What we did last night

Mom was gone for the evening. So we decided to carve our first jack-o-lantern.



Dad and Gracie had nothing on us, except, perhaps, some green peppered ears. Claire quickly got the hang of things and started pulling out strands and seeds.



She performed her standing voodo jig around the pumpkin, a waddle that she's developed so that she can ... well ... walk.







Thing is, all this carving created its own ghoul of sorts.
I don't know what was scarier, the jack-o-lantern or Claire trying to get a hold of the camera....

What we won't be doing today

We won't be taking Claire trick-or-treating in the following outfit.



I think it's supposed to be an alligator. Someone in this household initially thought it was a dinosaur.



Claire did not like it. The mouth hung down in front of her face.

She couldn't see.

Plus, it looked hot.

But, mom got a kick out of it.

Fall

Summer has clearly left us. Our tomatoes are clinging to withering vines. Footpaths of curled leaves ring our house. You can almost smell the wine-grape harvest in Yamhill County rolling in on the morning fog.



Cool nights have turned to cold ones. It's dark in the morning. Last night, it was dark in the evening.

Apples and pears and squash abound. We ate a stew this weekend of pork, butternut squash, apples and herbs from what's left of our yard.



These smells and scenes remind us of a year ago, when we knew the baby within Sarah's womb was on the cusp of being born, but we still couldn't imagine what she looked like, didn't dream she'd be as great of a joy as she has, didn't even think she was a she. Our house wasn't really a home. Our lives were suspended. In a few ways, they still are.

Has it really been a year? This picture suggests it has...

Human nature

One of the neatest things about having a child is the window it offers into human nature.

From month one, Claire has taught us that some behaviors and drives are simply ingrained in us.

I'm not talking about crying and pooping and drooling. I'm talking about the little things we overlook. Claire rubbed her eyes when she's tired without anyone teaching her.

We've seen more examples of unlearned behaviors recently.



She started feeding us (and the dog) on her own. From where did her drive to share come?

Now, she's copying our actions.

Last weekend, when Sarah was sick, she started mimicking Sarah's cough, with a smile. Two days later, when both of us were blowing our noses, Claire got a hold of a couple tissues on our bed and held them up to each one of our faces.

Then, there's her drive to push carts and strollers....



Yesterday she started mooing at a picture of a cow (Her "moo" sounds more like "oooooou").

This morning, as I was getting dressed, she put a pair of Sarah's undies over her head.

This afternoon, while I was home from work watching her, she stood up and walked from the middle of the carpet to the end of our bed on her own. I believe that to be the first time she's done that by herself.

Some of these are learned behaviors. Some just innate drive.

Either way, she's on her way.

The farm

Most of you know we got produce delivered to our doorstep each week this summer from something called a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. The idea is that you buy shares in the farm and the farm provides you produce throughout the growing season.

Our farm, Gardenripe, not only delivered (many don't), it offered us a "Salsa Day" when we could all drive out, tour the farm and pick up to 50 pounds of tomatoes.




Michael, Sue and Daniel invited us last Saturday. We drove 30 miles toward the hilly farmlands of Marion County to reach Gardenripe. There, farmer/owner Bill showed us around the place and allowed us to pick a lot more than tomatoes.



We picked onions, tomatillas, pumpkins and kale. We marveled at his fertile rows of beets and lettuce.



The views were beautiful. The farm was perched on a hillside and had been in Bill's family for more than 100 years. The photo doesn't do justice to the scenery.



In his greenhouse he grew okra. We were surprised to learn that although he owned more than 100 acres, he grew what he needed to supply shareholders and the local Saturday farmer's market on only 2.5 acres.





Daniel and Claire had a blast. Daniel liked the farm machinery.



Claire preferred the pumpkin patch.

Claire, feeding

This is so funny. Not only is Claire feeding me now. She's feeding CeeCee.



Claire has been taking cheerios, Puffins, beans, you name it, and feeding them to CeeCee. She giggles every time CeeCee's tongue touches her her finger.

The truck

It began on a whim. Why rent pickups for $100 a day to do our landscaping project if we could buy one cheap? Real cheap?

We got on craigslist to see what the market looked like for a $500 truck. Not much of a market, we found. But toss in another $200 to $300 and you get something like this:



A 1982 Dodge Ram D50. Propane fueled!!! That's right. No stinking diesel or costly unleaded. This rig runs on gas that costs $2 a gallon.

We bought the truck at the Portland Rescue Mission car lot. The asking price: $795. Brad and I talked them down to $700. I'm feeling guilty about it now. The proceeds benefitted a homeless shelter, after all. But you don't go buy something like a truck with Sarah's dad and pay the asking price.

Anyway, it runs great. It was missing a muffler and burned a slight odor of gas. You can still see the old Evergreen (Vancouver, Wash.) School District logo under its burnt-red paint job. Otherwise, it's a keeper. The same day we bought it, we hauled off all the plants that we had cleared out of our back yard and picked up a yard-and-a-half of compost. Brad adjusted the idle on the truck and cleaned a gasket. I get the sense that it's going to be around for some time.

Maybe it'll be Claire's first set of wheels?