Little Beginnings

Though I wish there was an epic tale to tell about Nick's debut, the reality is that Ellen and Lee showed up for the scheduled C-section and then they pulled the little munchkin out. Everyone was healthy and no one exploded, so it was a perfectly successful day. 
So far he sleeps, eats, and screams. Olivia is jealous and has become whiny in his wake. We're just one week in, so that's all I've got so far.

Now enough about that brand new citizen of the world.

I've been a volunteer over at The Humane League for four months now and it's like I've stumbled upon an entire little universe no one knows about. It's a factory of busy bees in there that are problem-solving, creating, discussing, scheming, presenting, and chatting away with all of the like-minded people. When you first start, you're just thrown right on into the Caddyshack harbor scene and set loose to make change. It's a lot to take in. But now that the wake has settled, I've been able to make the most of my email writing abilities. In fact, I've harassed the folks at Zaxby's (about the welfare of their chickens)(teeheehee) so much that they've blocked me. Blocked me! 

But we celebrate that kind of thing over at The Humane League. Means we're gettin' to 'em.

THL (for short) is like being on a lifelong cruise ship adventure. Each morning when you wake up, an event itinerary has been slipped under your door or in this case, your email inbox. There are heaps of events and activities that you can log into anytime. There are weekly check-ins, guest speakers presenting an assortment of topics. There is "coffee and campaigning", "Zoom happy hour", Vegan eaters talking about recipes, etc, you name it! Do you want shuffle board on the lido deck, or bingo with cruise director Dottie? It's a wild time, and then you log off and go back to your real life and it's hard to believe all of that is going on inside of your computer. 

In January my regional cruise director hooked me up with a media company that has a writing program for activists. I was honored to be accepted into the program and I am officially one month in. This company is a treasure trove of resources. They focus on content production and publishing so it's just a couple hundred writers and editors that are all strangely interested in helping others succeed. Ahh the power of a common goal. 

The crazy bit is the "Topics" page. They have real life famous activists available to be mentors for project ideas. They send out an email of paid writing gigs that are accepting submissions. They have monthly pitch meetings where you go refine your ideas with real life publishers who may pick up your story. Also they have a job board for writers and activists of all kinds. There is a news section (animal or otherwise) where people post and react and scheme solutions. I posed a few questions in response to an article on excessive hippos in South America and now I've gotten sucked into a group of four women who are trying to save Pablo Escobar's pet hippos from mass extermination on the grounds of overpopulation. What? Yep. Someone's got to do it.

But back to the "internship". I've learned a lot so far - mostly that I have no desire to be a journalist. Sure, I never thought I did want to have a life filled with hours of research and finding clever ways to restate published facts and statements, but now I know for certain that I don't possess that kind of creativity-patience-bravery hybrid. I have a very hard time coming up with things to write about because everything has been written about before. I don't believe I will write something so profound that it changes anyone's mind about ordering a burger. Smarter, more well-informed people have already written those pieces. 

The many other people in my "cohort" can write entire papers on a single statement they found in another article. They can find reasons to be offended on another person's behalf and subsequently write highly intellectual articles on problems you didn't know existed. It's a swirling vortex of traits I don't possess. And I'm ok with it. One month in an activism writers collective has brought about a whole new world view for me because mostly this writing gig has given me lots of nuggets to chew on. I have found that I lean philosophical in my thinking, as opposed to the more productive option of coming up with solutions. "Yes that is a problem and here's why," I say to no one, and then pat myself on the back for my superior understanding. 

There are all kinds of activists. The brazen, emotion-based ones (scary), bashful mute ones, productive business person types, and all kinds of people inbetween that are barbers or mechanics or teachers and they just don't like the system and want it to change. They aren't especially gifted in any particular area of activism productivity and I think I'm in that group. I haven't figured out how to best use my skill set in this arena but I'm having a wild ride figuring it out. 

He's Here!

 And he's perfect. The kid's already got sideburns. 

Cuddly Critters

I forced my friends to follow me out to nearly Kiawah so I could cuddle some animals. If you recall, Mom, Ellen, Liv and I visited The Goatery last January. I've wanted to go back ever since. There is little to report on beyond the easily surmise-able outcome that I was beside myself. I held a baby goat, fed a baby cow, chased down a chicken, and cuddled a donkey. You'll notice I carry a pained or exuberant expression in any given photograph. I was nearly hysterical. What is it about the critters that thrills me like this? 

I do try not to post so many photos of myself in a single blog post. Its bad enough you have to listen to me talk about me and my thoughts from my point of view. I can at least not force you to look at me. But these photos are life highlights and I want to see them forever. Nevermind my friends. I hardly noticed them.

A Winter Venture

Big Guy and I went up to Rochester, NY to visit a pair of our precious friends. We're headed up there a few times more times this year for assorted wedding celebrations but we decided we needed a visit that would just be the four of us. Why not do that right at the end of January when the average daily temperature is 9 degrees? 
We collected all of the warmest things we have and made the trek to Rochester. Jessie picked up us from the airport as though the snow on the ground and the ice on her car was all totally normal. It was at this moment I chose to reveal to everyone that I'd never really seen globs of snow before. Jessie was elated for me and she drove us through town so we could see the piles of snow on the ground and the little puffs of it stuck in the trees. It was a winter wonderland, and even though my toes were cold, I could easily see the charm. 

I'll tell you that it was a whole weekend of wild new experiences. In addition to the snow and the newness it presented, we've also never spent the night at Alex and Jessie's house. When your friends live in the same town, there's no need to leave a conversation to change into your jammies. You just go home and see them later. Staying over, you get to peek farther into a person or a couple and you know I just love that. Alex and Jessie are insightful and funny. They are easy-going, open-minded, accepting of all creeds and cultures, and they love game night. They read a lot and grow their own veggies and remember the names of your family members and whatnot. So I was excited for the deep dive of staying in their home.

When Alex's grandma kicked the bucket years ago, his dad moved into her house, which was the house he grew up in. Now, as an aging bachelor, he's downsized to a more manageable home, and now Alex and Jessie have taken over Grandma's house. Grandma's house is exciting. It has a rambling floor plan and lots of secret cubbies. Grandma's house also hasn't been updated since the 1950's. There is green carpet, green trim, green walls, and even a green fireplace. There is a painting of Alex's dad as a five year old hanging at the top of the staircase. There are plates on the walls, frightening appliances, and a hot water radiation system to warm the place up. I just love it. 

Brett and I got to witness the discussions of upcoming home renovation projects by two strong-minded people with different preferred aesthetics. We discovered that Alex and Jessie to go bed at a normal hour, drink coffee throughout all hours of the day, and that Jessie does the bulk of the cooking. These are the things you learn when they can't send you home to take a break. 

In addition to staring at our friends and talking about life's most and least important issues, we ventured all through the snow, entertained their two pups, and ate recklessly. Turns out that Rochester is a neat little town. Brett and I were certain it would be grey and industrial-looking, like Russia. But in real life it looked like a movie set with cute houses growing into mansions as you made your way down the tree lined avenues. There were little store fronts selling cheeses and flowers, and there were bookstores and bakeries and ice creameries. 

Alex and Jessie are so used to such snowy harsh conditions that they don't think anything of putting on pounds of clothing just to step outside to get the mail. They also know tips and tricks like, get boots that zip rather than tie, and make sure you put your gloves on last. These are things we discovered by getting them wrong. Brett and I would hold up the show trying to tuck in and lace up and find hats. A few times Alex and Jessie just waited in the car. But also, they don't bundle the way a Sandlapper does. Jessie still wore leggings everywhere, because she's not a weenie. 

I have four main highlights. 

1) We taught them to play Shanghai and they loved it so much, they insisted on playing the middle of the day as well as at night, and I'm both ashamed and proud to tell you that they won every single game we played that weekend.

2) We went sledding. I was the lone stalwart that had never been sledding before so they were anxious to push me down a hill. Alex called the hill "the baby slopes" but it was very long and steep and I'd really hate to see what counted as regular for him. For my first ride, Brett and I shared a sled and his long legs flopped around in and out of the sled causing snow to kick up and blow into my face. Then we went over a little hump and came down landing on our fannies with such a thud that Brett abandoned the sled by turning us over, causing a face full of snow that took my breath away. My teeth were so cold I was sure they would fall out. I inhaled icy crystals that shocked my throat. My eyes were blurred with watery tears. and somehow I really hurt one butt-cheek. Brett and I trudged back up the mountainside and were polity uninterested in going again. Eventually though, after testing a few hills and a few sleds, we got the recipe just right. It is lots of fun, if not also a little painful.

3) The Pooty Theme. Aiko, one of their pups, is on a new special diet to help alleviate some aches and pains, and the new diet is giving him nuclear farts. When we first came into the house from the airport, Alex hugged us and immediately apologized and warned us. "We don't smell anything," we said, but then we stepped into the living room and were enshrouded by the wall of stank. Aiko laid unfazed by the fireplace. "Oh wow," we said. We had a good laugh about it until he let out another one and we were forced to relocate. Aiko followed us around all weekend, clearing a path with his butt fumes. The positive here is that any of the rest of us could let one go and simply blame it on Aiko. The negative here is that house only has one full bathroom, so we all had to share for the weekend. We did this somewhat flawlessly. Alex and Jessie tended to wake up first so the bathroom was empty when Brett and I would get up. At night, we'd rotate our teeth brushing. 
But one night, Brett scampered off after a card game and stayed upstairs for a while. It was late, so we decided to call it a night, and as we climbed the stairs Brett came down and apologized. He hugged each of us. "There's nothing I can say. Just know that I love you all and appreciate you letting us stay here." So that night we all bushed our teeth in the chilly half-bath by the basement. Someone had blown out the half-bath that morning and the sudden acknowledgement of this struck all of us as very funny. Eventually the upstairs toilet stopped flushing and we all had to share the tiny, cold one by the basement. There was just nowhere safe to go. The mix of Aiko and the bathrooms rarely left us with any fresh air to breathe.  

Sadie fell apart when we arrived. She joined us in bed every morning and would wake Brett up with kisses and headbutts. 

4) We fed birds! There's a little spot in a forest where Alex has been coming since he was little. The little birds in the forest have few food resources in the middle of winter because of all the snow. So Alex walked us out to a particular tree, told us to be very quiet, and dumped a little pile of seeds into our hands. It took a while, the chilliest while, but eventually, little birds landed in our hands (and on our heads) and ate the seeds. They were Chickadees and they were so tiny and light and had such detailed feathers. If I had been alone, I might have cried. I was SO excited to hold those little birds. 

We had the best time. It was a cozy but adventure-filled weekend that made me see the bright side to living in the tundra. Alex and Jessie are such comfortable people to be around. We felt like were just at home on a rare snowy weekend with great friends in town. We're excited we get to go back and experience each of the other seasons this year.