A few firsts

So far I like our new house and our new neighborhood quite a bit - much more than I expected I would. I'm amazed at how fast it's come to seem like home. But we've been so busy I've hardly had time to appreciate it, and there's still a LOT of settling in to do.

Here's a photo of the first bouquet from our new garden - roses and obedient plant.

And another first - for me anyway - is the fact that our holly bush is blooming. I know nothing about holly and was surprised to see these delicate little blossoms in our front yard yesterday:

Also yesterday, I made my first trip to Trader Joes. It's a great place, with great food, but $17 seemed like a lot to pay for just a loaf of bread, milk, jam, tomatoes, and muffins.

But the best "first" since we've moved was my first trip to the neighborhood pool with Ben!

Radio rant

Not long ago I mentioned in this blog how great it was that there are so many good radio stations here in the Detroit area. This was significant to me since I listen to the radio a lot, mostly NPR, but jazz and classical stations too.

But for some odd reason our radios don't work very well in our new house. We get a lot of static and can't tune in NPR at all! I get it fine in the car, so I know I'm within the listening area, but in the house there's too much interference.

I think this phenomena might have something to do with the many giant TV and radio towers near our new home, but who knows? I'm especially annoyed that the point on the dial where I should get NPR, I now get a sports talk station - loud and clear. Blagh!

This is a huge loss in my life and I hardly know what to do with myself. There is a void now where I used to feel connected, informed, entertained, and a part of something important.

I'm especially lost in the kitchen, where I find it almost impossible to function without a radio.

And what really bugs me about this is that I can't fix the problem by going out and buying a better radio - because they don't exist. It's all about ipod docks now.

I remember when radios used to have a button you could press after tuning in your station. This would keep your radio tuned exactly where you wanted it without static from nearby stations. But, alas, they don't make radios with this feature anymore. Just ask a sales-kid in Best Buy about it and see what kind of look you get.

I'm in grief about the loss of my NPR, but I think I'm still in the denial phase. I keep trying to tune it in. Maybe it will work today, I'll think. Or maybe it will work if I put the radio over here, or here, or if I hook up the antenna and hold it with both hands crossed above my head... It's a sad, sad thing.

Friday Favorite Photo: Ephemeral memory

This is one of my favorite macro abstracts. I took it a year ago. Can you guess what it is?

Not much time for posting more than Friday Favorites these days. In addition to getting settled in the new house we've had a lot of company (including three great days with my grandson Ben - a joy) and today we're heading to West Michigan for an event in BB's family. Busy, busy.

Friday Favorite Photo: Fest collage

We usually go to the Michigan Womyns Music Festival every August, but this is the second year in a row we weren't able to make it. I created this photo collage a few years ago from pictures I took of the annual festival quilt.

Julie, Julia, & a rainy beach vacation

It was a bittersweet feeling when my feet hit the sand at Lake Michigan on Friday - I was glad to be there, but it made me a little homesick, too. Although the sky was overcast and the water chilly, we managed to enjoy three hours of beach time before it began to rain. We returned to our little roadside room, cleaned up, and went to the movies.

We saw Julie & Julia and I loved it. It's the best movie I've seen in a long time. Completely enjoyable.

There was more rain on Saturday so we decided to head home, stopping along the way to have breakfast with friends in Grand Rapids, and then visit family in Kalamazoo. It was nice to have unplanned, relaxing time with my sons and their wives. We played a game of Scrabble, golf on the Wi, ordered Chinese take-out, and had quality time with Ben - such a sweetie. He's thirteen months old now and is beginning to dance and bop his head to music. He has also learned to give kisses.

We moved!

It's a bit of a blur, but I think this is our third day in the new house. Yesterday we cleaned our old place, packed up the last load of miscellaneous stuff & all the plants, and bid farewell to the island.

BB has the week off and we've both been working hard at getting unpacked and settled in.

Tomorrow we are heading to West Michigan to visit our grandson and spend some vacation time at the lake.

The house is beginning to feel like home, but still a big mess. Here's some pictures I took yesterday of the kitchen, living room and office: