Friday Report: Wine, Kids and Poetry

It's been a busy couple of days in Indiana!


On Wednesday, Mom and I went exploring.

Now, Mom used to live in Bloomington, but only for a year, and that was back in 2010.  She basically knows her way around, but she's often not sure which turn she's supposed to take until she's upon it.  Given that I was driving and she navigating, this is not ideal.

We explored quite a bit, but first we went to Oliver Winery.  We took the back roads, which was a very pretty drive; lots of trees, curves, ups and downs to the road, and old-looking stone walls along a few properties.

We eventually met up with the highway.  Mom kept an eye out for the winery; the entrance has no light, no exit, no turn lane - just a driveway off the highway with a small sign.  As we progressed down the road at great speed, Mom suddenly shouted: "Here!  Turn here!  This is it!"

Now, I'm moving across the country.  My car is full of stuff.  When one stops on a dime, this stuff tends to move around.  So I applied the breaks as firmly as I felt was safe, both for my stuff and for the other drivers.

It wasn't enough.  We passed the driveway.  Fortunately there was a wide shoulder on either side of it that I was able to get onto and do an awkward, super-wide turn into the establishment.

Unfortunately, it was not the right establishment.  The winery was one driveway farther up the road.


Once there, I wandered around while Mom did a wine tasting.  I got a Seattle Chocolates bar (delicious!), a cane sugar root beer, and a bottle of Muscat.

Mom enjoying her tasting of some Catawba wine.  The grapes were good, too!

But enough about our day off!

Yesterday Mom and I had the boys all to ourselves, all day.  This was both fun, and a lot of work.  I don't think I've 'played' this much since I was 5.

Early on, Mom sent me outside to collect some good teepee materials.  There's a small wooded area in the backyard, with plenty of sticks to be found.  We tied them together on the patio, and Mom proceeded to conduct a photo shoot of the boys in their new fall outfits.

We ended up staying outside the rest of the morning.  We explored the woods, buried and rescued cars in the gravel by the patio, and ended with a picnic lunch.

Ezekiel (left) seemed quite at his leisure. Nehemiah declined to sit still.

After the boys were in bed, I took a few minutes to work on my poetry book!

Here's where it stands: I have finished editing all but one troublesome poem.  I have worked out my basic cover design, front, back and side, including choosing a front cover image.  I again reorganized the first section of poems (grouped around the theme Prayers and Praises) last night, which reorganization finally forms an arc to the section and met with Steven's approval, which means it's done.  Locked in.  At an end.  Finished.  Closed.  Final.

Yay!


So, if you find yourself sitting around the house with nothing to do, go spend the day exploring, playing with little kids, or wrangling poetry.  That'll keep you busy.