March's Epsilon Exploits & Familial Foibles

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29 March 2006

The patio is really starting to become nice in the evenings again. We really miss that outdoor space in the winter. It's interesting all that's changed since last Spring. This year there are three kids running around. About the only thing Maxwell doesn't do with Alora & Brittan is climb the tree. There's still a baby, although Zara is obviously less mobile and more dependant than Maxwell was last Spring. Of course, Cara's non-pregnant mobility really makes up for it. She has really embraced the pleasure of yardwork. Now if I can just convince her to mow... It's also interesting what hasn't changed. There's the sandbox, the pool, the trampoline, and our rusty old table and chairs. The willow tree is pink and in bloom - this year without the armies of tent caterpillers because we killed them off early. I still feel like the richest man in the world sitting there watching them all. Alora & Brittan haven't changed much either; a year older and a year wiser. Of course, now sometimes Maxwell's imagination is the leading force in their games.


27 March 2006

MOLLY GOT HER CAST OFF TODAY!

Unfortunately her leg is still very sore because that car that hit her broke it completely. The break has only healed part the way and is still very visible in the x-ray. Apparently they don't like to leave a cast on a dog's leg too long. Molly is happy to have the cast off and has been obsessively cleaning her leg all day. She isn't putting any weight on it yet though.


26 March 2006

Today we said goodbye to the beachhouse, perhaps for the last time. We'll leave quite a few good memories behind. The Shepherds left earlier than us, but we still kept running into them along the road as we drove home. Even though the beach was fun, everyone was glad to be home.


24 March 2006

Here is the very nice European man who is always promptly on the jobsite at 8 AM. Notice his lovely jackhammer. He also specializes in drilling and regular hammering. We must applaud the European immigrants for their fabulous work ethic. We don't ever see the Mexicans until at least ten or eleven. Since Mom & Dad's beach house was damaged in a storm last year they are having quite alot of the exterior updated along with the repairs. This wonderful European and his compatriot have been working outside every day we have been in Hilton Head. Molly really likes the workmen because they never seem to finish their lunches nor dispose of their leftovers. Maxwell and Spencer are convinced he's Bob the Builder.


Thursday, March 23rd

I finally got a picture you can see her teeth in ...

Yesterday we took our mandatory trip to Fort Pulaski. We love it because the moat, the earthworks, and the parapets are all accessable to the public. There are no guardrails or off-limits areas, and all the cannons are for climbing on. They even had a working 19th century cannon that the girls pretended to load and fire while Kiley sat atop it. With a wave of the politically correct safety-before-fun movement it's a miracle such a place still exists. Most of the playground equipment at Alora & Brittan's elementary school is off-limits because some child has gotten hurt on it. Alas, on this most recent trip Fort Pulaski the fight to keep it from becoming a dusty, boring, no-touching-allowed sort of place already seems to have begun. The park's brouchure detailing the history of the Fort, from its namesake Casimir Pulaski to its construction by the US Army corps of engineers led by Colonel Robert E. Lee to its total obsoleteness in the only war it was used in, now includes a safety insert. The Fort was built for war not for safety. I fear that Maxwell and Zara will not be able to enjoy it as Alora and Brittan have.


22 March 2006

Unfortunately, our beach trip has been marred thus far by sickness. Everyone in our family except Alora has gone through it. The cold seems to be worse on us boys. Fortunately, the Shepherds, who joined us Monday after Mom, Dad and Grandma left, have not been affected. It's been alot of fun having another family with matching aged kids down here with us. Kara & Lee haven't been to Hilton Head since their honeymoon. Their son Spencer, who I may have mentioned is nicknamed Danger Baby, got his head stuck in the stairs within fifteen minutes of arrival. He and Maxwell are best buddies and had a blast playing in the hole I dug and the adjoining sandcastle. Maxwell converted the castle into a slide which he slid down into the watery hole. Poor Brittan felt so bad though, that she swaddled herself in a big towel, curled up in a chair, and sat there for the duration.

Nanny & Poppy's new beach house?


19 March 2006

Well, Zara loves the beach. She has been training up in the backyard sandbox for a week or so, but wet sand was a new thing to taste. Then she discovered the water, like a giant dog bowl to splash in ... Zara crawled right out into the waves to splash and probably would have gotten in over her head if we hadn't redirected her. I have never seen a happier baby on the beach. Usually they cry when you first dangle their feet in the cold ocean water, but not Zara; she instead reached downward to touch the water!

Poor Maxwell is sick, so his beach fun has been somewhat muted. The twins, however,have gotten old enough to fully participate in my beach engineering projects. Yesterday we dug a 30 square foot hole down to the water table for the younger kids to play in.


17 March 2006

Today we drove to Hilton Head for Zara's first trip to the beach, and she cut her sixth tooth to celebrate.
Maxwell directs us through North Carolina


12 March 2006

This was our first beautiful warm weekend of the spring, and we took full advantage ...

We got fresh sand for the sandbox,

and Cara did her first major gardening project at our new house,

while the girls got out the pool and Alora put on her swimsuit.


11 Mars 2006 - When it rains, it pours...
Cara's dad Ray, who has always suffered from asthma, has lately gotten alot worse. He is barely able to walk to houses two doors down in their neighborhood, and has passed out several times in the past week from lack of oxygen when coughing. Ray's regular doctor has referred him to a pulmonologist, who hopefully will be able to help.
Ray's head hit the wall the last time he collapsed

Lee Shepherd, Cara's friend Kara's husband, got suspended from his job as assistant pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church. (This is the same church Cara works at, which is how she met Kara). The head pastor has accused Lee of heresy in a very political character assasination attempt. Such problems seem to be chronic in the Methodist Church. When I was a kid and we went to John's Creek UMC, the head pastor Wayne Johnson managed to drive off two youth pastors and my father, who tried to become involved in church affairs but couldn't stand Wayne's dictatorial methods. Even though membership was a revolving door, the overall number was increasing because the area was growing so fast at the time.
Wayne eventually got promoted to the Methodist Church's televangelist for Atlanta. Later, when Cara & I were first married and lived in Clinton, SC, we tried going to Broad Street UMC where our good friend and neighbor Margo went. The minister there, Rev. Dr. John T. Stapleton, had rather self-aggrandizing tendencies. As it was basically a college town, the church had a program whereby a local family would "adopt" a college student and provide them with a home away from home: good home-cooked meals and the like. The twins were, of course, very popular there and when Rev. Stapleton and his wife volunteered to be our surrogate family in Clinton I was flattered. It took me a little while to realize that it was a calculated political move; we were just a showpiece to prop up the Reverand's waning popularity among his flock. This is not to say that other denominations are any better, but I have more experience with Methodists. There is little point in Cara working at Trinity now that her best friend Kara is no longer welcome there, so on the bright side we'll have more time for weekend activities now.


10 Mars 2006

My sister Jaime has finally joined the blogoshere. Check it out at http://blog.myspace.com/golshani. Very cool, and I agree that Alkazelter is gross.

Molly Update

Molly has really appreciated reading all the emails that y'all have sent us expressing your concern for her. She was a bit depressed and didn't eat much the first couple days she was home, but now she's doing alot better. When she gets excited she forgets about her broken leg and often wacks it on something running around. This hurts, so she whimpers - it is very cute. It is quite amazing how well she gets around on three legs, even up and down steps! Yesterday Molly went across the road for the first time, but she refused to come back. She sat down and Cara had to pick her up and carry her back across.

Zara Update

We are going to have an early walker. Last night she let go of the couch and just stood there for about a second.


9 Mars 2006

Today Maxwell and I did guy stuph together. We went hiking around Fall Creek Falls. Yes, it really is called that. The park is located where several streams have cut through the limestone of the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee forming canyons with practically sheer vertical walls. A hike through nature is rife with opportunities to share its wonders. Maxwell is still amazed by the fact that trees die. One tree which had fallen across the path had been chainsawed and moved out of the way. Maxwell was convinced that Bob the Builder was the author of this good deed, and my best arguments about the park rangers we had seen at the nature center were unable to sway him. He really loves "fall-falls", unless he is up too close to them - then they are a bit too loud and scary.

Thereafter we drove down the William J. Bryan highway to Dayton. In 1925 Dayton staged a fabulous publicity stunt to put their town on the map. At the time Tennessee had a law against the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in the public schools and a high school teacher, John Scopes, agreed to violate the law so that they could try him in the Rhea County courthouse in downtown Dayton. The stunt worked out better than its designers could have possibly imagined, briefly skyrocketing Dayton to national prominance. Famed trial lawyer Clarence Darrow volunteered to defend Scopes and three time democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan volunteered to act as the prosecuting attorney. The businesses of Dayton cleaned up as the streets where filled with spectators for the two weeks of the trial. Bryan won the trial and the town - he alone is statued on the courthouse lawn of a town which now boasts a Bryan college. Darrow, however, took the case to the Tennessee supreme court where the law was declared unconstitutional - which was his goal from the outset.


7 Mars 2006

Just look at this toothy grin! There are now five big ones in there waiting to chomp down on anything her hands might manage to get inside. Okay, so it's pretty hard to tell from the photograph, but I can vouch from personal experience that they're plenty sharp.


6 March 2006

Last fall when we saw a big bear in the Smokies it really affected Maxwell. He had nightmares about "teddy bears" biting him, and thereafter whenever he got hurt he would say "teddy bear bite me". Molly's recent mishap has led to a similar obsession as he processes what happened. Today he pretended to have a hurt hand and told Cara "I get hit by car".


5 March 2006 (Early Ante Meridiem)

The inevitable finally happened. Molly is a very smart dog, but quite obediant and desirous of pleasing us. Tonight I was upstairs and she outside, barking to come in. I was busy and ignored her for a time. She found something else to do, but eventually I came downstairs. I cracked open the door to avoid letting in the cold night air and whistled to call Molly. I did not see or hear the oncoming car. Across the street, Molly may have, but she, ever obediant, heeded my call despite the danger. The car did not stop, even after it hit her and she cried out in pain. I heard her and ran outside as she limped onto the lawn. Three good legs but one very broken; asphalt burns on her belly. I carried her into the house and called the vet. I took Mel to the vet with mom the last time. Mom had been force feeding her a long time before that. Mel had stopped eating on her own. She was happy to get out of the car even though she went to her death. Mom and I, we made the decision together, but I was responsible. I love my second dog as much as the first. I did not want to be the one to take her to the vet for the last time as well.

After hours our vet came in for this emergency. I carried her into the car and drove her to the vet. I held her while she was sedated and the vet set her leg in a cast. When I broke my arm and needed the bones moved back into place I was awake when they did it. I was glad Molly didn't have to be. She woke up scared and confused. We won't known until tomorrow if she has internal bleeding. Tonight she sleeps at the vet's as a precaution. I still may have called her to her end. Cara will most likely outlive me. So will the children. Molly will not. I could likely have three more dogs after her before I die. I cannot sleep this night.

(a few hours of sleep later...)

I brought home a newly casted Molly this morning. She was very happy to see us, but still visibly in pain. The vet said she should be fine, but the cast will need to stay on her leg for a few weeks.


2 March 2006

For some reason all kids dream of living on a farm. Little do they realize that that lifestyle of bare sustinance involved an incredible amount of child labor and periods of seasonal starvation. However, such circumstances are at least a century in the past so it is understandable that they only see the rosy Charlotte's Webesque picture of it. Now the kids across the street are living out that dream. These are Courtney and Ty's goats:

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Last Modified: 29 March 2006 by Bradley James Wogsland.
Copyright © 2006 Bradley James Wogsland.