Less than Twelve Parsecs

We spent our Christmas Day out near Muir Woods this year. We caught a perfect day at the Golden Gate photo spot on the way to the Woods, yet didn't seem to capture any good photos with us and the bridge in it. Still, had a great time chasing Mara around. At Muir Woods, we realized others had had the same idea, so parking was impossible. Greg had to bite the bullet and drop us off. Luckily we got on the main path right on time for their guided tour. We learned five life stories from the Redwoods: - Support your Community : redwoods "hold hands" with their neighbors through their flat root system - Stand Tall : tallest living organism. - Surround Yourself with Family : when stressed, trees spawn clones of themselves; after the mother tree dies out a "family circle" remains in its place. - Live in a Cool Place : redwoods are very choosy on where to grow: wind, fire, weather, temperatures, humidity, all have to be juuuust right. - Have Thick Skin : ...

One year and five days. This is when Mara and I had our first real conversation. Our very first disagreement as well. We were driving home from daycare and I had brought out one of those books with one object on each page. For the past week, Mara had been saying things like "up" , "aaah-pun" (apple), "baa" (ball), "bye-bye" , "wohh" (roll, for the balls rolling). We were at the page that so conveniently places a colorful ball and a green apple next to each other. "That's a ball" , Mommy points at the ball. Mara silently acknowledges with her eyes. "This is an apple" , I point at the next page. "Aah-pun!" Mara proudly exercises her new skill, pointing at the apple. I wait for her to turn the page as usual, but it doesn't happen. She is still looking. Her finger moves to point at the round green apple on the page: "Baa!" . I am puzzled. Technically, she is right, an ap...

Last weekend we attended our first pro Ultimate Frisbee game: the San Jose Spiders versus the San Francisco Flamethrowers. It was in the evening, close to Mara's bedtime but we figure we'd make an exception. She took a nap in the ergo baby during the first quarter, but then she woke and became a very passionate watcher.