Stonehenge From Car

I photograph Stonehenge at dusk from the A31. Yes, I am driving but traffic slow. Besides half the driving population seems to be tapping away on their blackberry or iphone so why not me just as stupid? We're on our way to Devon to visit Halley and Willem for a late Thanksgiving - which has become our tradition the last five years or so. We have a lot to be thankful for too - healthy and happy family, Sonnet's job+my work, Barak Obama (or better: Bush-Cheney gone). We avoid the M3 and other major routes opting for lesser-roads that cross traditional English countryside. Green and wet. All in, the drive takes four hours including one pit-stop at "the Little Chef" which is the equivalent of Howard Johnsons. Ghastly. I warn the kids they are allowed five "are we there yets" and we debate whether this for each child or collective. It goes downhill from there.

Madeleine sees Stonehenge: "Are we gonna climb it?"

Madeleine, in a robot-like voice: "We are from outer-space. We are here to marinate your planet." (I think she means "exterminate.")

I tell the kids to keep an eye out for ware wolves as we cross the Wiltshire dales in foggy dark conditions. Eitan worriedly: "do you promise that you are not lying? Cross your heart and say it again."

Devon

Mary and Devon, who is a great kid. Devon is the oldest of three and these days his favorite sport is downhill racing which he does about every weekend in the Connecticut mountains nearby Mary and Amado's second home. He is also a swimmer and footballer, which he and Eitan bond over. Devon BTW is Eitan's self-proclaimed BBF and with brother Simon they have a blast rocketing about (there is a bit of a thing against girls right now but this will pass, oh boy).

I'm pretty much out of touch with the news and the world which is heavenly. I did see that Max won his libel case against News Of The World which I guess is interesting. Fleet Street is world class, God bless it, but goes too far on occasion - this why we love it dearly, Brother.

Mercer

Here is the inside of Mercer Caverns. Without lighting there is complete darkness. Initially Madeleine wants nothing to do with the caves remember Wales but she joins in the end. The children as all sorts of interesting questions: "where do the rocks come from?" (Madeleine); "Why does that look like chocolate?" (Maya); "Is there any gold?" (Devon); "Is there any gold pylate? (Devon) This last question flummoxes our otherwise informed guide. From there we descend 208 steps - despite this depth it is not the bottom, where a breeze enters the caves providing oxygen and cool air. While there is general curiosity where the air source originates, it against California law to dig or damage the pristine below for discovery. Various methods BTW were used including blue smoke which, it was believed, would exit somewhere outside Mercer and provide the source. Fat chance, as the current kept the smoke inside and smoked everybody else out. Eitan BTW reports that there are only 192 steps to the bottom and if there was a bet I would put it with him.

Fozzy

Fozzy here belongs to Halley and Willem, and was bred to chase foxes down holes, Willem tells me. These dogs travel with the hunt and when the fox makes a break for it down a tunnel, in goes Fozzy. Not surprisingly, he is irrepressible and chases everything from rabbit to dog, sometimes resulting in a a nasty growling or worse - a pit bull, for instance, recently got a clamp on Fozzy, who almost lost his front leg in the exchange. Eitan and Madeleine argue over the leash and it is questionable whether dog or child has the lead.

Meanwhile, in the afternoon, Halley prepares a 20 lb bird for our belated Thanksgiving - the meal is fabulous, with all the stuffing. I'm impressed as Halley and I have joked about cold turkey sandwiches on Wonder bread with mayonnaise so my expectations were, ahem, low. Any case with us are two of Willem's colleagues at Exeter University, who have joined Willem this fall from Duke and Michigan. In total, we are four PhDs, and seven MA's. Since it is Thanksgiving, I ask for a count on the Star Spangled Banner. There is some shuffling, but I think most of us can mumble our way through it. On the U.S. Constitution, it is dire: nobody is able to list the first ten amendments. If not this crowd, I wonder, then who? Bush and the Republic fight for our so-called freedoms, but how do we know when they have gone? In England, we will surely have identity cards and I am photographed 300 times a day in Central London - soon, no doubt, this data will be linked to the police, my medicals and etc. England has a parliamentary democracy and the Magna Charta instead of a Constitution - the politics therefore work, but our civil rights are greying. In America, perhaps it is the the reverse - for now, until your phone is generally tapped and habeas corpus gone, thank you Gitmo. But hey, man, if nobody knows what they are missing - what the worry?

Madeleine loses her second front tooth in the car-ride to Devon, and promptly loses it. It is somehow retrieved in the seat-crack otherwise, I tell her, "no Tooth Ferry." Those are the breaks, kid. Sonnet awakes at 5AM in a panic, remembering to put two pounds under Madeleine's pillow.

Exuberence

Madeleine at Hotel Barcelona in Exeter. We drive to Devon yesterday afternoon, just nipping the weekend traffic. The journey is about three hours and we amuse ourselves with Willie Nelson and Twenty Questions, which I enhance with a £1 promise to the winner. Both kids go for it with varying degrees of interest and success. Our weekend will be spent with Willem and Halley, Sonnet's dear friend from Smith and their two lovely girls (Sonnet is the God Mother to the youngest). We have been here many times including this hotel which is funky, has a cool art-deco bar and kids friendly - what more could one wish for? In 2000, months before Eitan was born, we rambled through the countryside visiting small villages each with a 500 year old church and a few gravestones, a red mail box and phone booth and of course a cozy pub. Sonnet huffed and puffed. This morning following breakfast (Buffet! the kids shriek) I arrange several "time trials" so they may burn off energy before we start the day - pictured.

During 20 Questions, Madeleine: "It is a person."
Me: "Is it somebody I know?"
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "How can I guess if I don't know the person?!"
Madeleine, after a thoughtful pause: "Well, I know her."

Poolside

It is fair to say that the kids love water. Any day - like today - that has a pool is A-OK. They've been in lessons since age 2 and are not afraid of the deep-end. Devon and Eitan in fact swam laps. I have Grand Visions of Madeleine swimming the 200m butterfly a la Olympic champion Mary T Maegher (a Cal grad). I recall her '81 US Senior Nationals in Wisconsin where Maegher set world records in the 200 and 100 meter butterfly. The times for both records were considered astonishing, especially the 100m of 57.93 seconds which was the first time a woman was under 59 second for the distance. Both records stood for nearly two decades until the 100 was broken by Jenny Thompson in 1999 and the 200 by Susie O'Niel of Australia in 2006.

Our plane leaves JFK at 2020 arrving UK time tomorrow morning - groan. I ask the back-seat kids what they look forward to about their return to London. In unison they: "Nothing!" Yes, summer's end is a hard-knock but at least they have school and homework to look forward to.

Mary's Boys

Mary and Devon and Simon. Devon, the older one, has turned eight and Eitan looks up to him for all that he is - and especially his age. Devon plays football (check), is on the ski team (check check) and lives in New York City (check! check! check!). Simon bops in and out and the boys amuse themselves by "hiding" from us during our walk. Devon and Simon attend a primary school for Columbia profs where Amado teaches maths to 13 and 14 year-olds. He is well respected and serves as a confident, I understand. Without doubt those kids are in good hands.

Fungi

Mary, Sonnet, Devon, Eitan, Simon and I walk the Pine Nob trail, which is a small piece of the Appalachian trail, which is over 2000 miles (3,200 km) long on the Eastern Seaboard extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. Along the way, the trail also passes through North Caroline, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. The trail was conceived by Benton MacKaye, a forester who wrote his original plan shortly after the death of his wife in 1921. MacKaye's Utopian idea detailed a grand trail that would connect a series of farms and wilderness work/study camps for city-dwellers. Our chunk is uphill for about two miles offering us a lovely view of the green leafed Berkshires (come back in four weeks and the colours do their famous change). We have p&j's and eat gorp before finishing up on an earned downward slope.

My photo of a mushroom (I think) on an oak. This was the only formation I saw like this today

All In The Gang

I take this photo the only moment the kids are without motion - watching "Spirited Away". The first night, all share a bedroom with double-bunk beds and lay away mattresses making for a Late Night. There is too much energy to go around and at least half the crew chattering away at midnight despite threats and extortions. The adults, for that matter, are not too much better off and happily lubed with adult drinks and conversation (I groan at the morning after). The order from left to right: Devon, Jaimes, Sophie, Simon, Maya, Madeleine and Eitan. There has been a little jockeying between ages and sometimes a younger kid or opposite sex is (purposefully) left out but overall they entertain themselves nicely and with good compromise and cheer. It is fun to observe their size and change plus we have a good few years before they are teenagers.

Connecticut!

We arrive Friday at Mary and Amado's house on Woodridge Lake not far from Litchfield and less than two hours from the Upper West Side door-to-door. Eitan and Madeleine peel out of the car to hug Devon, Simon and Maya who they last saw in Paris. Stories of the four hour line to the Eiffel Tower are gleefully recalled then an afternoon free-for-all takes place in the backyard. Adding to the excitement is the arrival of the Sloan and Rob, who flew in Thursday with their team. Sophie and Jaimes join in the melee while us adults grin at each other and our kids. Our afternoon is spent catching up, jogging, canoing, dining and drinking vodka cocktails and beer. Rob has a go on the jumper - pictured.

Rob and I spend some afternoon discussing college football. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio, so the Buckeyes are a Big Deal - he frequently joins his friends at College Bend to see the important games. The Bears are ranked a place or two ahead of Ohio State in the pre-season polls and about ten below USC who again is #1 (ho-hum)

Red, White and Madeleine

Katie's friend Cara from the Columbia International Affairs school arrives last night for dinner and a stay-over. Cara lives in Burlington and consults world organisations like UNDP and CARE on their H.I.V. policies to eradicate the horrible disease. Gracie, Moe and Katie return to New York today leaving us by ourselves for the first time in a month. Wow. Tomorrow we drive to Connecticut to visit Mary and Amado's lake house and to see their kids Devon, Simon and Maya - a Paris re-union! Rob and Sloan will join us from San Francisco and everybody is way excited for the weekend.

I ask Eitan if he wants blueberry pie for breakfast. He, bug-eyed: "really?"
Madeleine goes the extra yard: "can I have chocolate cake too?"

"It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from his nose to tail with curiosity."
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, by Kipling

Bank Holiday Weekend

This being Easter and England, the country shuts down for a four day bank-holiday weekend to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Amen. Our ambitions our a bit more modest and Sunday finds us at the Hampton outdoor pool for some fun-in-the-sun once the morning chill burns off. Madeleine spends no less than two hours in the H-2-O until I drag her out, fingers white and pruney. We sun-bathe and Eitan finds a couple of new friends to play make-shift footie. From here we go to Dana and Nathan's for an afternoon BBQ. Before the meat, Dana hides Easter Eggs in a private garden nearby her house in Primrose Hill and the kids go wild for it. We say our farewells to Mary and Amado who return to New York the next day. Eitan declares that Devon is his best friend.

Our good weather this weekend prompts a flurry of bets on a record-breaking summer. The book maker William Hill reacts by trimmming the odds of temperatures exceeding 100F in 2007 from 10-1 to 8-1. Further, Hill offers 12-1 that the higest record temperature of 103.5F will be beaten this year.

Yummy Mummy

Mary and husband Amado and children Devon, Simon and Maya visit London from Friday to next Sunday. Eitan and Madeleine giddy by the prospect seeing their friends and their joining matches all expectations. We are also delighted to see our New York friends and spend the day kicking about London starting at the Tate Britain and ending at the Beirut Express for an early Lebanese dinner - family style. This photo of Sonnet, Mary and Dana taken next to the Millennium Bridge connecting the Tate Modern to the City.

Michael Phelps wins seven gold medals at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, tying Mark Spitz's '72 Olympic tally. Phelps would most likely have collected eight if not for the DQ of the US 4X100 medley relay in the preliminaries. Overall 15 world records were established of which 12 by Americans and four by Phelps excluding relays.

The Big Trees Gang

The kids also enjoy a re-union - this their third visit together in the Sierras. From left to right: Jaimes (age 2), Devon n (7), Eitan (5), Simon (4), Maya (3), Sophie (5) and Madeleine (4). Photo taken after a candy-stop and lipsticking.

Let there be...

The West Coast gang, including Simon and Devon and Sophie, check out the Light spilling through a fallen 2,000 year old Giant Sequoia in Big Trees National Park. The Sequoias (not to be confused with Redwoods) grow to 112 meter by 7 diameter and thrive in only a handful of moist locals including Northern California. This particular grove is home of General Sherman, the largest living organism on earth with a a volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,510 cubic feet).