Inviting Happiness

caywood conservatory-- To "force" a bulb seems very mean indeed.

However, having blooming flowers in the house during the winter is nice.
As you can see, they invite a ray of sunshine.

Henceforth, we shall refer to this practice as "inviting" bulbs indoors in the winter. Please make a note of it.

Signed,

Your Peace-Loving, Flower-Friending, Winter-Weary Bloggers

Howdy, Strangers!

caywood-- Has it been a while? Yes, it has. Will we blog again? Yes, we will.

Aye, Aye Skipper

caywood point-- Took a year-ending ramble to the shores of Seneca Lake and spent the afternoon skipping stones across the silvery ribbons of water. Here is a situation where plumbing the depths is easily achievable with a clumsy kerplunk but to skim the surface is sparkling transcendence.

Reader's Poll, Country Style

caywood--

Raise your hand if you ever driven past your retired-guy neighbor's house and happened to glance over at precisely the moment the retired guy has approached his entirely glass front door, his white undershirt tucked into his white jockey shorts.

My hand is up.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

caywood station --Spring has finally and truly arrived. I love nothing better than standing in the back yard admiring the flowers, the garden, the blossoming orchard, and the sheer greenness of it all.

Winter Morning

caywood station --
The view from the balcony on a cold winter morning.

This One's For You, Jasper

unnamed heavy equipment parking area--

What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander Dept.

latimes.com-- Aurora the resident Wonder Chicken was reading her RSS feed this morning and passed along this choice morsel:

Item: Calif. man killed by armed bird at cockfight, was stabbed by rooster with attached knife.

Now, while Aurora is appalled, appalled I say, at this tragic loss of human life, she does feel the need to point out the glaringly obvious way that this tragedy could have been averted.

Don't do cockfights.

Picture This

rt. 96, southbound--

A tiny roundup of recent Rascal's reader board messages.

Last week:
Turkey
Raised on Radio

... is that organic radio?


This week:
Meatloaf

... the meal and the man?

Snow Day!

caywood snow fort-- There's a little storm rolling over* The Nation's Midsection** and Northeast. Perhaps you've heard of it?

People all around us have been talking and speculating about it, swapping advice about which stores are most important to lay in if you want to survive.

Yesterday, we woke up to find... a few inches. But definitely the most snow at one time we've had so far this winter. AND, our road wasn't yet plowed. Feeling hopeful, we scoured the Internet for school closures.*** Watkins? CLOSED! Elmira? CLOSED! Chemung? CLOSED! But what's this? Ithaca: OPEN!

Why why why why why?

Well, probably 'cause it's really not that much snow. Still. Hopes had been raised then dashed.

We made it off our road with a running leap and jumped onto the state highway. Snowy, not treacherous. Trumansburg's streets were downright clear. And then there was Ithaca. A traffic jam on West Hill, really? Superslushy uncleared intersections and side streets, really? The one of us prone to ranting about what constitutes a true snow "storm"**** was heard to huff, "WTF, Ithaca? Haven't you had since 1789 or whenever you decimated the indigenous population to figure out how to deal with snow?"

Fast forward through the day: "This is only the beginning!" warned every weathercaster in the Western world. "Tomorrow expect droves of snow, wintery mixing, patchy freezing rain, and harp seals and polar bear cubs falling from the sky!" Chicago's schools are set to close for the first time in twelve years!***** More speculating around the water cooler. Will the office be closed tomorrow? Should we leave early? Will we ever see each other again?

Back home, 8pm: Ithaca isn't waiting. They've already called it: schools closed tomorrow!

Yeah, baby! That's what we're talkin' about! Rejoicing and tears. We are so happy and cozy, ready for a night of fun stuff and staying up late.

This morning: Yay! It's already a snow day! We don't even have to check. Which is good because it is hard to discern if any snow has fallen since last night when we got home. Our road is plowed and completely unobstructed. Is that blue sky I see?

Satellite images of this storm are awe-inspiring and downright frightening. Except for that tiny patch of non-storm right over Central New York. Weird. But we don't care!

It's been a great day!

_________________________

* Or, if you are into inflaming the masses, "hammering," "slamming," "gripping," or "torturing."

**What newscasters call the Midwest when suddenly "Midwest" isn't descriptive enough or when they are obsessing about body image.

*** Because one of us works in an office that closes with Ithaca School District closes, and the other of us is encouraged to work at home during bad weather.

**** Certainly not less than a foot of snow at once.

***** Proving once and for all who the toughest people in the nation are and who the real winter bad-ass in this relationship is. Who walked to school in -18 degree weather at age 11? Not this kid!

All the News that's Fit to Print

from the Desk of the Caywood Tattler--

Weather Corner
* - 15 degrees F
* Guerilla insulation tactics
* Chickens now indoors
* Round the clock vigil for frozen pipes
* Success! No frozen pipes!

Eating Local, Then and Now
First winter here: Winter CSA membership, exclusive contract for the consumption of root vegetables, no greens after Nov. 15, pork becomes a substitute for chocolate.
Fourth winter here: Still making the effort, if you call eating avocados and mangos "making the effort."

Winter Wildlife Watch
* 83 days since K & A's last deer strike!
* Wildlife camera installed in yard, then relocated to house in conjunction with...
* ... winter vermin infestation kick-off party!
* Your petless protagonists are counting down the days until Bella comes home!

Overheard
Rumor has it that an area realtor has called our neighborhood "trashy." First of all, since when does a neighborhood situated between two vineyards and with lake views qualify as "trashy"? Second of all, everyone knows that a real real estate word for "trashy" is "quirky." Mr./Ms. "Real Estate Agent" are you even licensed in the State of New York?

Adult Education Offering Helps Area Residents Expand Horizons
Looking for something to do now that the 6-class Tai Chi series at the Eagle Hotel has ended? Bust a move (or, as we say in Tai Chi, "Strum the Pei Pa") on over to the Interlaken Central School on Thursday nights for Hula Hooping for Health. Perhaps "Hula Hooping" has hithertofore been filed in your mental pigeonhole somehwere between "Whimsical" and "Outdated" and "Seriously, People." You'll need to reshuffle your categories. May we suggest you now file it somewhere between "Stealth Danger" and "What the Hell!"?

New Year, Dark and Light

caywood-- In recent years, it has been our custom to take a few days between Christmas and New Year's Day for ourselves. Liminality: We love it. Bring it on!

Then you've crossed the threshold, and there it is: your new year.

One day you are watching embers from your backyard bonfire float starward amid your new, resolved hopes, or toasting with a painless flute of prosecco over chocolate fondue with friends, while the next you are staring down the barrel of your workaday world and digging out of the rut you thought you left in 2010.

Kar-BOOM! Don't blow your hand off!

And that is why it is good to have friends.

Today, we were so pleased-- overjoyed, really-- to have a visit from Caywood Alumni Jay, Amy, Lucy, and Jasper.

Taco Bar!
Little House Gingerbread!
Cracking hyper-local walnuts!
Jack Frost nipping at our noses!
Rousing games of "Kids in a Coop," "Horses in a Stall," "Can You See Me?" and "I Just Woke Up!"!

And so, nine days into the new year, we already have another highlight! Thanks, guys.

The Name Says It All

gate f8 philadelphia international airport-- Are airports like Disneyland, full of secret clubs and backstage doors for those in the know? Methinks yes. Readying for my on-time connection to Ithaca from Philly last night, I glanced up from my usual preflight routine of jamming one... more... item into my bulging carry-on and spied the door to an important office:

Piedmont Airlines, Inc.
Chief Pilot's Office
Doug Jett

Gate F8? F8. Fate. Doug was destined for the skies.

Howdy, Neighbor!

trumansburg-- The other day, we were loitering near the counter of the Kinney Drug, shopping for something "holiday"-- Chapstick?-- and overheard the person in front of us chatting with the checker about how she baked 61 dozen cookies this year.

"61 DOZEN?!" we exclaimed.

"Yes," was the answer, "because I'm from Lodi, where all the crazy people live."

Back to the Drawing Board

nearby-- One of us occasionally daydreams about how great it would be to open a breakfast place in our village and name it after our superstar chicken. In fact, this one of us was just revisiting the dream this morning. The other of us, having worked in the restaurant industry, nods patiently and moves on. Today, we discovered this daydream can be put to rest.

Mom & Pop's Secret Recipe (name changed to protect our lives) has relocated from a village to the east to a village to the north. We made a visit after stopping at the one-room library for books and making it through the holiday rush (1 person ahead of us) at the local post office.

Counter with fun stools for twirling: Check.
Local art: Check.
Local color: Check.
Colorful locals: Check.

Five framed pastel drawings lined the wall behind the counter, gallery-style. A curatorial sort might say they were fine examples of "outsider," "primitive," or "American folk art." Me, I'll just say: thumbs up for the owls. The depiction of the Seneca white deer was a little spooky, but that just comes with the territory for an inbred species living on a genetic island. Another person might not have chosen to hang a pastel drawing of a fox clutching a dead hawk by its broken neck, but hey, it's Mom and Pop's place-- not yours or mine.

One of us read about the war in Afghanistan while the other of us edified herself by leafing through a back copy of "Real Simple" magazine (yes) borrowed from the library. One's sandwich was egg salad, the other's a perfectly grilled cheese with tomato.

Seen the documentary "My Brother's Keeper"? It's a creepy, crumbly true story of backwoods bachelor brothers from another era. A doppelganger to one of the brothers shambled in just as the chocolate milk arrived. A cold gust of wind from the open door blew his beard over his shoulder.

Upon bill paying, one of us had this exchange with Pop:
One of us: "We just found out you opened here after you closed in your old spot! Nice to see you've reopened!"
Pop: "Yep."
One of us: "Thanks for a great lunch, we really enjoyed it."
Pop: "Bye."

Yessir, we want to be your customers. We'd love to give you money. Thanks for chatting with us! Thanks, too, for crossing this daydream off the To Do list.

A Wee Highland Coe!

Drive-by Philosophy

in and around ithaca--

Run out of thoughts to ponder? Ithaca's bumpers are here to help.

The mind blowing:
Reality: It's Not What You Think

No, really, you're BLOWING my mind!
Don't Believe What You Think

Concerned about the right things:
Keep Tahoe Blue (this wasn't even us!)

Winner of the Caywood "Killing 'Em with Kindness/You Can't Get Drag Me Down/Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em" Award:
I Heart Haters

Sew Exciting

caywood- My parents, in their infinite thoughtfulness and with characteristic encouragement of my hobbies and interests, gave me a sewing machine for my birthday! Yay for turning 40!

Allegra, beloved friend, sewing expert, and recent Caywood visitor, provided the project management expertise and oversight needed to help me complete my first project on my cute, pink-and-white machine: curtains for the cabinets in the kitchen.

Allegra did all the hard stuff-- measuring, matching the patterns to each other, ironing, pinning, figuring out how the automatic needle threader works, advising the novice sewer...





... while I pretty much just focused on pushing down the foot pedal and not running over my fingers. I'd post more pictures here, but am experiencing Shutterfly download/upload fatigue.

Mom and Dad, I hereby dedicate these curtains to you!

Aurora vs. Luna

I went out to gather the eggs in the morning as usual.

Aurora, awesome as ever.

But what happened here? It doesn't even tip the scale. Someone's shirking coop duties. That, or impersonating a quail.

In an Aurora vs. Luna smackdown, it's Aurora, every time.

Good Luck to a New Favorite

rochester--

www.restaurantgoodluck.com/

We loved this place, our cocktails, the balsamic roasted figs and fennel sausage, housemade fettuccine, blueberry star anise ice cream... but mostly we want to move in, since the aesthetic is exactly what we dream about for Caywood Station.


Fellow Upstaters, when you find yourself in the place known as the Flower City--and alternately known as Flour City, Rachacha, and Rochiggity, according to a source>-- don't miss Good Luck!