In This Blue Shade, My Tears Dry On Their Own

Our first trip to the country house for the 2008 season was over Easter weekend and boy did we have fun! As we all know, Easter came very early this year which meant loads of adorable, weather-inappropriate easter outfits. But more than that, it meant crisp nights cuddling together with the two and four legged members of our family.

I arrived a few days before my husband and was able to take in some amazing evening skies. Tugger was so excited to be there, he just shook for the first 12 hours. The first night he woke up every 3 hours....and when I left him tethered outside like the lamb in Jurrasic Park at 4am, I was never more sure that I will be a horrible mother.

When morning broke, we went for a family jaunt and soaked in the sights and sounds of our home away from home...the visual respresentations of:

Our minds clearing

Our blood pressure dropping

Our eyes smiling

And our hearts soaring.

We returned to the house to warm up, but Tug and Ginger were still keeping a watchful eye.

And then Hunts Pond went a little National Geographic on our asses.

The swans have laid eggs and if you get too close they'll come at you like a spider monkey - or, as it happens, like a swan - but then that doesn't have the same visual impact, does it?

Unless you saw this....

That's when it got ugly, and this is a family friendly blog folks.

But here we are at another beginning and, in so many ways, another end. This will be our first full season without Mr. Budd...the first summer that we won't sit with Mr. Dougherty on the porch...and our first summer without other relationships that were such a defining part of our experiences.

But there will be joy in the memories, and in the love and closeness that we share with people that are very much a part of our family. We look forward to the creation of new stories and traditions...and always continuing the old ones (cocktails on the pontoon being my personal favorite). We hope to see you all for a visit!

Time Weaves Ribbons of Memory to Sweeten Life When Youth is Through

Introducing our baby cousin Jersie! Jersie and her mom Jess were in town from Arizona and we were so glad to be able to spend time with them and the rest of the family. With the convenient excuse of St. Patty's Day, we spent a few hours doing what we do best: laughing, hugging, eating and sharing.

Halfway through our visit, Uncle Billy and little Billy (who is not so little and a very talented up-and-coming landscape architect) were called out to a fire. I was so proud, so awestruck...and truthfully, a little scared. We so often take for granted the people close to us that are inspirational....that are true heroes...but in that moment, I was so acutely aware and appreciative of everyone in the room, and those that were geographically impaired and so very missed.

Jersie and her cousin Mackenzie were fast friends; it was such a delight to watch them discover one another and make an immediate connection.

As we all looked on, I realized that the people in the room had watched the previous generation, my husband and his cousins, do the same thing....and how meaningful that must be for them.

With a bit of coaxing from her big cousin, Jersie was almost inspired to crawl....but all of the grownups cheering her on was just a bit too much to handle.

So we returned to resting position....all of you Yogis will recognize this as a very nicely formed downward dog.



I even got to spend some quality time out from behind the lens!

I would like to flatter myself into thinking that we had an instant connection....but I know that the diamond pendant and shiny bangle bracelets were the proverbial bacon in my pocket.

(Did I just liken a child to a puppy? Yea...I did....that's right...we're totally the childless couple.)

Speaking of which, we returned to our munchkin being just too adorable with his latest favorite chew toy.

As usual...awakened to momarazzi trying to figure out flash settings...poor pup!