Saturday, June 02, 2007
Motorcycle accident
Last weekend when Emma and I were traveling back from Noni and Popi's we came upon the aftermath of a motorcycle accident.

I could see the flashing blue lights through the trees before we actually got to the scene. When we approached we could see the motorcycle laying in the middle of the eastbound lane. The motorcyclist was laying to the side of the road. I couldn't make sense of his legs. He was leaning his upper body up and talking to a deputy, who was bent over him. There was a woman standing there too; her car was parked on the other side of the road. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet. In our area it takes a long, long time for them to arrive at a scene because we only have two volunteer squads covering 416 square miles. And it was Memorial Day weekend.

All the way up the mountain I prayed that the motorcyclist would be all right and that the ambulance would arrive soon. Finally, at the top of the mountain I passed them heading the other way towards the accident scene.

I had to wait until our weekly newspaper came out on Thursday to find out what happened. There was no article, just a short report in the "police blotter." "Responded to an accident. Motorcycle struck bear."

Ouch.
I am alive
Don't give up on me, those of you who are still with us. We're at the beach now. We've got some intermittent wireless access so I will try and post some updates, without spending too much important vacation time on the computer.

Emma behaved wonderfully on the seven and a half hour drive down. The DVD player in the car is a godsend. Having Noni as her playmate in the back seat helps too.

She didn't like the sound of the ocean waves crashing last night at all. She couldn't see the ocean but she could hear it. She didn't care to see it. So she was predisposed to being afraid. This morning we took her down to show her the waves. In retrospect it was a mistake to make her retreat from the rushing water to avoid getting her tennis shoes wet. Now she's afraid of the water and afraid to go to the beach.

After she gets up from nap we're going to try again, putting on her beach shoes and taking along her bucket. I'm crossing my fingers.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Play structure, almost complete
We've got two replacement swings and a glider on order. She bugged us all morning to go out and play on it. So much so that she got a time-out for it. The ground was too wet until nearly 10:00 a.m.

The towel is part of one of Emma's peculiar games. She'll take the towel around and want to cover everything with it. First she did the swing, then the slide, then the swinging rope.




Middle Mountain 2007
Paintball. After last year's shiny red welt to the face on one girl, no one was allowed to shoot another person.


Emma sampling chocolate. One of the dozen times she did so while we were there.


Playing with the tree swing. One of the games she enjoyed was chasing it.


Here's another way she enjoyed the swing.


Roasting marshmallows.


Without flash.


S'mores!