Magrilless

Saturday we trekked out to Concord to see some of the sights. First up: the Louisa May Alcott house, where she and her sisters grew up and where she wrote Little Women. The tour took us through the house where Amy (May Alcott) sketched on the walls and tables and painted the hearths; where Meg (Elizabeth Alcott) was married to John Pratt and Emerson was a guest at the wedding; where Jo (Louisa May Alcott) made props for their Monday night plays. It was a magical house where it did seem like life was a storybook (albeit not a fairytale). It’s amazing to think that (almost) everything you read about in the novel actually happened right here.

We then went to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where many many famous authors are buried. There’s Henry David Thoreau

and Louisa May Alcott (and her sisters and parents)

and Ralph Waldo Emerson

and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Plus the sculptor who did the Lincoln memorial. It was a beautiful cemetery and a beeee-utiful day. 50 degrees!

This girl loves to sing. She likes to dance while we sing. She likes it when someone on the TV sings. She even listens when the dog sings. When we go out for a walk and she’s fussy, we sing The Ants Go Marching. When she won’t go to sleep at night we sing Lullaby and Good Night. When she’s a bit overstimulated and on the verge of going overboard we sing everything we’re doing to the tune of Frere Jacques. When we make a mistake we sing The Frog and the Mouse (which goes “whoopsee diddle dee dandy oh”). When we feel like making funny noises we sing The Austrian Yodeler.

What with all the songs and then the lectures from Bill on how LEDs work or organ transplants or evolutionary biology, perhaps we might have another Borodin on our hands: chemist by day, composer by night.

It’s always nice to know that what you’re eating is real food. You know, real. Like it came from an actual plant source somewhere and is therefore acceptable to eat.

A cherry pit from a jar of cherry jam. This also means that the food item is healthy, right?

Isn’t she just precious? We’re falling in love with her more and more each day. She’s just perfect.

A big accomplishment this week was a solo shopping trip by Mags and me. A whole hour fifteen in the grocery store with no crying incidents. I walked around with her in the front carrier and let people stop us and coo over her. One middle-aged man kept asking her over and over if she would go home with him and his wife instead. A lady in the baking department asked what aisle I got her from and if there were any more of her. And the bagger came around to the front of the line to “help” me unload my groceries. I just love showing her off!

As we watch the Olympics, we’re taking bets about sport she’ll get a gold in. I think snow boarding. Bill thinks mogul skiing. Any guesses?

Somewhere around mile 22, Daddy took his eyes off the road long enough for him to veer into a snow bank which he then hit just right to throw him from his bike into a tree. Lucky things: the biker right behind them was an ER doctor; a nurse drove by and stopped to help; Bill had his cell phone; the ambulance lives a couple blocks from where it happened; the nearest hospital is the best in the area; and Mother and Maggie and I were only a couple miles away where we were going to meet the boys for afternoon tea. Maybe I should say providential things.

Daddy has a concussion and bit his tongue somethin’ bad plus his back is sore from being torqued around. But that’s it. We’re all fine. Or will be. Whew.