Elizabeth's Journal

Grama Sprong's Birthdays

As everyone knows, I scanned loads and loads and loads of old Sprong and Ensign (Grama Sprong's maiden name) documents and photos the week before coming up here to Kansas--a little more than 750MB worth of stuff. A couple of photos of Grama Sprong that I loved were one of her on her 21st birthday and one of her striking a silly pose with a college friend of hers.

Yesterday, on Monday the 23rd of June, Jonathan and I went with Mom and Dad to see Grama for her 96th birthday. Although I have always delighted in saying that even though she was in her nineties and still going strong, unfortunately that is no longer the case. Her recognition of people has slowed down greatly, and a couple of times she tried to introduce me to her daughter--my mom, who of course needs no introduction to me. It was just because she didn't realize I was her granddaughter and thought I worked there. Grama has always been so proud whenever I or Mom or my cousin Carol has visited, and she would introduce us to everyone we met in the hallways and the dining room; this was a continuation of the same thing except that this time she was trying to introduce her granddaughter to her daughter. It was also quite unusual to see Grama without her wiglet. I have always loved her hair and remember when I was little and spending the night with her and Grandpa that I would sometimes get to brush her hair out at night, and I'd always ask her why she didn't wear it down, because I thought it was a beautiful silvery color and it was long. Well, she wears it down now; the nurse had brushed it out beautifully for our arrival (although sometimes they braid it for her, which probably also looks nice). As you can see from the picture, she looks her age these days and has lost quite a bit of weight--her wedding ring, which has always fit quite tightly on her finger, is pretty loose now. But she did enjoy seeing her great-grandson Jonathan, who wanted to push her very fast in the wheelchair (I put the brakes on that!) and who also gave her a great big cuddle and helped her blow out her birthday candles.

Mummy is Persona Non Grata

Our trip to Kansas yesterday went wonderfully. Jonathan is so much fun to travel with! He enjoys it so much, and says so too. On the flight to Kansas City there was a 12-yr-old boy sitting on the other side of me, travelling alone to visit his dad for five weeks, and Jonathan was fascinated by him but was a bit too shy to talk to him directly--he kept asking me to ask him things.

Unfortunately, with the flight times, Jonathan didn't get into bed until about two hours after he normally does, and he gave me a very hard time about taking his helicopter to bed with him (I said no). So I had to take it away, since he wouldn't put it on a shelf himself, and then of course there were tears. We sorted it out, but then he said, "I don't want you to make me feel better, I want Gram to make me feel better." So Mom went upstairs and read some books with him all snuggled up along her side, and he went to sleep happy. Dad and I are planning to visit the Mid-Continent Library on Friday to do some genealogical research, so Jonathan will get to stay with Gram to himself all day long--he will be in heaven. Today he's helped her dig potatoes from the garden and make zucchini bread.

Today he's interested in playing with Gram or Boppa, but I'm needed only if no one else can play with him. Sometimes my dad hides--Jonathan likes to play the check-out game with the cash register and buying groceries, and as my dad put it this morning, it can be "stultifying". But Jonathan is learning his hiding places . . .

Tomorrow we go to Lawrence, Kansas, for a birthday lunch with Grama Sprong, who will be 96 years old. We'll also try to visit a toy store and an independent children's bookstore (possibly an adult bookstore too--not the naughty kind, just a regular one).

It's very nice to be here at the farm again. They've had lots of rain, unlike us in Austin, and everything is very green and lush. And the temperatures! It was actually chilly sitting on the deck last night--down in the low sixties. Today I think it went all the way up to 81--woo hoo. Would that we were so lucky to have that for a high in Austin these days. Also, the library shelves look great, as does the new dining table Mom got. The only problem with the shelves is that they're about 95% full! He needs to hurry up and build some more.

The Wildlife Lurks in a Most Smelly Fashion

I'm sitting here in the study at the front of the house--and there is a smell about that is suspiciously reminiscent of skunk. It's been wafting around nearly an hour now, and I sure do wish it would go away. Not very nice. Hopefully it's just a spray and we won't go out in the morning to find a dead skunk in the road. That would take weeks to get rid of, ugh. Maybe we could get Jennifer to come drive over it in her car, that would take care of it :-).

Off to Kansas

No time to write much--am busy getting everything together for Jonathan's and my two-week trip to the farm. We go Saturday afternoon and will return to Austin on 5 July. We are both looking forward greatly to being there! It's always a vacation for me too. Jonathan says the first thing he's going to do is go in the Gator to check the mail, and he also mentioned some of the toys there. Amazing he remembers this stuff, since he hasn't been there for a year.

On Monday Jonathan, Mom, and I will go visit Grama Sprong for her 96th birthday. I've made her a butterfly mobile (although it may not end up as a mobile as the assembly caused me much cursing this evening--I always forget what a pain in the a** the finishing touches can be on these crafty projects--kind of like forgetting childbirth, I guess) since I think she spends a lot of time in bed staring at the ceiling these days. Mom says every time she sees her lately, she's more confused. I hope that she has a good time with our visit; I know she's going to love seeing Jonathan, and I am looking forward to hugging her.

I have spent oodles and oodles of time over the last week scanning in stuff that Mom loaned me so that I can return it to her on this trip. It is wonderful what my grandpa kept! I never thought that someone's resume (curriculum vitae) would be such a find, but it's extremely useful for dating jobs, academic qualifications, etc. He also kept copies of forms filled out for the military, one of which includes where he spent time at posts by month and year. What a treasure trove! There were some great pics of him as a young man (he was extremely handsome) as well as some of Grama Sprong. There's even one where she's striking a silly pose with a college friend, and silly poses are not what one usually thinks of first when her name comes up. Last night I scanned in a picture of her on her 21st birthday--just think, that picture is 75 years old now.

Had a great lunch with Jennifer today. Jonathan couldn't get close enough to her to cuddle. He kept scooting over, putting his hands all over her arms and down the back of her shirt so he could feel her skin . . . I think he'll miss his Auntie Jenny while we're on vacation. He is also going to miss his dad, as he's been very much into him lately. But I think he'll have a great time with lots of new things to do, so it should be all right.

I put a new type of birdfeeder out today, and it was most amusing watching the house finches trying to figure it out--they can't tell where they're supposed to land to get at the seed. Presumably they'll have sussed it by the time I return.

I got to babysit a four-month-old baby last Wednesday while his parents attended a movie, and it was a blast! He is such a cute baby (Archie & Jessica are the parents) and he gives me the nicest smile when he sees me . . . and he goes to sleep all cuddled up against my neck, like a kitten or a little baby bird. Jonathan loves having him around too; they hadn't gone more than five minutes before he wanted to know when Eamon was coming back again, and he's asked me that every day since too.

Ok, so this was much longer than I expected, but it's because I type so fast I can spew out all this stuff without it taking much effort on my part. If you've read this far, I am humbled.

Rita, I Cried Too

In a split second this afternoon, my normally sweet child turned into something unrepeatable--everyone in North Austin must have heard his screeches and yells. "Mummy! Turn around! Wrong way! We have to go that way! Mummy! Turn a-round!" Oh my goodness, I much prefer to be giving the commiserating looks rather than receiving them. We had just had such a wonderful time swimming together, loads of cuddles and also lots of Jonathan going underwater (voluntarily!), he had plenty of warning about when we'd be leaving, but we had a Scene anyway. It certainly took it out of me, and pretty much as soon as Dale got home I headed out to see a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse--Bruce Almighty. What a wonderful movie! I laughed and laughed. It was just what I needed. And yes, Rita, I cried too.

Werewolves, Volcanoes, Native American Legends, and Nutrition

Here are my strange web sites for the week. The University of Pittsburgh has some German werewolf legends (already translated--sorry, Daddy). I used to read all the vampire, werewolf, witch, etc., stuff I could find, but I had never heard of the wolf strap that people used to turn themselves into werewolves.

I have always been fascinated by volcanoes, and I would very much love to see an exploding one (of course, one where the lava flows weren't going to hurt anyone, and one that wasn't going to be the last thing I saw!). This site has volcano legends from various countries, including New Zealand, Mexico, and Indonesia. The New Zealand ones certainly demonstrate that the gods usually acted worse than humans, just as in Norse and Greek mythology.

This is a pretty interesting site that contains many Native American legends and myths, mostly organized by tribe and done with a great deal of respect for the culture. Links are provided should anyone wish to make a donation.

The last site I'll mention is one that, for instance, counted up all the Cheerios inside a 15-oz box. It's well documented with some great photos too. (Funny, it reminds me of the story I've heard about my dad and Kathleen taking apart a Contac (remember those? are they still made?) to count all the little bitty balls to see if there were as many as the ads said there were.) The site also takes a close look at, among other things, ketchup (definitely worth looking at!), kegs of beer, and bacon bits. The presentation and analysis is thorough and detailed, and I foresee a great career in science ahead of these folks--you have to see it to believe it. I will say that these look suspiciously like college students with FAR too much time on their hands! Who else has seven hours to spend in front of a movie channel stringing Cheerios . . .

The Triathlon was Great

I had a wonderful time at the 10th Danskin Austin Triathlon Sunday morning. The weather was perfect for it, and there was even a cool breeze (well, sort of, and only at the beginning). I started out too aggressively on the swim and had to stop to tread water and catch my breath for a bit, but I recovered and did the 750m in about 22 minutes. The bike went well, and the run was reasonable too. My total time was 2 hrs 8 mins (details available on Rita's blog), which was only 13 minutes slower than Jennifer (my measure of fitness right now) and only about 2 minutes faster than Rita. The atmosphere was very special and all the volunteers really make it a privilege to be there.

I hope I shall be able to continue my training. Monday was a good start--I did a recovery ride on my bike, keeping my heart rate pretty low (zone 2 for those of you in the know), and it loosened up all my stiffness and just felt great. It's so nice to feel reasonably fit!

It made my heart feel like bursting with love and joy to be running towards the finish line and see little Jonathan on the side of the course, next to my sweet Dale and cousin Jfer, clapping for me as I ran by. Later on we taught him to say, "Go runners go! It's just around the corner!" to people coming in towards the finish line. He loved it and repeated it this evening for our neighbor Courtney from across the street (she came over--with our foreknowledge and agreement--to try out her Cutco presentation on us).

Watch CSPAN Sunday, 8 June, 5:30 p.m.

As a premium subscriber to salon.com, I get to read Joe Conason's column. (At least I think that's why--maybe everyone can read it!) Today he had something in there that had me laughing for ten minutes.

At the Book Expo America 2003 in Los Angeles, California, there was a panel that included Al Franken, apparently a well-known liberal, and Bill O'Reilly, enough said (also Molly Ivins, but she's not part of this story). Al Franken is coming out with a book called Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them that appears to be careful documentation of lies told by the conservative media--and it's fact-based, meaning that he quotes newspaper articles and shows that anyone can go to and verify his statements as to whether someone said something or not. (Yes, yes, I'm sure someone could write a similar book about the liberal media, so consider those comments done.)

With Bill O'Reilly sitting right next to him, an arm's reach away, Al Franken relates the times that Bill claimed his TV show Inside Edition, which he used to host, won the most prestigious award in journalism (a Peabody), which it didn't. He then relates the times that Bill denied doing such a thing, as well as the two phone conversations he had with Al on the matter. He does it in a very humorous way and without, I might add, any personal attack on Bill's overall character (other than, of course, pointing out that in this instance he blatantly lied and didn't expect anyone to call him on it). Bill looks as pissed as he could possibly be, and actually tells Al Franken to "shut up" at the end; that's before he calls Al "Vicious with a capital V". I'm laughing just thinking about it. You can read more comments on Bill O'Reilly at Fair.

If you have a broadband connection to the Internet, you don't have to wait until Sunday to see this. Go to the broadcast of it on the Book TV site (scroll down to the Book & Author Luncheon) and fast forward to 41 minutes into the show. It is priceless.

Garden Status

I spent some time reading in my garden this evening, after Jonathan went to bed. It was rather pleasant and a break from the excruciating high temperatures we've been setting recently here in Austin (have already seen 100 degrees more than once). We have loads of house finches around, at least 8, as well as cardinals and their 3 babies. Also frequenting our feeders is a pair of white-winged doves, and we have a new nest (four eggs and a very testy mummy) of Carolina wrens in the Wandering Jew hanging basket.

My vegetable garden is proving to be quite a learning experience. The cherry tomato plant is amazing--it's covered up all the spinach as well as the carrots and half the leeks. And the tomatoes--my god, they are wonderful. Bursting with flavor, just like Mom's. I actually ate one all by itself the other day, not even in a salad.

The squash had loads of blossoms and will probably produce a bunch of fruit when the time comes. Something is eating the strawberries; not sure what.

My final note is this: nothing has died yet, although my snapdragons are looking a little sad. This must set a record for me and my Darwin's garden!