Folklife and Chickens

We had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend here in Seattle, and after spending Saturday gardening and preparing for the arrival of chickens , we spent Sunday at the Seattle Folklife Festival. Natalie met us down there and we also kind of celebrated her 21st birthday which was the following day, so we couldn't celebrate with booze.
It is now June 2nd, I have been trying to get this post out for over a week, and much has happened in that time... well, some stuff has happened in that time. First, though, I'll finish up with Folklife Festival- Right as we walked in, Renae spotted a stand where kids (I suppose adults too) could build little wooden boats. For $2 you got some basic supplies like a rudimentary keel, some dowels, nails, string, cork, and some other things I can't remember. Anyway, Felix loved it and was so proud of the boat he built. He drilled the hole for the mast, attached a plastic sail, nailed a couple of corks that he said were seats, and nailed nails around the edge of the deck and wrapped a string around them to define the edge. As proud as he was you would think we'd have a better picture of it... but we don't.
The boat was really the highlight for him, but he did get some time in on the drums. A close second was the fountain, though he would not get wet. There is a steep concrete ramp that slopes down to the fountain that Felix kept running down; it scared me every time he did. I tried to place myself in his path to slow him down or stop him if he tripped, but he kept going around me.
So the big news is that our chickens have arrived. You can see them by following the "Los Pollos" link to the right. He is still unsure about holding them, but he will pet them. He has thought up several names though can't seem to settle on one he likes enough. But I will cease with the chicken talk as it all can be found by following the link.
One last thing I thought was very funny: Renae and Felix were lying in bed the other morning when Felix turned onto his belly and asked Renae to rub his back, as she did Felix groaned out "oooohhh yeah ooohhh". He then asked her to scratch his back, "oh yeah, yeah, that feels good".

Mr. Greenish Thumb

Not unlike getting chickens, putting in a vegetable garden was something we talked about for years and are now finally getting around to doing. I built a 32 square foot raised bed a foot high, and borrowed a truck to haul in a cubic yard of a topsoil and compost mixture.
Felix and Renae got it started a couple weeks ago by planting about a dozen beans or so in an egg carton. Felix was careful to remember to water his little seedlings most days as they sprouted on our window sill, some days he needed a reminder. He used a squirt bottle that he would often turn on the dogs. Last night he saw to a successful transplant of most of those bean sprouts. Last week we planted many of the plants that are in there now. Felix was initially eager to help but lost interest pretty quick. His favorite part was turning on the water. This week though, he was much more engaged. Perhaps because they were his babies. We also got him his own little shovel- sometimes that's all it takes.
Look at him; so self satisfied as he surveys his work.

Rockin' the Suburbs III

About a year ago I watched a show on PBS called 49 Up It was the latest iteration of a series that began 42 years prior as 7 Up, a documentary of several seven year-olds. The filmmaker returned every seven years to film these people and document how their lives unfolded. By 49 Up, some of the subjects had declined to further participate and one woman, who said that this would be her last, said something that stuck with me- she said that having her life documented in these seven year increments depressed her and that she has gotten very anxious upon the approach of the next episodes. With a few exceptions, many of the participants exuded a malaise about their lives and having them chronicled this way.
This, of course, gets me thinking about Felix's blog. I so appreciate the technology that allows me to so easily record and share with others my perspective of my sons life. I enjoy rereading past posts, and remembering things that I might have otherwise forgotten completely. But as he grows older, becomes more sophisticated, learns to read, and understand himself through others, he may not like having so much of his life detailed in cyberspace by his biased father. I'm probably being more wistful than is necessary; I hope so. I love you, Felix.

I was asked by a friend to play drums in a band comprised of people who don't yet know how to play instruments. I agreed. So far, this is the fruit of my decision:Thankfully, during the addition to the house, we had the good sense to have all the walls of that room insulated. The first time he played I had him put on the headphones and explained that that is to protect his hearing. He is so conscientious that when he feels like playing, he just goes into the room, puts on the headphones, and bangs away.