6.99/lb!): $2(!!!!) These grapes are in a league of their own I tell you. They're perfectly round, a deep purple- almost black, bursting with sweet nectar, and have the most amazing texture, like a cross between a mangosteen and regular grapes. I'm not sure if you can find them easily at regular stores because they're meant more for jellies, juices and wines rather than table consumption. But if you can, trust me... it's sheer ambrosia.
6) A big bunch of kangkong: $1. They call it water convolvulus here, or water spinach. Jude & I love this! Fried with dried shrimp and sambal- oooh....
7) A bouquet of riotous mixed blooms: $4
8) Half a pound of scotch bonnet peppers: $1 (they're supposed to be the hottest peppers around. I'm going to make beef stew with them tomorrow. We'll see...)
9) 4 pieces of fried chicken that we brought home for dinner: $2.10 (plus tax). Can you beat that? We made a quick salad and opened a can of soup- which I think cost more than the four pieces of chicken- and that filled us up just nice. It takes the cake as the single most value-for-money meal we've had since we stepped foot in this country.
10) A small cannoli and a hunk of a slice of German chocolate cake: $1.59! (I rest my case...)
11) An awesome time with the Cooks and Cooneys: priceless...