sunday round up

can we rewind to wednesday and begin this vacation all over again? i'm not ready to return to reality, at least not a reality beyond board games, baby toys, wood burning stoves and afternoon naps.



it's been a fine stretch of days, eating, eating, relaxing, eating, going on some drives, eating, checking out some live music, and eating. oh, and holding these sweet little dimpled hands.



the only black friday shopping i did was online. saturday i briefly visited the downtown artisan market, and later took a pleasant drive to the greenwood country store, a favorite haven of antiques, kitsch and useful items.





this morning we were en route to the green valley bookfair for our annual visit when we had a blow out on the highway. the car suddenly swerved this way and that several times, and i managed to pull off, thinking i had hit some unusual cross winds. i pulled back onto the highway and felt like i was driving on jello, so pulled off again immediately.

we had a flat.

we had no spare tire, because i had a flat not more than a couple weeks ago, and we hadn't yet replaced that spare. so the tow truck was called and tashi and i scrambled up the steep highway embankment to retreat with the baby to a quiet country road. we ended up in an idyllic setting of cow pastures, hay bales and horses, the sun streaming through groves of trees, as we waited for uncle tom to come rescue us while dan dealt with the car.

it was an unusual ending to our holiday, to say the least.

i feel extremely lucky that we didn't get into an accident, as there was an abundance of fast moving holiday traffic on the highway. i have to admit that sitting in the pasture was incredibly relaxing, nothing but my kids, myself, mother nature and a container of scones to keep us occupied. it was an absolutely stunning day and i felt the beautiful countryside cradled us in safety. i'm sure my attitude would have been completely different if it hadn't been a sunny day of high 60's.

i didn't have the camera with me to capture our magical spell of being stranded. but here is a shot of tashi with some large fungus growing on a dead tree in our yard.



for beauty erupts in the most unusual places.