R and I had a great night together. There was no whining, arguing, crying, or defiance. We just had dinner, talked, watered the plants, and then had a stress-free bedtime. Yay! R even asked if he could help me when I was putting dishes away. He voluntarily Swiffered the floors and ate all his dinner. While we were eating, I told R about the surprise birthday party we had at work today for my friend Alicia. He was fascinated by the fact that we had TWO cakes! He then asked me what kind of cake I had, so I told him (strawberry ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery). He was quiet for a little while, then asked me, "What kind did Aunt Alicia have?" When I told him (chocolate cake with chocolate chip ice cream layers), he said, "Wow, you sure had a lot of desserts!" Then he described to me the cupcakes they had at school today for a classmate's birthday. I love having real conversations with him!
Yesterday, we got the monthly Audubon magazine and there was an article about how global warming would change the Massachusetts climate. I had heard before about how it will probably mean that our house ends up on beachfront property, but this article really made me think about other aspects. It talked about how basically we'll end up with the climate of Virgina. And how we'll have many more species of snakes, spiders, ticks, etc. And that we'll lose the amazing fall foliage display. And, it examined the possibility that we'll have more illnesses and diseases because germs won't be killed off during the cold winters. It also highlighted some potential benefits - e.g., to some species of currently threatened shore birds. I wasn't shocked or scared by any of it; it mostly made me sad. Because I love New England and everything about its weather and nature.
But I also wonder: Will the change to a Virginia-like climate also make New Englanders friendlier and more welcoming? The few times I've visited Virginia, I was blown away by how nice people were. Could any of that have to do with climate?
Hmmm ... probably not.
3 comments:
Hey, finally back from my trip! I will be getting your print soon and off in the mail. By the way, that painting got "Best of Show" at the Fair!
Will get caught up reading previous posts soon.
Hey there -- I couldn't remember your e-mail address, so I wanted to pass my comment along to you here. I had posted it in response to your comment on my blog earlier this evening:
"I visited the Boston memorial back in 2004 when I had gone with my wife and her parents to visit some of their family in Massachusetts. That, too, was a very moving experience; there was one inscription in particular on one of the columns that I took a photograph of, written by a lady named Gerda Klein:
'Ilse, a childhood friend of mine, once found a raspberry in the concentration camp and carried it in her pocket all day to present to me that night on a leaf. Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry and you give it to your friend.'"
What a cute conversation. Isn't it great to really have two-way interaction with them?
That article sounds ominous. I love having shorts-weather almost 9 months out of the year. But yah, it does allow some nasty critters to thrive. I'd hate to think New England would lose the foliage.
And southerners might be a bit quicker to be outwardly friendly. But my experience in Boston was, be friendly and friendly will find you. And I will let my selective memory wipe the images of all the people that walked right into me as if I were invisible. I like to remember the friendlies.
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