Seasonal Turning Point

Solstice is coming and to me it seems, at times, that the rate of speed of the Earth's axis is accelerating! It's hard for me to believe that we've lived here in California close to two years. This last year has seen so many changes that at in thinking about it my head spins. Nye is nine years old! We're happily ensconced in our new old house. (Oh, yeah and with a ton of work to do! ;-)

We have so much to be thankful for - friends and family. We are also filled with hope and resolved in making the best of the year to come - we're thinking about where we would like to go personally and how we want to grow. As the year draws to a close it feels right to reflect a bit.

Usually when I sit to write on of these blogs I pick some of my favorite pictures from those that both Arch and I have taken over the preceding month or so. The images that punctuate this blog are a combination of my work and Archil's photography in the past few weeks. In reviewing our accumulated work over I realized that we have images that relate to a few important themes that have emerged in our journey here.

Explorations - Embracing the Landscape

Looking back at our adventures and day trips of the past year I realize that we take trips most weekends. Picking at random we take hikes, go on beach adventures, and embark on urban explorations. Like a gourmand, we consume the world we now inhabit. We relish the gritty streetscapes of San Jose or San Francisco. We revel in sublime crescent beaches nestled by sea cliffs building sand castles or driftwood sculptures. We hike redwoods and grasslands telling stories as we hike, looking for clues from the landscape to weave into our narratives.

This past weekend, we hiked in the chaparrals just minutes from our home. The colors and textures of hills are subtle but varied. Where we live winter is transition time from golden to green. From my drive home each day I can see the hills of Mt. Hamilton grow greener. Up close, the rivulets are verdant, the seeds set and spreading in the winds, and the grasses, so pent up from summer oppression are bursting into new leaf. Tiny birds flit around the bushes gobbling seeds, while raptors soar looking for prey. "Winter" rains transform the landscape. Immune to the gray weather overhead Acorn woodpeckers, with their impossible coloration (red head, black and white bodies with two huge spots on their wings!), sing a lilting refrain! California has a landscape that is easy to enjoy - it has both the bold and the demure!

Relishing Details

It is interesting how travel and change sharpen the senses. I think both Arch and I have noticed how getting to know a new area makes you focus on the details. I'm sure we notice things that others who have lived here for years do not. I know that each of the changes we've experienced in the past year have also helped to heighten our awareness of the world we inhabit. Many of Archil's photographs this past year document the landscape. (I'll compile them for a later blog post!) We've been enjoying the texture of our immediate surroundings. We are delighted to have landed in a neighborhood which has a rich and varied cultural heritage. It is this quality which has helped us feel at home. (Hey, we lived in Brooklyn!) Being surrounded by a varied and diverse community feels - well - right. I love to go to all the farmer's markets but I've been picking up stories and recipes from people at the neighborhood market. People are so generous and patient with my inquiries! I've come home with Chayote, Winter Melon, Raw Peanuts, Yucca, Fresh Squid, and Thai Eggplant lately. Yum!!

Finding Balance

As I reflect on this past year and look to the future the one piece of advice I'm giving myself is to "look for balance." In many ways I have much to learn from Nye. He plays, he works, he laughs, he above all else he is true to who he is - he is himself. So many of life's daily trials get in the way of that. Looking forward this is a year I'm committing to that intention. Balance is about laughing, playing hard, working hard, and being compassionate to the people and the world around us. We have a pretty good start on it, but next year I'm sure we'll improve our practice!

Season's Wishes

May joy fill your hearts,
May hope raise your spirits,
And may the love of family and friends
Carry you forward
Toward a joyful New Year!

We send you our love,

Sara, Nye and Archil

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:
if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity
would not be so welcome."
--Anne Bradstreet

November? Already?

Time flies when you're really, really, really busy.

October was a wonderful blur. We had time to be with family, friends, and to continue our adventures at home. The early part of October I spent in CT and New York. It was wonderful to be back visiting with family, but a little bittersweet that it was so brief. I was especially pleased to see how much improved Mom was. She and I had fun with both our projects and explorations. I just wish I could have gotten some time to see everyone.

The symposium that was the reason for coming to NYC in the first place was definitely a mixed bag. It was a pleasure to be welcomed back to Children's Museum of Manhattan, but the actual "Block Party" organizers needed a few lessons in event facilitation and hosting. The good news is that there were so many great colleagues from all over the country to meet and catch up that it almost made up for the completely lame host crew and their flummoxed timing. Of course they did pay for me to come back east, so . . . I should go much easier on them, right?

After the symposium I had the great pleasure of meeting three lovely young boys - Henry, Oliver, and George. They joined me in Central Park for a walk and a visit to the zoo. (All three young gentlemen were in their mothers bellies when we moved to Cali and this was my first chance to meet them.) It was of course great to get to spend time with Mingting and Abby who I haven't seen for so long as well :-)

Meanwhile back in California . . .

I spent a lot of time this fall preparing for the 01SJ festival events. Zero One or 01 is the big multimedia arts and technology biennial. Artists from around the country and in fact around the world come out to do their installations. Our museum played host to a Luke Jerram piano which myself and other colleagues decorated. We also had a small role in the signature installation called Plug-n-play which was created by the Rockwell Group Lab. Finally, since I know local Ken Eklund (game designer for massive social games like "World Without Oil") through other connections I helped do some game facilitation for Zorops, his project this year. No wonder I didn't have much time to write!

On the home front . . .

Archil has taken a near obsessive interest in crafting a succulent garden. I have to give him credit though because it looks really good. Our bear paw cactus are statue like. Stone plants, hens and chicks, and various ground covers are all wrapped up in a great canvas of rocks and pebbles scavenged from all our trips to the beach, to area parks, and of course the walk home from school. Yep sometimes that kind of focus pays off.

Halloween - Okay so this was our first time having trick or treaters. Wow! We've never lived in a place where kids came to the door before. Not in New York and not here in California. I had no idea how much candy to buy. Like so many other things we're learning about being homeowners all the time. Note to self for next year 8 bags gets you 1/3 the way through the evening . . . so maybe more like 24 bags - yikes!!!

Nye dressed as 'arry Potter this year. We purchased a great Griffendor cape at the thrift shop along with a designer label tie. Combined with his school uniform and some salvage shop glasses and a little "z" of eye liner and a brief wave of the wand and . . . on great costume! Nye and I traveled to the Naglee Park neighborhood where the folks really know how to decorate their houses for the Halloween holiday.

Finally at the end of October Nye participated in his school's walk-a-thon. This year, like last year he walked many laps. This year he completed 50 laps or 10 miles. He would have completed the last 5 laps but the staff was tired of hanging out in the rain and since he had completed close to the last mile in drizzle they awarded him the final 5 laps. Once again he was the grand prize winner.

Now we're breathlessly getting ready . . . birthday festivities here we come . . .

Sending out to all our family and friends with birthdays in November one huge and heartfelt hug and wishes for some fantastic fun on your birthday!

All our love,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Sweet September

End of Summer (kinda?)

While August signaled the end of summer vacation it by no means seems to signals the end of warm weather here in the Valley of Heart's Delight (as San Jose used to be known.) The start of September seems set to continue pattern of cool gray mornings followed by warm blue sky days. We celebrated the holiday weekend with a trip to a few favorite beaches to play in the sand, take shelter from the winds, and build sculptures. The beaches north of Santa Cruz always have more surf and wind than those south do because of the orientation of Monterey Bay. But places like Big Basin are cram packed with sailboarding maniacs plying the 6' waves on inflatable para-sails. I admire their verve! (and feel really whimpy at the same time.)

We haven't been exploring nearly as much lately in part because we've been focusing our energy on the house and the yard. Gone are the nastier bits of the shed. The very strange refrigerator unit that was once attached to the back of the house -- gone. In it's place a wobbly but sufficient summer dining area framed by a string of paper lanterns and a trough turned into an herb garden. Not much in this picture but at night it is a small and slightly festive place to have dinner. (Okay, we're aspiring to a porch but we're not quite there yet. Roof comes first.)

We had to move from our previous dining spot because of Hummingbird Alley. Those lovely little Anna's Hummers zip into the feeder and I was convinced that one of use was going to end up wearing one of the little birds in our ears! They're delightful but a little scary when they buzz your ears at at about 70mph!

An Early Apple Harvest

The nectarines are gone and now it's apple season. We have no idea what variety we have but they're delicious. We invested in a harvesting pole which is no doubt overkill but sure makes getting those sweet ones at the top of the tree much easier. I'm getting ready to start some serious baking of cobbler, crisp, apple butter, etc. Thank goodness the apples keep better than those lovely white nectarines!

In addition to our harvesting work Arch has crafted a sand box in the back yard for Nye. However, we've decided instead to turn it into a pond in part because we haven't managed to get enough sand into it to make it really work as a sand box and Nye is actually getting a bit old for a sandbox. Instead it's been taking on a life as a boat launch, mud pit, etc and I'm hoping it will settle down into something quiet and aquatic just as soon as I'm able to locate a liner and a solar pump system for it. Given all the birds in the area I think they'll probably appreciate the water/ bird bath a whole lot.

One favorite past time of Nye's is going out to our little vegetable patch and scouting out the newest changes. A few days ago it was the green tomatoes on the plants that I had given up on. Tonight it was the beginnings of corn flowers on our late season corn. We're delighted by each new change and the opportunity to experiment and discover. African Basil and Golden Sage were planted today. The basil is cold tolerant so I'm hoping for fresh pesto all winter!

One less than thrilling discovery this evening was that of a black widow spider who's made a home between the tomato pots. Now that we know she is there we'll be cautious. Live and let live for a bit I think. (Though most of you know I don't like to stumble upon spiders I do respect they're place in the natural world!) The minute I spot an egg sac she'll be out on her heals and off to live along the river banks with her young! Thank goodness both Nye and Arch are as in tuned to our new environment and as alert to new "neighbors".

We're looking forward to our future discoveries and the pleasures that come from opening the back door and exploring our yard! I'm sure most won't be poisonous ;-)

XO,

Sara, Nye and Archil

End of Summer

This week signaled the start of school for Nye. (Seen to the left being buried alive by his friend Ivy. Oh wait that was just a sand sculpture. - No worries.) This is in some regards the end of summer. I admit that with predictions of mid-70+ degree weather every day it is a bit hard to think of this as the end of summer. For reasons not worth enumerating San Jose starts school crazy early. The good news is that it ends very early in June. No snow days here to trouble the calendar!!

Nye is excited to see his friends and to be starting 4th grade. Yep that's right 4th grade. It's just crazy to think of him as getting that close to the end of elementary school. He is in a mixed 3-4 class this year which I think might be good for Nye. He is much younger than a lot of his 4th grade classmates owning to the discrepancy between NYC's December start date and CA's September start date. (I can explain all that if anyone really cares about the details.) Suffice it to say he has a lot of friends who are already 9 year old, but Nye will only turn 9 in November.

We're happy we've been able to keep him in the same school he was going to in Willow Glen owing to it's proximity to my work. Yippee! This year he'll be in Mr. Grigg's class. We're crossing our fingers that will all work out well and will of course do our best to make sure. Mr. Grigg's is new to Hammer Montessori. We're thrilled that for the second time he will have a male teacher(s). Now that all is sort of settled on the school front we'll start to investigate the very complex decisions around middle schools. But not right away!!

Art Scene

We continue to investigate the area art "scene". Arch is part of a group show up in Palo Alto which is themed to Faces & Figures. We went up to the opening as a family and had fun exploring the center and its class offerings. I'm very happy to see that venues are opening up for Archil in the area.

Back in San Jose the city is preparing for the 01 Biennial which is a merging of arts/media and technology. This year one of the centerpiece installations will have a link to my museum. We're working like crazy people to ensure a good experience for our young visitors and very excited about the Rockwell Groups piece. The challenge seems to be the integration of a smallish museum with limited staff time and resources working with a NYC design firm able to mobilize large resources (but not able to plan in advance.) Interesting things should happen!

Also connected with the same event I spent time decorating a piano for a Luke Jerram piece called "Play me I'm yours" which has been in NYC and will be coming to San Jose. My friends Lisa, Francis and I spent the afternoon preparing a piano for outside the museum. Lots of fun!! I'm very much looking forward to the event in September.

The house continues to be a great project. Today a dumpster arrived. I'm very excited to see all the debris we've removed from the house and shed placed, tossed, and otherwise thrown into the dumpster and hauled away. Our back yard is now mulched and growing vegetables and a few flowers. The fruit trees yawn with fruit, since I failed to thin! And the compost heap is looking like it will be fertile if we can just find some time to turn it. Oh, and the hummingbirds continue to duel in our backyard much to my continued delight. Who know that such small creatures could be so fierce!!

I'm slated to participate as a panelist in a symposium connected with the Ultimate Block Party in NYC on October 2nd. I'll be in town for just a couple of days and hope to see as many folks as I can. I'll be in CT prior to the event to spend time with my family.

All our love and best thoughts!

xo

Sara, Nye and Archil

Sweat Equity . . .

If we understand the phrase correctly then I believe we've entered the phase. In our case that means we're using yard work as our new work out routine. On a recent Saturday I arranged for a truck load (9 yard of material for those who care) to be delivered to the house. We have the perfect set up for such a delivery. Once the driver had dropped three separate loads (pro-chip mulch, garden soil, and drainage gravel) on the driveway the real work began.

I may or may not have mentioned that in addition to the lovely fruit trees we now own we also have a whole lotta weeds. At first Nye advocated for keeping them just as they were in their natural state. So I did some weed wacking to keep them at bay. But even Nye had to admit that our weeds were not endearing once the thorns, thistles, and other bristly parts came to their fullest.

And so the transformation began . . .

• First, was a layer of weed cloth and cardboard.
• Then, a thick layer of pro-chip mulch to squash the weeds . . . we hope :)
• Finally, container gardens made out of way too thin fencing boards and filled with nice garden soil (temporary solution till the real container gardens can be constructed.)
• Last, but not least, the plants and seeds.

We're cautiously optimistic as we watch the little lettuce plants come up and squash flower. We've gotten a ridiculously late start but then again we can grow year round out here. Which I have every intention of testing!

Perhaps the sweet and bright spots in our garden so far are the strawberries. I have three native in a mound and they are soooooo happy. Whatever makes them happy makes me happy and we're already planning on extending their bed since their runners are seeking extended turf. The nectarines are starting to ripen up. Arch is eating them green. Not sure how wise that is but I'm okay with waiting till they are a bit softer. The apples are starting to turn red at least in part. Our mystery fruit trees are still a mystery.

At the back of the property where the fig cactus are growing we've put in a new succulent bed. We're hoping those will keep the weeds at bay but I think we may need to consider some native succulent ground cover to supplement and support them.

On impulse a weekend or so back I purchase three plants that are good at attracting hummingbirds. It took me a few days to get around to attacking our solid clay yard. But on Sunday with shovel and crow bar I went at it. I finally managed to get three holes with Archil's help to put the plants into. As I soaked them down to help get them established an Anna's humming bird came by to check out my sparkling water. Once I finished watering she was back to drink from the flowering plants. It was wonderful. We have a new hummingbird feeder, gift of a friend which we'll be putting up soon. They're such lovely creatures!

We're so busy with all the projects that I haven't had any time to take pictures!

Wishing everyone the very best,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Experiments in Bicoastal Living

This has been a busy summer so far!

This summer started out with the end of the school year. To which Nye says "yeah!!" and a week of furlough for me. We went to Big Sur (last posting). As luck would have it Arch was offered more work in NYC which just happened to sync with our niece Julie's graduation party. Again yeah!! So it was off on a quick trip to NYC and CT for me and to two week trip to CT and NYC for Arch and Nye. Logistically challenging, but deeply rewarding. I can't speak to the adventures my guys are having, so this will be a bit one sided posting!

First of all, it was a blast being back in NYC. I had a great time seeing Inna (missed Tamazi since he had to go to work, but we did get to catch up later!) and then I promptly fell in for a long nap. Arch got me up in time for to shake off my stupor in time for the performance of Love & Daring by the LAVA performance troupe. That was fantastic and it was great to see some of our teachers again. Wandering around the lower east side was like slipping on an old worn (stinky) glove. The city is at once familiar and ever changing.

We headed out of the city on Saturday morning to Mom's house (aka Nana's). I was so happy to be there just catching up. Phone calls are a pale substitute for a real sense of how things are in the world of your loved ones! Nye has his favorite things about visiting with Nana, hunting for toads, doing puzzles and games, breakfast sausage, the list goes on. I seem to recall a similar list when visiting Memorial Drive.

Sunday we were off to Julie's celebration. What a great party!!

It was fun to catch up with many people but somehow time didn't quite allow us to catch up with everyone. Ever in motion, I missed spending more than cursory time with folks. This is especially poignant to since I feel like I get to see all of nearly often enough to have a good sense of how life is treating you!

Arch had to head into NYC but Nye and I got a chance to stay with Nana for a bit and to catch up with Becks, Henry, and Jillian. It was wonderful! The cousins miss each other a lot and they really seem to click when they get to be together. Henry and Jillian have grown so much! And, of course I'm glad Becks, that we got a bit of time to hang out while watching them play. Thanks Mom for taking us to such cool spots to hang out in! We even got a chance to go to the ice cream barn where Julie works, yum! Nye stayed on for the rest of the week while I sprinted back to the city.

The trip to NYC/CT was so short that there are many, many friends that I didn't even get a chance to consider seeing. I'm hoping that luck will favor me and I'll get a chance to catch up in person soon.

Back in San Jose, I'm getting my first chance to spend some real time alone in the house and yes, at first this is a little strange. The neighborhood is actually very quiet except when there is any reason to celebrate, and then it can get a noisy! Mostly, I've been trying to take care of small projects around the house. Strangely, I am delighting in doing laundry. But to put that crazy statement in context this is my first ever washer and dryer. (Hmmm, I wonder how long the honeymoon will last?) I'm also trying desperately to keep the plants alive 'till I can get a few yards of soil delivered and an drip irrigation system in place. Still there is bounty . . . first tomatoes of the season, mint - lovely, and the apples are starting to ripen up. The mystery fruit is still teasing me by not ripening yet. I have dreams of fruit - but my luck it will all ripen the same week!

Left Coast Live

I'm not usually the first to jump up and down and say "lets go to the music festival" but here in San Jose many events have the comfortable scale of street fairs or block parties. So I was delighted when a number of lady friends were game for going to Left Coast Live, San Jose's big annual Music Fest. Headliners this year included OK Go and Yo La Tengo. OK Go put on a great performance as did many other local bands. And since it was a small venue they came right out into the crowd for a tune or so. Very democratic!

Loads of local and regional bands were playing and the "life sized mouse trap" game was installed off First Street. (For those who are wondering what I'm talking about - think the game "Mouse Trap" from our childhood, but produced in full scale. Yep, that is right, all the parts there including a big metal bath tub suspended in air, a full size safe, and instead of marbles . . . you guessed, it a bowling ball. Can't get the movie I made to work on the blog, sorry!)

There were various ingenious venues on the street and in clubs. One of my favorite featured both bands and the local roller derby. (Haven't seen roller derby since I was a kid.) All and all the festival was a blast in large part because it was of a scale that meant you could really take it in and really enjoy. Having friends to share it with was also quite wonderful!

Looking forward to the 4th in San Francisco and to Arch and Nye returning soon!!

xo,

Sara
the "S" in SNAPress

Big Sur

We've been talking about going to Big Sur since we came to Callie. It is just far enough away to not really be a great day trip and so many other adventures have taken precedence. Finally we've put it to the top of the list and scheduled three whole days! We just got back and it is spectacular, (but not for the faint of heart or those with serious acrophobia.)

It is a bit hard to describe the area and much like Yosemite exceeds all expectations. Geologically speaking Big Sur is a spot where the highlands of California are being eroded into the sea. For those in my family who remember the trip to Monaco it is a bit like that, twisting mountainous roads that are scant feet from a 500-800' plunge into the beautiful blue waters of the ocean (but no burned out cars this time.) I'd like to say that I was willing to stop at any of the vistas, but alas my white knuckles prevented me.


Great Tradition!

Honestly, one tradition I'm hoping to encourage is that Archil likes planning a three day trip to celebrate my birthday. This years was a bit delayed, but I'm trilled with the tradition. Last year was Yosemite and this year Big Sur. Couldn't be happier! (I'm starting to vie for either Hawaii next year or Death Valley! Yes, they are extreme opposites of the spectrum, I know.)

We camped out in these cute little tent cabins. A small fire pit made for perfect Sam'ores! We were nestled under Redwoods that were, on average, 2,000 years old! On Thursday morning we went on an hour and a half horseback ride through valleys up to the edge of the Redwood forest and then over to the beach. Awesome! Nye is really great riding on his own, but it didn't hurt that we had a couple of really great guides.

Another tradition is we spent some time building beach structures. Much of the best large driftwood on the beach had already been incorporated into large scale structures, but never to be deterred we adapted the dried forms of the kelp stalks to make a snake inspired art gallery. The "Reptilian Art Gallery" (as it was named) featured many fine beach discoveries. A couple of people even donated a plastic Stegasaurus to the collection. The fine lacy structure managed so survive several days. Who knows, it may still be there.

One of our days we lunched at Nepenthe, a place filled with folklore. It lives up to it's reputation. We trekked down to Hearst Castle but were too late for the tours. We're still kinda wondering if the zebra's we saw, were they a mirage? It appears not. Maybe we'll go on the tour someday. Loads of other exciting things to see! Like a beach full of elephant seals. Boy are they huge! Picture your very healthy sea lion male. Got an image from Pier 39? Now picture that x2 for a female or x3 for an adult male elephant seal. Wow!

Explorations

We stopped at one of the many "jade" beaches on our way north from San Simeon. The coastline on the south of Big Sur is dotted by rock formations that include deposits of jade. This washes up on the beach in cobblestones that can be collected. We found a jade pebble - does that count? Still the search was fun and the ocean and rocks are a site to behold.

On our trip back north we stopped at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park a beautiful park whose forests were unfortunately ravaged by the forest fires a few years back so that many of it's trails are not accessible. One of the singular features of this spot is the view of the beach and it's waterfall. The water is pure turquoise and the view through the surrounding wildflowers quite spectacular but it's hard to get a photo that doesn't look like the postcards!

Wonderfully well spent and tired we headed north. From the relative safety (aka one lane's distance) we could look for whales and enjoy the Turkey Vultures cruising on the thermals. Ah, just blissfully enjoying the blue skies and blue ocean. It was rather hard not the crash when I spotted a California Condor soaring at road level in front of me! (Thank god for that little dusty turn off.) We followed the Condor around a bend or two in the road until we drove right under their soaring wings. Damn, but they are really big! By the time we found a good vantage point we realized we had two adults and probably a juvenile. They were enjoying the thermals and in the end landed in the pine trees of some lucky home owner. Whaahoo!

I was so happy that Arch and Nye got to spend some real time seeing these great birds. They were hanging around so long that we actually lent our binoculars to some bicyclists who stopped near us and were curious about what we were looking at. For us, a once in a life time experience to be sure.

To say that Big Sur is beautiful is rather an understatement. What struck me though is that it seems to be a place that unfolds. The more time you spend there and explore the more treasures you discover. It isn't an easy place. It is just what it seems, an charged intersection full of anticipation. It is a sublime place where the mountains meet the sea!

All our love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil

Loving and Learning

Loving

We are loving our new house! There are lots of pimples and blemishes that really need to be addressed. It is the warty kid that only a mother can love. Ah, we love our new house!

Our list of fix ups goes up one arm and down the other. Each day, weekend, and spare moment we tick away at the list. Each change is an accomplishment that only we can truly appreciate. Hopefully we're making the house welcoming to family and friends. An open invitation still stands to all. We aim to be welcoming, though the other day I realize that our bathroom is decidedly right handed. (Sorry Laurie!)

Both Arch and I have confessed to each other the silly things we're most proud of. For Archil, it is the new sill at the back door. For me, the new shower head and tub faucet. We're both thrilled by the almost very hot water that our new tankless water heater provides and know that soon we'll replace the hardware that will send us to a happy scalding place.

Today I carted home a trunk full of native Californian plants that they were giving away at work. I can't wait to have bright orange poppies in my front yard. I'm thrilled to think that fragrant sagebrush will soon come wafting up from beneath my kitchen window. Nye and I have picked out peppermint and oregano for by the back step of the kitchen (not native but still welcome.) The tomatoes are waiting patiently for their pots till I can find a new tub and soil for them. I think I may be over my head in love with plants and gardening, but bring it on . . . wild strawberries - yes!, native pink currents, you bet! . . . really what could be better? I now have a stack of gardening books that need my attention, not to mention a patch of crab grass that have to mow. Soon I will replace it with fragrant and edible plants! (Waterless the way to be here in CA.)


Living

Since all work does make life dull, we've decided to do our best to mix thing up a bit. This past weekend we went with our friend's Lynn and her daughter Elise to Maker Faire. Hopefully you're aware of Make magazine which explores all things wonderfully geekish and crafty. If not I encourage you to Google it and find out more!

The Faire is an annual celebration that is equal parts "art" happening, geek fest, street fair, and who knows what? (Don't know of many street fairs that have garlic fries with aioli sauce and crab.) It combines all the best of any event you've experienced, with a nice dose of weird. There are artists who've created fun sculptural pieces. The Eppybird guys regularly perform (think Mento's and Coke.) Many of the unusual people you might encounter at Burning Man are here in neo-retro post apocalyptic Victorian dress. Oh, and did I forget to mention the space ship?

Nye and Elise crafted head gear to wear throughout the adventure, thanks to Cliff bars. There were robots to be played with, Taiko drums to be banged, electric cars to be sat in. We even found the life size "Mouse Trap" game. I think we could have spent a lot more time exploring. Between the interactive Flaming Lotus Girls sculptures, robotic flame shooting dragons, and the robotic sharks chasing the kids, I was worn out at the end of the day. I can't wait till next year!!!

I encourage anyone in shooting distance of NYC to check out the Maker Faire that NY Hall of Science is hosting in June or July. Geek out for at least a full day!!

Warmly,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Mid-May and Crazed With New House Renovation

Ah, the new house renovation bug has bit. We're feverishly taking on 2-3 projects each weekend. Perhaps because the list is sooooo long. Still each day brings a welcome sense of progress to the new house. Someday soon we'll have a front and back door without the gaping holes beneath them!!

Early May was mostly taken up with travel for Sara. Off to the Association of Children's Museum conference in chilly St Paul, MN. Thank God for layers! One year of living in CA and I'm barely prepared for snow and sleet in mid-May. Good think I brought my winter coat, just in case. The conference was a welcome chance to catch up with many museum colleagues. A presentation and a meeting were a small price to pay I suppose. (The above picture taken on one of the few non-gray days.)


Native Plants
Back in Callie friends and I went to tour gardens in the East Bay which have been planted with native flora. I'm eager to learn more about this since water is in such short supply out here. California native wildflowers are very attractive and don't require the same watering regime as all the lovely lemons, bananas, and fruit trees one sees planted. I'm hoping to transform the front yard of this house into a native plant landscape. We're also looking at the option of having some native fruit bearing plants in the yard. Kristina and Michaela were kind enough to purchase me some native strawberries and a lovely native current during the tour. Now I just have to do my best not to kill them. Nye and I have already worked on putting the plants into pots and getting them situated into the proper sun regime in our new yard. Now we'll just have to see if they're happy.

So far we've managed to get most of the boxes unpacked. Curtains are up in a few of the rooms. We're moved into key rooms and fixing up details in the kitchen, bathroom, etc. Nye is putting a lot of pressure on us to purchase a grill so that we can cook up his favorites in the back yard. I'm sure that we'll get there but maybe grilling is more of a summer thing, right? For now we're enjoying the evolution of the fruit in our yard. We had a young friend Elise over the other day and introduced her to the joys of home made lemonade. Yumm!

All the best!

Sara, Nye and Archil

New Home

445 Oakland Ave.

As most of you know we finally, after a very long search, closed on a house. The house is new to us but by no means new. 445 Oakland was built in the 1940's. It is move in ready yet still very much in the realm of fixer upper. Mostly we need to repair the "fixing up" it received from the previous tenants and to enlarge the bathroom. We've been looking for a place where our sweat equity would help transform a house into a place we can be proud to call home, at least for a couple of years.

What About Details?

Yes I know you're anxious for all the gritty details so here is how the house stacks up:

• 3 bedrooms –2 medium sized by our standards a.k.a NY and one small.

• Living room with a nice view of the Mount Diablo Mountains. (This means we'll have a great view of the snow that occasionally falls on the hills in the winter.)

• Kitchen with granite counters (yuck!) and newish cabinets.

• 1 bathroom which is really, really tiny! (For those who remember the one our Brooklyn apt, it is about the same size.)

• 1 spare room that is really just a walk in closet, a nice tall attic (which we're hoping to convert to more usable space), and an outdoor shack which will become Archil's painting studio.

The house has very tall ceilings compared with all the other places we looked at. They're 10' tall and most others were in more like 8'. On the whole the place feels very bright and airy with good morning and afternoon sun. It's on a corner lot and we have about 5,000 square feet of "yard." Unfortunately, there is a lot of concrete that will need to come up at some point but there is also a lot of grass and other potential garden areas. I'm eager to fill the front yard with native plant species that don't need to be watered or mowed.

Outdoors there are a number of wonderful fruit trees. So far we've been able to identify lemon trees (2), a key lime tree, 2 peach trees, 3 nectarines, 1 cherry tree, an apple tree, but there are still a few we can't identify. We have a few cactus in the back, some irises, and a couple of mystery plants that I've been told are called potato shrubs which welcome visitors at our door.

Can you tell I'm excited about the prospect of a garden?


The Neighborhood

We have been living in Willow Glen since we moved here last February. And, we would have loved to stay in Willow Glen, but economically that wasn't very realistic. We did try and bid on a number of lovely fixer uppers. Instead we're a bit further east in an area called Alum Rock in a neighborhood known as Mayfair. This is an area that has some real history! The Mayfair Improvement Initiative transformed the area dramatically in the late 90's and early part of what ever we're calling the first decade of the 2000's. The Mayfair community garden is one of the oldest community garden's in San Jose. We're just a block from it. We're across the street from the elementary school (but we'll be working to keep Nye in his current school since it's better.) Down the street is the Mayfair Community Center and the Park.

So far we've met our neighbor in the back Eugene and our neighbor Al who lives diagonally across the street next to the school. Eugene has lived on his corner since the 1950's and Al has lived in his house for the past 26 years. Nice guys! Eugene keeps chickens so we're eager to hear how that sounds in the morning. Considering that we haven't even moved in yet we're feeling pretty good about our luck in neighbors since they're both very friendly and knowledgeable about the area.

The Back Story

Our housing search started in October of last year. We were very fortunate to find a great Realtor, John, who was willing to show what felt like about 100 houses. He also shared with us good insights about various neighborhoods. It's a shame we weren't ready to purchase a house 6 months sooner because houses were selling for less than the asking price. We started looking just as that turned around so that houses are now selling for more than the asking price and house flippers are very eager to scoop up all the low hanging fruit. We were out bid on a lot of lovely properties. We were very fortunate to get the Oakland house at asking price.

Because it was a bank owned property there were lots of hurdles to jump through. Arch and I first though "Oh this will be about a 15 step process." We felt so prepared and patient. We soon learned that for every step we took, 2-3 more steps were being added to the process by the bank. Then there was the craziness at signing when we discovered that all of Archil's forms of ID were expired and most are misspelled! (Thank goodness for nice people who have a sense of humor.)

I think looking back on it I'm sure we'll begin to see the humor in some of the contortions that we had to go through. It certainly feels worth it as we walk through the rooms and start to make plans for moving in!


Future Plans: Work, Work, Work!

Our list of projects is pretty long. We started this weekend with the interior demolition of the shed so that it can become a studio space. I spent most of today trimming trees and plants so that the house looks more lived in. (Let me tell you that trimming a rosemary shrub is a wonderful sensory experience! I just wanted to roll on the clippings afterward.) Tomorrow I'm working to change fixtures in the bathroom and Arch will be finishing the shed work.

For those who may feel eager to sweat, here is your "open invitation" to come on out to Callie. We'll have projects to keep us going for a while! Of course if you do come out and visit we won't make you work the whole time. And, I promise to make some fresh lemonade with juice from our lemon trees to help cool you off!

Moving Date:
April 24th - 25th

New Address:
445 Oakland Ave.
San Jose, CA 95116

Our cells and e-mails will stay the same!

Love,

Sara, Nye & Archil

Condors, Cliffs & Caves

Adventures at Pinnacles

One places everyone seems to mention when you ask about good exploration spots is Pinnacles National Monument. The park is over an hour south of San Jose and is famous as the last remaining home to the endangered California Condor. The ragged cliffs that dot the landscape here are what remains of the base of a volcano.

Typically when we're setting out an adventure like this past weekends we look for a hike that is somewhere between 3-5 miles (preferably a loop) with fun features the whole family can enjoy. Bear Gulch Cave Trail sounded like good choice. The trail took us past the colorful vertical rock faces that are so appealing to climbers. (Just thinking about the drop offs makes me nervous.) In addition to the rock walls there are drop offs between large boulders along one side of the trail. Not quite sure where the wholes go. My guess is that there are caves beneath.

Part way up to the Bear Gulch Reservoir are a series of talus caves. These caves are formed when large blocks of rock fall. By large I mean bus or house sized blocks. Between the huge rocks there are pathways most of which are pretty comfortable to walk through. (We were fortunate that there was never more than a couple of inches of water on the cave floor.) There are colonies of Townsend's bats in the caves but it seems they've moved on already this spring. We didn't get to spot any, too bad. We passed beneath precariously balanced boulders, climbed steep stone steps past roaring underground waterfalls and finally reached the end of the trail and lunch next to a crystal clear lake!

Our loop back took us high up into chaparral country with open meadows and gnarly oak trees. Spring so the wildflowers were blooming. Lately, I've been enjoying photographing the flowers and their habitats. I'm hoping to plant a native wildflower garden one of these days. In addition to flower spotting we marveled at all the interesting rock formations. We took turns giving names to the various rock formations. (I think this one ended up as Monkey Face Rock.)

We've been savoring our chance to learn about all the differences in the landscape and it's flora and fauna. Already we have some favorites. Acorn woodpeckers are always a treat to spot. Usually we notice their tell tale cache holes. These colorful woodpeckers drill quarter size holes in the bark of trees and then fill the holes with acorns for winter. The bird's themselves are very dramatic to look at with their bright red cap, clownish black and white faces, and unusual white eye.

Ironically our most exciting wildlife spotting took place at the parking lots. While waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to our car I saw a rather large bird soaring directly overhead. Given the size, white patches on the wings and yellowish orange head it could be none other than a California Condor! Never happier to have a good set of binoculars. Unfortunately, I was the only one in the family who got to see it. (In full disclosure I should say that the picture at the top is from the Pinnacles web site.) Nye and Arch did get to see a bevy of California quail and a very brazen male doing his courtship song and dance on a log next to the restrooms. (You have to admit they are awfully cute with the little deely bopper's on their heads.)

Next time we're going to head up to see if we can't see more of the condors. We had a spectacular time at Pinnacles!

All the best,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Texas

Austin

One fortunate side effect of our holiday travel delays was that we were given a very nice compensation package that enabled us to take a trip this winter. Since we moved to CA and Dad and Yoli moved to Texas we haven't had a chance to see each other. Texas was the perfect use of the free tickets.

This past week was Nye's President's Day vacation. I took a couple of days off from work and off we went. But first we had to rendezvous with Archil on his return from NYC. (Lots of airline travel that day for the poor guy!) We traveled to Austin and then on to San Antonio.

Austin is the capitol of Texas. Its slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." I have to say that you don't really feel like you're in Texas in this lovely little city. Lots of quaint neighborhoods with old clapboard houses, tons of music halls, trendy restaurants, nice Children's Museum and a river walk. We also had a chance to explore a bit south of the city - the Lady Bird Johnson Native Plant Preserve. What a cool place! The whole sites architecture is designed to harvest rain water (some pictures of that in the movie.) There are lovely trails, gardens and sculpture. (Though for future reference I'd recommend coming in April rather than February.) It was a great respite from work and travel.

San Antonio
On Valentine's Day we drove an hour or so south to San Antonio to visit Dad and Yoli. While the three of us relaxed and caught up Nye and Archil were ready to get their boots dirty in the clay and soil with a little gardening. They volunteered to help transplant a Yucca tree. I hope it survives! Knock on wood that the rest of the winter won't be quite as harsh as it has been! Well okay it doesn't look too harsh from the picture, right, after all they are wearing long sleeve shirts rather than down jackets!

We got a chance to explore downtown San Antonio complete with a visit to the Alamo. (And, yes it is smaller than you expect it to be, given size of the story!) After exploring the mission and its grounds we were off to explore the River Walk. Have to say that the Rive Walk is really quite cool. I'm sure in the summer it is a delightful place to stroll in the shade. It had some of the feel of a European town. (Of course the restaurants and fellow strollers were decidedly Texan.) Nye made friends with the local ducks. We stayed overnight and enjoyed the hospitality. Nye had his own room. In the morning we went to the small market square or Mercado. A little taste of Mexico in San Antonio, it felt very familiar. Lots of friendly shop owners, good food, and of course the wonderful colors and sounds of a market in action. (I think Nye and Arch love the pastry smells.)

We had a great time visiting Texas. It was wonderful to see family again. It's nice to know where folks are living and to have a sense of their lives in a new locale.

Thanks again Dad and Yoli for welcoming us into your home!


Love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil



P.S. Enjoy the little slide show!

From Hidden Willa to Hidden Villa

The rains of winter have been keeping us inside a bit more than usual. But today Nye and I decided we'd had enough and headed off to Hidden Villa for a bit of exploration time. (I chose the center because it is just a short drive away, 15-20 max, so if the weather turned we could come home quickly.) We had fun visiting the farm animals. Nye has been reading Charlotte's Web at school. There were lambs, piglets, lambs and a calf. Seems like everyone has been quite busy on the farm! We had a good time visiting with all the different farm yard animals and talking about the different characters in the book.

Once we'd spent time visiting the animals we headed off for a hike on the Little Bunny Trail. "What a cute name," your probably thinking. Well apparently the trail is named after some, as yet unknown, euphemism where "bunny" actually means "mountain goat"; and little doesn't mean "short" but rather means "very narrow." Nye and I had a blast hiking up twisty mountain goat paths which were about 10" wide. Most of the trails were overlooked beautiful streams and waterfalls. All of these would have been more scenic for me had Nye not been skipping along ahead of me on a slick leafy track. (Argh!) Our climb to the top was well rewarded. We had a great view of the San Francisco Bay and into parts of San Jose from the mountain top. There among the golden madrones and with Stellar's Jay's squalking we had a pleasant snack break.

Nye proposed that the education center should install a zip line from the mountain top to our home. "Yeah," he said, "then we could go from Hidden Villa to Hidden Willa!"

On our walk back we saw a wonderful example of a Banana Slug being protected by a fellow hiker till it could finish crossing the path. (Very sweet that he would stay to ensure that the critter crossed safely!) There were plenty of fun places to play around the main building including a great swing, logs, ponds, and puddles. What more could a boy ask?

We're looking forward to joining up with Archil at the San Francisco airport on Friday. We're on our way for a brief visit to Texas. It's a first for the guys. We'll spend a day or so with my Dad and Yoli in San Antonio and then some transition time in Austin. It should be an interesting change of pace from Callie!

Wishing all the best,

Sara

In Memorium - Goodbye Kitty-wa

"Q"
1994-2010

This month started on a very sad note with the passing of "Q". As most of you know he was a constant, and very vocal, companion.

Ever the alpha male, he never hesitated to join in any activity. He'd happily visit for meals, sit on books while I was reading them, or "help out" (as in walking on the keyboard) while I worked on the computer.

In days since I took him to the vets, I've been very surprised to discover just how large a hole a small creature can leave. He certainly enriched my life and he will be very, very, missed!

Sara

The Mid-Winter Report - Almost a Year!

As January comes to a close we're getting close to our one year anniversary. Most folks may not realize that the first trip Arch and I took out here (when we found our current abode) happened just after Martin Luther King's Birthday. Wow, 2009 was a very busy year!

This is our first winter in California. Basically what that means is rain. Now you may have heard on the news about the severe rains in Callie and how they're worried about mudslides in places like LA where there were fires. Yep, that is all true. It is rainy and they do need to worry about that. But, I'd like to take a minute to put into perspective the rains we're talking about here. In San Jose, at least, most rain is really somewhere between drizzle and a light April shower. (The later they call storms!) Rarely does SJ experience thunder and lightning. This winter things are extreme (think early spring say March in New England with sorta heavy rain for days in row and some thunderstorms passing through. No, I'm not talking about anything even approaching a Nor-easter!) That's it. That is winter in San Jose. From here out we're looking at drizzle with intermittent days of partially cloudy and say 6o's. Bring your sweater and an umbrella and you're set.

Focus on 2010

For most of the tail end of '09 and the start of this new decade we've been focusing on our house search. There are houses out there. Unfortunately, there are also people with bucket loads of cash who keep snapping up the houses we'd like to buy. We're sticking with it and doing our best to put together good offers. Eventually we'll find something that works out or at least that is our hope. Since we're mostly looking at short sales or bank owned property it is a very, very, slow and disappointing process. Ah, I love working with museums and children! In my next life I'm working for someone on Wall Street. :)

Art Opening!

Arch had his first opening in San Jose last night. Yeah! The Axis Gallery is an odd little space but it's great to have his art work out there. Arch has been selling works through another gallery in downtown but this show puts him in a position that is more of a "featured artist" which is helpful. Who knows maybe this will lead to more and bigger shows? We have fingers and toes crossed.

In addition to the show Arch received a grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. With the grant he is able to get some great feedback on his web site and hopefully some additional contacts with galleries throughout the Bay Area.

All in all we've had a wonderful gray January with lots of interesting twists and turns. We send our birthday wishes to Inna, Chris, and Scott!

Love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil