Visiting the District of Columbia

At the beginning of this week, I took a mini-vacation to D.C. to stay with Kelsey and Alex, visit with Mom, and see Grace off for her summer in India and Nepal.

Alex and Kelsey’s apartment is this peaceful, minimalistic oasis in the middle of the city. I was delighted to finally be able to see it!

I had most of Monday to myself, so I walked to the National Mall,

and spent the majority of my afternoon in the National Gallery (west building). Delighted to see so many paintings I had only seen before in books.

I particularly enjoyed: the exhibit on Rodin’s sculptures, the pre-Raphaelite exhibit, Van Gogh, and noting how very famous paintings are often nonchalantly placed in a strange corner of the room.

On Tuesday, Mom and I got to spend the morning at the U.S. Botanic Gardens, which was delightful, as I now share her great love of plants.

We killed time here while Grace fearlessly navigated the Metro to Georgetown to apply for her visa, and then we met up again and had the famously delicious lunch at the Native American museum.

More thoughts/highlights:

• The quiet car on the train! The best invention. Also, the ride from here to D.C. is really beautiful. I caught up on my New Yorkers and finished The Gospel According to Woman (Karen Armstrong).
• Dinner with Eric, Cristina, Emily, and Brian on the night I got in. So fun and lively!
• Dinner with Patrick, shortly after Mom and Grace arrived. Just adding to the list of family time, and surreptitiously celebrating his birthday.
• I don’t think I could make it in D.C., but I’m glad that Kelsey and Alex aren’t very far away, and I love their sweet, streamlined lifestyle there. Visiting their apartment felt a bit like visiting an upscale resort (the rooftop pool! You cannot even imagine this pool/deck area). Love those two so very much; they are perfect hosts.

And now I am looking forward to seeing (almost) everyone again in June, for the family excursion to Hatteras! It cannot come too quickly.

Babies and such

This past weekend, Kathryn and I went to visit Catherine and her sweet new baby, Auden.

We had such a lovely visit and were so excited to finally meet the little nugget! It’s still surreal to see Catherine as a mom, this dear friend from years past, with whom I used to roll around in the grass with on the quad and steal food from the dining hall. And now here she is, a graceful, competent mother.

As you can see, Auden is a complete doll. Can’t wait to see them all again soon!

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Last night, we had the fabulous Meredith Perdue, Michael Cain, and Orvis over for dinner. Meredith, as you may recall, was our super-gifted wedding photographer, and we are HUGE fans. Dinner conversation was lively and fun, and the dogs were full of adorable antics.

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After being ruined for all fiction by Infinite Jest, I have finally found my reading stride again, happily resurrected by the cheering power of Anna Karenina. It has been years since I read it, and I am enjoying Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation immensely. So funny, so witty, so readable! Preliminary thoughts: Vronsky is not as villainous as I remembered him, at least not yet. Tolstoy can write women fairly and completely, without the masculine censure that so often creeps into 19th-century narratives by male authors (lookin’ at you, Dickens). Anna is just so human and real. Anyone who judges her should take a good, hard look at themselves first.

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Looking forward to a weekend at home to do chores, acquire houseplants, and walk the dog. Pleasant sigh.

The books we need

Epigraph to Anne Sexton’s book All My Pretty Ones (1962):

… the books we need are the kind that act upon us like a misfortune, that make us suffer like the death of someone we love more than ourselves, that make us feel as though we were on the verge of suicide, or lost in a forest remote from all human habitation — a book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.

— from a letter of Franz Kafka to Oskar Pollak

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Frightening and lovely!

Thinking about: how I really need to get serious about training the dog, all-black outfits, how much I dislike the word “outfit,” courgettes, lemonade, North Korea, if I will ever read fiction again, mantis shrimp, and the farmhouse smell and feel of our house (hovel) in the summer. (I am calling it summer now, since we hit 90°F this past week.)

Looking forward to this weekend: Kathryn is coming to stay with us, and then we’ll be traveling to see Catherine, Russ, Ava, and new baby Auden!

Over the holiday

We spent a peaceful holiday week-and-a-half with our respective families in North Carolina; it was difficult to come back home. We do love them so much.

There was dear brother Win:

And general family merriment at my grandparents’:

I was able to spend an afternoon with Emily in Asheville before she flew back to Amman, which was a wonderful gift in itself:

Plenty of lounging occurred.

And there was the presentation of this year’s Christmas miracle: “Ziggy + Seahorse,” an original by Grace Farson, which we are excited to prominently display in our home.

An ideal vacation, an ideal way to close 2012 and welcome 2013. Hope you all had equally enjoyable holidays.

Cabin fever

Hurricane Sandy was a non-event in Charlottesville, but the whole city shut down anyway, so we had the whole day yesterday to read, lounge about, drink tea, and watch inordinate amounts of TV. I’m not complaining. I started writing our Christmas cards and painted my nails and finished two books. A productive hibernation.

Thinking about my fellow East Coasters who were not so lucky. Hope that power is restored soon and that you all remain warm and safe!

Saturday night, we attended the latter half of a Halloween progressive party. (A party that progresses from house to house, not a party that supports liberal politicians in costume.)

We went as Emily Dickinson and Mitt-ROM-knee:

We also saw “American Gothic” (faithfully recreated by Hannah and Ethan):

50 Shades of Grey and Rosie the Riveter (Celeste and Emily):

And your middle-school yearbook photo (Casey):

We have creative friends.

Our twin couple

Gems, these two!

So delighted to host Rose and Kemp again in Charlottesville, this time in our new, damp farmhouse/shack.

We were all kind of falling apart on Saturday, but after we had draped ourselves over various items of furniture, we were still able to walk to the farmers’ market, speed-pick Fuji apples at Carter Mountain Orchard, and go out to dinner at The Local with new/old friends Zella and Keith.

We so loved having them. Our devastation at their departure was assuaged by the fact that we get to see them again this weekend for Kelsey and Alex’s WEDDING! Score!

Babies, block parties, BBQ

Things that happened this past weekend:

1: Win and Tracy came to visit! They both totally charmed Pyrrha (Tracy especially became her particular favorite).

2: Cate is having a baby really soon and so there was a beautiful baby shower/garden party in her honor.

3: After the shower, Mary Boyce and I flopped around on her bed and talked about people and things. It was rejuvenating.

4: Ben’s parents hosted a very generous cookout at the Blue House (read: flank steak). Here are Ethan and Hannah, being cute before dinner.

5: The Graves Street Block Party was resurrected by Ross, who is the only person in Charlottesville who could have accomplished such a thing. No one else has his social prowess, his gracious and notable ability to bring people together and create community out of thin air.

6: I spoke very broken and embarrassing Japanese with the very kind and talented local potter, Ken Nagakui. I felt honored to meet him. He was so generous to me, regarding the vast amount of errors I made in such a small amount of time.

7: I had a slight increase of terror, thinking about how busy I am making my life. And yet I am happy. It is fall! My sister is getting married to one of my good friends from college in a few weeks!

Cozy, rainy dinner

Last night, Maddy and her lovely housemates hosted a cozy dinner party. We all brought warm comfort food. We drank sangria. We ate Maddy’s perfect Guinness–chocolate bundt cake. We talked about how the porch makes you feel like you’re in a tree-house in the Brazilian rain forest.

Mary Boyce in the kitchen.

Maddy and Hannah.

I sat inside with the ladies, where we talked about crazy persons, green fig trees, grammar, futures, and pasts.

I didn’t sit with Guion at dinner, but we got in the car afterward and both said, “I really like those people. Let’s stay here for a while.”

Outdoor summer

“Montana,” with Tara and Andrew.

Friday night, we trekked out to “Montana”–the Hill’s cabin in Waynesboro–to have a peaceful, happy dinner with Andrew and Tara. (Well, mostly happy. We were all a little sad that Baby Leah wasn’t there.) Tara made heirloom tomato soup. We talked about creationism and mommy culture on Facebook. Pyrrha found a baby snake under my shoe. We laughed. We were loath to leave.

I mean, look at this place.

Soy fields at “Montana.”

The following day, we took Pyr on a little hike through Pen Park.

Pyrrha and Guion at Pen Park.

While on our way back down, we had a thrilling wildlife encounter. Pyrrha and the doe (featured below) squared off with each other for a solid three minutes–neither one blinking, twitching, breathing. Guion and I were getting bored. “OK, which one of you is going to make a move?”

Pyrrha vs. Doe.

Finally, the doe flicked her ear. And took off. And so did Pyrrha. And so did Guion.

Pyr may have frantically lost this hunt, but the encounter at least whetted her appetite for big, wild creatures.

“Did you see that?” Guion said, walking back to me with Pyrrha in tow, breathless. “She acted like a DOG!”

It’s always something we celebrate around here.

In other news, I am thrilled by the prospect of two weekends in a row in which we do not have any travel, weddings, or house guests. This is something of a summer miracle. I have been doing lots of chores, taking the shepherd on lots of walks, and reading lots of novels and letters. Saturday, I even took a NAP–something I haven’t done in many years. It felt profligate.

How have you been spending your summer?

Sultry summer days

Things we have done lately, amid the sweltering heat:

Evening of Carnage.

Hosted Matt and Liz at our place for an Evening of Carnage: An incredible roasted chicken from the Straight’s farm, followed by a showing of “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.”

Parking lot shot.

Attended Chris and Emily’s beautiful and fun wedding in Harrisonburg, where we beat the heat with Sean Minor and new and old friends.

Blue Ridge Swim Club.

Guion and Chris.

Went to the magical Blue Ridge Swim Club, where we floated upon tubes over the green water and were serenaded by mini-Nettles and mini-Camp Christopher, aka the best Paul Simon cover band I’ve ever heard.

I also got some much-coveted time alone, in which Pyrrha and I took a 2-hour hike along the Rivanna River and she nearly died from heat stroke. Then we both came home and napped. Peace, solitude, I have missed it all.