No Phone, No Lights, No Motorcars

With fellow campers and counselors.   Can't tell which is which?  Awesome!

I'm suffering a bit of separation anxiety.  Yesterday, I dropped Neil off in the middle of Pennsylvania for five days of fun at Camp Cranium.  Phones are not allowed, so I won't be receiving the typical texts or calls that come while he is at school or work (the only times we're separated).  This feels so weird.

Obviously it's good for Neil and it's good for me.  He was smiling hugely when we said our goodbyes. I waited until I turned for the car before I started crying.  Yep, it's going to be good for us both.

Thank You to the Family of Andrew J. and Dolores C. Hudec

On Monday night Neil received a memorial scholarship on behalf of the former educators named above.  The description of the award reads:  "Awarded to students who exhibit tenacity, social and educational growth, and service to the school".  What an honor.  We are so proud of him!

Inspired by an Expanding Womb

My grandson

Alison used this poem by Sylvia Plath to announce her pregnancy on Facebook:

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.

I can relate to the imagery and the wondrous forbodding.

I carried two of my children in my belly--all three in my arms and my heart.  (One of them still sits on my lap occasionally)  Though they've grown out of infancy ages ago, they still occupy my thoughts constantly.  Add to them a son-in-law and a husband with a child-like sense of humor and my brain's a full house.

That means I win!

Teach a Man to Fish

Cap'n Chuck provided the boat and his knowledge of where the fish are.  Eric caught the striped bass.

 Scott risked serious burns to deep fry it in his special batter recipe.  

Neil was the willing taste-tester.

Here's Eric's plate sans home-made tartar sauce and coleslaw.

Even my gluten-free version was delicious!