Flexible

It is funny how it seems like we have been here forever now. Missouri seems almost like a dream. It was a pleasant dream. Toly still talks frequently about Missouri. The other day he was telling Rome that he wished we had a chicken back in Missouri named Borsky. Borsky is that Swedish chef from the muppet show. It is also the most derogatory name in Rome's vocabulary. When he's mad at Toly he'll say "you're a Borsky."

Rome is so feisty. He's two and likely the most feisty child yet--I wouldn't have believed that possible three years ago. Here he is clad in tunic.

We were attending a period accurate archery contest.

Toly and Rome played with this little boy on the left.

They had considerable fun even if mom was off shooting most of the day.


Kassi got bored since there were no other children her age/gender. She found an old notebook in the car and had to crush some berries for ink. She drew a good portion of the morning that way.

A piece of pine cone as a quill. Such a resourceful girl. During the afternoon Kassi went on the archery hunt with Tabitha and Tristan.

Tristan was a true star. I am so proud how confident and comfortable he is around everyone. The archers in this line up are the best in the bay area. The one directly in front of Tristan is his instructor.

They are attempting to hit a flying dragon traversing the range on a zip-line. Certainly not many other subordinate archers would have proudly stood in that line-up. Here he is taking pointers from another instructor that came down for the shoot.

Everyone was impressed that this was only his second time shooting a bow.
He is so focused.



I especially like this photo of him.

He is serious, calm and comfortable.

Tabitha made all of our matching attire.

She really enjoyed herself also.


The juxtaposition of a farm-centric life to a life of perusing interests is amazing. I am so happy to be able to take the kids for a short bike ride to the beach any time we like. Some of my fondest memories as a child were playing in the sandy shores of Lake Michigan. All of the kids love the sandy beach, it is in their blood. I especially like how I can show up with the clan of kids bringing nothing except drinking water. Most other families on the beach will have a menagerie of toys and tents and their kids will be bored. Where my kids have nothing except the sand, sticks, shells and whatever else they can find and manage to drum up huge excitement. Assaults on castles, tsunami defending break-waters, wild west stockades and lots of water play are on the itinerary.

The kids have completely settled in here. We haven't built any raised beds for greens and herbs yet. This will probably happen within a few weeks. My job is amazing. I love it so much it is hard to imagine why I ever left it those five and a half years ago. Don't misunderstand, I wouldn't trade our time in Missouri for anything. I simply get so much satisfaction from my job and the work that I do. Those five years in Missouri I took whatever work I could find. The farm was my source for job satisfaction.

My thanks to the CMF

The *CMF was the catalyst that changed our life a few months ago. Now I have to say thanks. We are happy here. The kids love this place. An excellent library is a short four block walk. Books on preloaded i-pods--all you need are earbuds. A huge selection that boggles the mind.

Our most extraordinary friends live five houses away on our nearly traffic free street. Our house is the upper half of a huge victorian. It has exceptionally tall ceilings. It is open and filled with light most of the day.

We travel mostly by bicycle. Toly learned to bike well enough to travel three miles his first day sans training wheels. The farmers market (during winter) has a mind boggling selection of cheap, fresh produce.

Homeschooling with funding from the state to afford the multitude of classes available within a short bike ride. One of the best fencing academies in the bay area just six blocks away. Kassi has a weekly art class that is of a standard that adult students might hope for.

To top it all off, I have my dream job. They treat me so well that I have to regularly pinch myself. I get to do exactly what I like all day long. I feel good about making a difference in the world--installing solar. The systems are large and exhilarating to work on. The last job I worked had five inch diameter pipe. The collectors were six stories up from the mechanical room.

We are going to work with a new product. It uses tracking concentrated solar electricity integrating hot water dissipation and thermal capture of the heat. A hybrid system suited exactly for my skill set. Plus I have been tentatively assigned a huge radiant heating system in the queue. I am in my hay-day of interesting, taxing and enjoyable work.

We are off to bike around the island today. Our island is like a small town completely separated from, yet in the middle of the big city. It is completely flat and filled with old victorian houses, tons of stained glass windows. It is the perfect place to live with a family in the S.F. bay area.

So, thank you *CMF wherever you are. This life change, that I resisted, is an incredible blessing. We are happy here, although we might be happy anywhere, probably not this happy..

*Crazy Mother F'er

Sunday at Point Reyes

Point Reyes is a magical bit of the California coast. I took Tabitha there for our first afternoon together. I was stopping in at Petes for an afternoon coffee, where we met, I asked if she wanted to go to the beach. We were retracing our path and showing our kids one of the most beautiful places we know of.



The kids loved it. Toly was scared of the big noisy surf.


The surf was huge and crashing on the shore. Tristan and Kassi began running toward the retreating wave then running up the beach.


I closely monitored their frolicking.


Rome mostly stayed far back from the scary waves.


Many calories were spent.






The wave just after this one was huge and pummeled everyone.


Tristan remained fearless.


occasionally a huge wave would crash all the way up the beach. There was no safely dry place.






Tristan was drenched.

and covered in sand


I consoled Toly and Rome after the big pummeling.


Luckily we read this sign on the way out otherwise we'd have probably stayed on the bluff.

Home at last

We have been in our new home for ten days. We have new beds IKEA rules. I, in all my years, have never owned a brand new bed (mattress). Plenty of new futons, plenty of lightly used beds but never a brand spanking new mattress. It might seem silly but spending several hundred dollars for a bed never seemed like money well spent.

I have been getting two additional hours of sleep per night. Money well spent indeed. The kids got a new bunk-bed set. They also got good mattresses. That was our big splurge most of the rest of our home furnishings are coming on-the-cheap. Freecycle is our friend. We did spend money on an antique bench. It is beautiful. This is also my first piece of antique furniture.

Tabitha got a new desk. I am sitting at it now. It is well constructed and very cute. The internet is finally working here at home. Now if we could simply get settled. It seems like all I ever do is work or put furniture together.

We have been going to Catholic Mass. Our first experience in the bay area was midnight-mass Christmas Eve/Morning. The music was divinely inspired and spiritually moving. Sixteenth century Gregorian chanting mingled with the most delightful quartet. It was sublime.

My job is going amazingly well. I found a leak in a new installation that has plagued the thermal department since the installation. My immediate supervisor wrote a letter for my file praising me and recommending me for permanent employment, ending my probation. We'll see where this leads.

The kids are adapting very well. Our longtime friends live six houses away. They have kids of similar ages. Rome loves, with a true pining love, their oldest daughter. She is twelve and babies him so magically that he is completely smitten.

There are still many things to be settled but we are methodically crossing things off our list. Well, mostly I got off to work and Tabitha manages to cross things off our huge list of to-do's.

We do have a new camera and I promise photos in the very near future. There have been several stumbling blocks in the photo department, including no reliable internet.

I must work out of town two nights this coming week. Tabitha is fine with this--a testament to how comforting our new home is. She really needs to convalesce from the bad neighbor trauma in Missouri. This home is safe and cozy.

the last digital download from this camera

uncle matt...