Coming Down the Mountain

What goes up must come down, and you'd think coming down would be soooo much easier! But it really wasn't. It's hard work to stop yourself from running down the mountain and risk getting hurt. I had to also work hard to keep an eye on my humans to make sure they were OK.

It's hard work keeping track of them all. Here we are-- our last night of camping out. My bones were weary and I was looking forward to going home.

Looking out the car window it was amazing to think I'd climbed that mountain! The humans are talking about doing this again-- but I'm not so sure. I think Big Momma and Daddy are lonely without me.
And that's the end of my Great Mountain Hiking Adventure!!!

PS: I'd like to thank my personal photographer for making me look so good in the pictures :)

On Top of the Mountain

I didn’t quite know what to make of being on top of a mountain! It was hard climbing up, but I did OK and climbed over all sorts of big boulders and up that steep, rocky slope and only got stuck once. That was scary and I cried and my humans had to help me get unstuck.

But here I am on top of the mountain!

It’s very strange because I’d never been on mountains before and couldn’t figure out how this works—when you sit at the edge of the mountain it’s very far “down there”…

I was exploring the top of the mountain when the park ranger walked up checking up on all the humans and making sure I was leashed—guess he didn’t know I climbed all the way up this thing unleashed—after all, how can you expect anyone to do what I did on a leash? Can you see how proud my humans are of me?

Finally, I just really needed a water break and take in the view…

Fawnie on Fawn's Hiking Adventure

Let me tell you about the hike from my perspective-- I love my humans, I really do... but they can be a challenge to manage! I first had to ride in the car for many hours, and then when we started the hike they made me wear this weird coat. My little momma said it was to keep me cool, but all I know is I had to wear something I'd never worn before while climbing over rocks, crossing water on these rickety plank bridges, and walking forever and on and on. My goodness, don't these humans understand I'm 7 years old and I've never done this?

So as my humans tell stories about this "adventure" they poke fun of my napping-- honestly! Can't a girl take a little nap after walking up and down hill for miles on end?

While these humans bounced around from rock to rock there were times I could barely lift my bones to keep on going-- but I never complained!

You can see this mountain was not small-- you'd never think about it but New York has some big mountains-- and this one was the BIGGEST one in the whooole state! Did I tell you that I'm 7 years old and I've never done this before?

I get tired just telling you all about this! Time to take a nap. More later.

Fawn's Great Adirondack Hiking Adventure

Fawnie-dog had a great outdoor adventure this weekend! She took her 3 humans out hiking in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York.

This was a 3-day hike on trails in the High Peaks Wilderness in Adirondack Park. Fawn led the expedition by taking her humans all the way to the top of Mount Marcy, the high point of New York state.

She clambered over boulders, tentatively walked over wooden bridges, and hopped from rock to rock crossing running streams.

Whenever she could, she stopped to take a quick nap, because she had never done so much hiking in her life!

She guarded her humans by letting out low growls and loud barks at night when she sensed danger, because the Adirondacks are full of bears! Fawn also experienced sleeping in a tent at night and wearing a special jacket to keep her cool and protected during the day.

While her humans carried her food and water, along with all the camping gear, Fawn scampered up and down the mountain trails like she’d been doing it all her life. She did her job well on this trip and brought her humans home safe and sound. And after she ran into the house, kissed her Momma and Daddy, drank a full bowl full of water, and sniffed out and marked the entire back yard, she collapsed into a deep sleep—just content to be back at home.

Sileni Winery- Sustainable

Last summer I found my first sustainable wine, and now I've found the second-- Sileni makes a great Sauvignon Blanc and it's just great to know this crisp white wine came from a sustainable vineyard. As much as I enjoy wine, it's hard to think about how white growing and making impacts the environment. Granted, as my son was quick to point out, this wine was shipped 5,000 miles to the USA. However, the Sileni organization has an impressive website explaining how they've earned the title "sustainable winery." Check out the weblink below: http://www.sileni.co.nz/sustainable-winegrowing.asp

East Coast Heat Wave

This morning the humidity was 100 degrees and when I walked outside my glasses fogged up. We've had a run of days with temperatures hovering at or near 100 degrees with high humidity. Oh well, it's still better than those long, cold winters!!!

The Paris Wife

When I read a book I enjoy, it’s hard for me to put it down. Chalk it up to streaks of obsessive-compulsiveness… but I tend to read and read until it’s done. Reading this way makes me feel as though I’m there, in the book, part of the experience. But, it also makes me read fast, and in the end I think I may have missed details one absorbs only by reading slowly and savoring the story.

And so it goes with The Paris Wife, the story of Hadley Hemingway, the first wife of Ernest. I started the book yesterday and have less than 100 pages to go. I’m right at the point where the marriage is about to break up. I’ve put the book down so that I can force myself to not rush to the end. I usually tend to rush through the end of a book just wanting to finish it—and when I do I always feel as though I’ve just crash-landed into a wall. I’m already sad knowing what the end will be, and wishing it wouldn’t happen this way.

Author Paula McLain tells the story of Hadley and Ernest through Hadley’s voice. It’s the story of their lives as a young couple with little or no money living in a decrepit apartment above a dance hall in Paris while Ernest labors to write and gain acceptance in a literary community that fuels the fires of would be artists and writers. This ex-patriot community includes, among other, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, and Ezra Pound. Stein had a strong influence in Hemingway’s writing, as he would visit her often and they would talk about his work. She read and critiqued his writing and her influence contributed to Hemingway’s directness and parsity with words. Gertrude Stein even becomes the godmother to Hadley’s and Ernest’s son, Bumbey.

Living in Paris during the 1920s has a romantic feeling about it—it was the time between the end of World War I, and the crash of 1929. Having experienced the War, it was a time when people wanted to feel alive, and eating, drinking, and dancing were high on the list of living. So was going away for a season, and the Hemingway’s would enjoy Schruns, Austria at the Christmas holidays for skiing and stay on until early Spring before returning to Paris. The Summer seasons were punctuated with trips to Pamplona, Spain where Ernest conducted his research on bullfighting. The five years of living as ex-pats in Paris were punctuated with a 5 month stint in Toronto, where Hadley gave birth to Bumbey, and several 10-day ocean crossing voyages Ernest took back and forth to meet with his publishers. It seems all so quaint to read about a 10 day sea crossing when now we travel and change continents within a matter of hours.

The book is a historical novel, a work of fiction based on the lives of Ernest and Hadley Hemingway. But it also gives a glimpse of reality of 1920s Paris and its literary community, as author McLain developed the story based on the thousands of pages of letters exchanged between Hadley and Ernest. What makes this a historical novel is that the dialogue was invented, and so we can only imagine what really was said between this husband and wife and their circle of friends.

I’m now going to force myself to tend to several mundane chores before I allow myself to return to reading the last 100 pages—slowly, so as not to miss any details before it all ends.

The Paris Wife

Just started reading The Paris Wife-- I am rewarding myself with a chapter now and then between dissertating! It's a historical fiction based on Ernest Hemingway's first wife Hadley and their years in Paris in the 1920s. It would have been nice to have experienced Paris then-- I envision it as somewhat smaller and more intimate than the Paris of now (beautiful though it is).
Even though this is historical fiction, the author has based the character descriptions on Hadley's letters and documentation of their lives together.

Which begs the question-- what is the fine line between fact and fiction? She uses their real names, real locations, and incorporates real scenes from their lives- but has had to "make up stuff" to fill in the blanks. To what extent will this book become a "biography" of Hadley, when it is, in fact, historical fiction? Giess I can deal with those questions later.

Garden in Morning Sun

PAB's been growing a garden, and many of his vegetables were grown from seed. For a while the deck looked like a construction site with pails, buckets, tools, and equipment all over the place. However, now we're beginning to see the fruits of his labors, as everything is growing into a bumper crop of delicious things to eat. We've already harvested some yellow squash and the tomatoes are starting to turn red. There's something so satisfying in planting and watching it grow!

Opera

I'm trying hard not to commit to anything social this Fall so that I can finish the dissertation, but I do have a friend who tempts me in many ways. One of them is the opera. Stephanie and I have been going to the Philadelphia Opera for several years and together we've seen great, weird, and mediocre opera performances. I was successful in saying “No” to season tickets for the upcoming season, but then caved in when she told me one of the operas will be Carmen. Have to go see that!!! So… Philadelphia Opera here we come—again! 

Sunday Brunch

When the kids were younger we’d come home from church on Sunday mornings and we’d make an elaborate brunch for the kids, and enjoy our time at the table as a family. We haven’t done brunch in while, because lately, Ed and I have been going out to breakfast after Sunday morning Mass. I started teasing him about doing penance during Lent and suggested he needed to take me out on a breakfast date on Sunday mornings. We’ve enjoyed that time together, and so we have continued going out to breakfast long after Lent is over.

This week dear daughter #1 was home for a few days, and so this morning we made our brunch of old—eggs Florentine, bagels and lochs, cinnamon buns, fresh fruit, and orange juice. Besides taking joy in making this brunch, it felt great to be together at the table. I enjoy my children’s company and take pleasure in table conversations. I liked being with my children when they were little, and enjoy equally as well as adult children—although it’s fun to see that some sibling traits and behaviors still continue no matter how old they are… 

Chanel Jacket- To Bucket List

Oh yes-- I'd like a Chanel jacket added to my bucket list :). Coco Chanel was quite the woman-- her fashions were timeless and elegant bar none.

Beginning A Bucket List

Should I begin a bucket list? If so what would I want to do? Not exactly sure, but how about this:
* Watch a segment of the Tour de France in France
* Write something that gets published
* Visit the world's sacred places
* Write my memoir (or at least part of it)
* Vacation in the Florida Keys and visit the home of Hemingway
* Finish reading ALL of Hemingway's works
* Watch my daughters climb Kilimanjaro (maybe accompany them if I can)
* Stay a month at the beach
Ok- that's a start-- no doubt I'll add to this as it will be a work in progress :)