Last One in the Woods

Sunday afternoon Aaron and I decided to go for a walk together. We are lucky enough to live less than a mile away from a Rivanna Trail entrance. The Rivanna Trail is one of my absolute favorite things about Charlottesville. The city linked about 20 miles of path that circle the area so if you live within city limits a trail head shouldn't be too far away from you. I think it's a brilliant way to preserve green space and it makes for some really interesting runs and a great place to walk. Besides that there are "ruins" scattered along the trail. If you keep your eyes open, under tangles of overgrowth are old stone chimneys and cellars that are fun to explore. And it's a great place to spot wildlife. Aaron and I have seen deer, groundhogs, rabbits, a fox, a skunk, squirrels, mice, a turtle, lizards, fish and countless birds and insects. If you want to see maps or learn more about the trail you can go here.

Anyway, yesterday Aaron and I got a little ambitious and decided to do a little bushwhacking along some overgrown deer trails. We ended up wading through a meadow of plants that came up to my neck, so Aaron's belly button. I forgot to change my shoes so I was wearing flip flops. Aaron had shorts on. I was wearing jeans but felt exceedingly jealous of Aaron because it was STEAMY hot. Neither of us had on bug spray. And while we charged through the tall grass and over marshy ground, unable to see what was under our next step, both of us returned unharmed. We were not attacked by snakes, bears, bugs, perverts, cougars, or anything rabid. It was a great time and made me think of all the fun I had when I was younger wandering around in the woods behind the house, climbing magnolia trees and building dams in the stream. I hope my kids get the chance to get out and play in the same way.



While I was at BYU, a professor recommended this book, Last Child in The Woods by Richard Louv. I really enjoyed it. The book describes how recently people have become AFRAID of the "wild" thanks to media fear mongering, so afraid that they won't let their kids play outside. Enter child obesity. Also, Louv showed children pictures of common North American animals, Pokemon characters and rain forest creatures. The kids did best on the Pokemon characters. They did second best on the animals from the rain forest. They did worst knowing the animals that they lived around. Louv contends that if the trend continues the next generation will know nature only as an abstraction. Louv then offers some practical advice on ways to get kids outside and learning about the outdoors. It was an interesting read.

My Commute

I was happily finishing up my work day when my coworker leaned over and said, "You do hear the thunder right? Didn't you ride your bike today?" What? What thunder? My heart dropped as I recognized the increasingly loud rumbles had started to shake the windows in their frames. The sky had darkened and an ominous thundercloud loomed visibly in the near distance. In desperation, I ran out the door, jumped on my bike and started my mad dash home.

About a mile back with 2.5 to go, the bottom dropped out of the storm. With each breath I was sucking in as much water as air. It was coming from every direction, heavy drops of rain pelted my back, gusts of wind beat it sideways, cars spewed filthy sheets off the road, and I could feel it trickle and pool through my helmet and down my face. The synonymous cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning drove home that trying to make it back, maybe wasn't one of my smartest ideas. I started to think, I hope I don't die like this, I was really looking forward to seeing Aaron tonight. Well, the Lord was willing, and I survived. But lest you think I exagerate, here is a snippet of the storm I captured on the video camera when I got home. That noise is the wind and rain. And I know, No awards for cinematogrophy on this one. Hope you don't get too dizzy.




And I have to provide an ad for the BEST bags in the world: The TIMBUK2 messenger bag! As you saw, I was in DRENCHING rain for at least twenty minutes and all my possession remained snug and dry. AMAZING! I'm not so waterproof. I wanted to show how wet I was but I, of course, chose to wear a white t-shirt to bike in today so to keep this post PG it had to be a neck up shot.

Feist First

I wrote earlier about going to the Feist concert up in DC, but I'm still eager to get the word out about her because her music is so great. She has a beautiful voice and really wonderful upbeat songs. So if you haven't had a listen yet, now you can, just click here. Happy Listening!



I also found a new band I've been enjoying called Let's Go Sailing. You can listen to them here. I love hearing new music so I thought maybe some of you would too. But by all means, Feist first.

ENVIRON EGO or Lets Talk About Old News

So a couple of days ago I read the story in the Washington Post about Gareth Groves' 38,000 dollar hummer being taken out in a wealthy, environment friendly DC neighborhood by "eco terrorists." They used a bat to smash in all the windows and scratched the message For the Environ in the paint. So my first thought was, Don't we send those things to Iraq? And it can't stand up to two guys with a bat and a knife? My second thought " I HATE those cars."

And as I read on it was confirmed that I am not the only one that has hummer hate. Apparently a lot of Groves' liberal, elitist, enviro-friendly neighbors do too. Groves' friend is quoted saying ""I'd say one in five people who come by have that 'you-got-what-you-deserve' look." Hmm, yeah, despite my respect for personal property and law and order and knowing that this was a "hate" crime, deep down, I know I would have that look too. And if I didn't have that look it would be because I was working with all my might to keep a straight face and on the inside I would still be making that look. I mean, hummers are designed to be provocative. And for me they provoke the response YUCK! CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION of the worst sort. What are they trying to prove?

When I told a friend about the crime, they were all for it. "People drive hummers because they think it's cool. They need to learn it's isn't appreciated. They're F*ing things up for the rest of us and destroying the climate." I countered that the extreme elements of society should not be allowed to govern the majority through violent action, probably because I was in the middle of reading Harry Potter. They agreed but I could see they were still having visions of hummer smashing dance through their head. And deep down so was I. How wrong is that?

Aaron?

I've begun to hear questions about Aaron's role in this blog. At this moment, this blog claims to be by Katy AND Aaron. So where are the posts by Aaron? I want to make it clear that I had every intention of this blog being mutually mantained. So here is where the trouble began:

Aaron, I've been thinking we could do a blog, what do you think?
Yeah, that'd be good.
So you'll do it with me?
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Okay, I'm putting your name down.
Okay.
So you'll write on it too?
Yeah.
You'll do posts?
Yeah.
Okay, here it is www.meldau-cummings.blogspot.com
Blah! What? Why is there a hyphen? Katy, a hyphen? Ohhhh nooooo! Not a hyphen! ANYTHING else! Can we change it? You know how I feel about hyphens!

I thought he'd get over it but It appears he never really recovered enough from the shock of our artistic differences to contribute.

Beware of Children

Since starting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I have become terrified of children. This is not because I am afraid the precocious young characters' habit of attacking adults will rub off on "Muggle" children. No. This is because by now, most children in this country have finished the 700+ page behemoth of a book and are eager to discuss it. Sadly, I have not. Most of them received their book Friday around midnight. The ones with lazy or insensitive parents got theirs Saturday. Mine landed on my doorstep just as I was stepping out to work on Monday morning. I still have 200 pages to go and I REALLY want to enjoy every twist and turn. I do NOT want to learn the ending by overhearing a conversation or being asked wasn't is sad when....? I'm so afraid that will happen that I considered staying home from work and just reading all day.
(Many of my coworkers who have never read Harry Potter read the last ten pages just to know what happens and are now a threat as well. That's childish so I'm lumping them in with the kid threat.)
So if you know me and you have read Harry Potter, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't tell me what happens!

Gratuitous Ugly Cat Picture

So Battle started getting lazy a couple weeks ago and began to neglect his personal hygiene. He started to really stink. If he wasn't going to clean himself, we were, so we threw him in the bath. After a lot of angry yowling and splashing he came out clean and smelling like Pantene ProV. It was the only shampoo we had. I think we managed to put the fear back into him because he's gotten back on his cleaning routine.

I Tattoo for You

I was worried that Aaron would forget all about me while he was up doing his very serious internship work, so while he was watching a movie and not paying very much attention to what I was doing I gave him a little tattoo to remember me by. He responded in kind and gave me the most beautiful unicorn tattoo I have ever seen. Yes, look closely, that's a unicorn with a rainbow and a heart. Aaron also paid special attention to the unicorn's smile.

I asked him if I was to die if he would get a tattoo of my name to remember me by. He said "No, they're ugly." I asked if he would if it was my dying wish, he replied "No, you wouldn't ask that because they're ugly." I asked, "Even if it was my dying wish? I'm dying in your arms and I ask you to get a tattoo of my name, you would say no?" Aaron's concession? Yes, but only the temporary tattoo, the type you put on with spit and only on special occassions, like my birthday or our anniversary.




Are you wondering what's up with the ugly hat? I found this hat at the SPCA sale and it made me think of Ignacius from the Confederacy of Dunces and couldn't resist buying it. It's irressitibly comfortable. I love it. Battle hates it. Anytime we leave it within his reach he attacks it.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. Aaron and I celebrated by driving down and visiting my family in my home sweet home state of South Carolina. It was a lot of fun. What makes a better birthday than a great husband, a happy family, old friends, home made fresh peach-cherry ice cream and pounds and pounds of home made boiled peanuts? I am trying to resist eating them all in the first week but I've already devored three bags in the first day! (In my defense, I did have a little help)

When I returned to Charlottesville Steve, Amy and Eliza surprised me with a yummy ice cream cake and well wishes from Marty. The side says Happy Birthday. It was a good time. Just look at Eliza. See how excited she was.

My Wild Time Alone

When you are all by yourself it means you can do just what you want to do. I can take up the whole bed instead of being confined into a tiny tiny tiny sliver of the side. I can eat crackers on the bed. I can jump into the pool with my clothes on instead of changing into my bathing suit. I can paint sitting on the floor and wipe my brush on the rug or my pants instead of a paper towel. I can control the Netflix queue. I can listen to distractingly loud music that is not in Italian or French. While I enjoy this freedom, I miss Aaron's company more than anything else, even more than the crackers in bed which do taste better that way.
To pass away the lonely hours I draw and spend time with the handsome man above, Marty Stouffer, the creator of Wild America. I watched Wild America through all of my developmental years in the 80s and consequently have an irrational devotion to it. Devotion aside, it's a great show. It was made before all the wildlife "naturalists" wrestled down vicious predators but instead spent days stalking even small mammals like a mink to get natural behavior which for me makes it absolutely fascinating. Off the top of my head here are some of my favorite episodes:
Owls Lords of Darkness
Grasshopper Mice - A whole show on desert mice that turn out to be ferocious predators who howl after every kill. If you are wondering they usually kill grasshoppers.
Ringtailed Rascals
The one on Antelope
The one on possums
The one on Turkeys (which has two parts)
The one on swamp bears
The one on wolverines
Fishers in the Family - Marty stumbles upon a road killed Fisher, determines she is a nursing mother, tracks down her den in a snow storm, retrieves her kits and brings them to his house to be raised along side his two year old. Awesome.

Aaron and I stumbled upon the first six seasons (12 disks) at Sam's club and immediately purchased it. I'm saving up for the next box set, seasons 7-12. Hours and hours of fun are just waiting to be had.

What did you do this weekend?

Surprise, I had a baby! And you didn't even know I was pregnant, did you? Just kidding. This is my niece Eliza Mae Meldau Morrison. She has a new blog, run by her parents, that some of you may be interested in checking out. Being such a doting aunt, I am here and now providing free advertising. Her blog has been added to my link sidebar. If you would like to know what I really did this weekend check out Randal and Theresa's blog. (See link sidebar again.)
PS I am NOT a photogenic person as you can probably see (note the strained attempt to smile), that is why there are not a lot of pictures on our blog.

It Kills Me!

I have started to really love my bike rides to work. I still wheeze up some of the bigger hills and the helmet hair is pretty ugly but I've become much faster which makes each ride much more fun. And in just two weeks I've dropped a pant size. My conscience has also been enjoying the satisfaction of being "greener."
I've also been very proud that I've managed to not get killed by all the giant vehicles around me (SUVs, delivery trucks, buses, trolleys, bulldozer-yes, one was driving down the street a few days ago- etc). I even get to go faster than them a lot of the time. I was beginning to feel like I had triumphed but it looks like they might get the last laugh after all.
In the New York Times article "For Athletes, an Invisible Traffic Hazard" by Susan James, it turns out that athletes who work out outside are increasingly exposed to air pollution, putting them at serious risk for asthma, heart disease and other nasty life-threatening problems. According to the article, "athletes typically take in 10 to 20 percent more air, and thus pollutants, with every breath as sedentary people do" AND "during exercise, low concentrations of pollutants caused lung damage similar to that caused by high concentration in people not working out" AND women JUST living in areas with poor air quality were far more likely to die from heart attacks than women living in areas with good air quality. It just goes to show, as nice as it is to save the whales and the spotted owl and all those other lovely animals, which I am all for, we really need to save ourselves from ourselves.
You can read the article here.

I'm in Love!

I'm in love with Flight of the Conchords, a new comedy on HBO. Do I have HBO? No. I have the internet where I can watch it for free. On HBO and Youtube. They also have the first episode on podcast. All of which I highly recommend because it is HILARIOUS. Brett and Jemaine, both New Zealanders, try to make their way to folk band fame in NY. Sadly, New Zealand seems similar to Idaho in equipping young men for social situations as they both employee Napoleon Dynamite like skills to navigate their lives. For better or worse, the band has a manager, Murry, a hapless New Zealand bureaucrat who runs band meetings out of the consulate office. They also have one lone fan who is more stalker than fan, but you take what you can get, right?

I'll Stand With You and Marvel

Bill Cosby said something like you can tell you're in love when all the stupid pop song lyrics start to make sense. Listening to my music, every once in a while a song will stand out and I'll think that is JUST how I feel! And while this is probably pretty mushy, there's a song I've been listening to lately that reminds me just how much I love Aaron and why I want to spend the rest of my life with him. It's called Cast a Hook in Me and is by Laura Veirs. You can check her out and listen to the song here. She'll be performing at Black Cat in DC on July 21st, my birthday weekend!!!

Chance of Rain

Right now it's raining outside. And thundering. And lightning. And blowing down trees. I love summer thunderstorms but this one is causing some trouble.

Right now I am at work, and I came to work on my bike. Relatively soon, it will be time for me to go home and I do not have a rain coat. I did not pack a rain coat because I didn't realize it was going to rain today. Why? Because the weather reportsays it is going to rain EVERY day. Seriously.

If you go to weather.com at this moment the ten day weather report is as follows:

Today
Jul 10 -Isolated T-Storms 30%

Jul 11 - Scattered T-Storms / Wind 40%

Jul 12 - Isolated T-Storms 30%

Jul 13 - Isolated T-Storms 30%

Jul 14 - Scattered T-Storms 40%

Jul 15 - Scattered T-Storms 30%

Jul 16 - Isolated T-Storms 30%

Jul 17 - Isolated T-Storms 30%

Jul 18 - Scattered T-Storms 60%

Jul 19 - Scattered T-Storms

How am I supposed to know when it is really going to rain? And does anyone know what the difference is between scattered and isolated T-storms?

All By Myself

Aaron left for DC Sunday night. He starts his new job bright and early Monday morning. That leaves me home alone. All by myself. I'm working hard to try to ignore all those bumps and creeks in the night, but I'm still jumpy. To keep my spirits up I've been talking to Battle, but that's a slippery slope. I'm pretty sure that if Aaron doesn't come back soon enough I will end up one very crazy cat lady.

HURRAY!!!!

Aaron will be working up in DC. He just got the call this afternoon. Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!

Happy Fourth

I wasn't feeling very well on the fourth so I staid in bed and read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, start to finish. I loved it.

The story follows three families, The Jones: Archie, Clara and their daughter Irie; The Iqbals: Samad, Aslana and their twin sons Millat and Magid; and the Chalfeans. Archie and Samad fight together in WWII in the "buggered battalion" a unit for army misfits. They return to England and both eventually marry, Archie meeting Clara, a beautiful six foot Jamaican immigrant with a passionate Jehova's Witness mother, and Samad entering an arranged marriage with Alsana. Both women are about 25 years younger than their husbands. Within the year Clara gives birth to a daughter, Irie and Alsana has twin boys Millat and Magid. Both families struggle to make their way in lower end London. After his own moral failings, Samad becomes so concerned for his sons that he sends Magid back to India. Millat remains and becomes a womanizing gangster recruited by Islamic extremists. Irie also struggles to find her place. They both become intertwined with the middle class, intellectual Catholic-Jewish Chalfens, through their nerdy son Josh. His mother, Joyce Chalfen misguidedly attempts to "heal" Millat while Marcus Chalfen employs Irie as a secretary for his research work creating, "Futuremouse", an animal whose genetic makeup is supposed to precisely determine the animals whole life.

It can be a bit brutal and complex at times but the characters are so familiar, so human, and the story is told so naturally and with such wry wit that the book remains enjoyably fascinating in even its darkest moments.

Pallas Athena, she's got a great personality...

In the competitive world of marathons and half marathons you can win a race by being incredibly fast and well trained OR qualifying for a niche sub-group with lower standards. Since I am not a senior citizen and have all of my limbs, I didn't think I had a chance to enter such a group. I was happy to content myself to full-capacity mediocrity. Until Yesterday!
Marathons have traditionally provided a different group for heavier men, men at 200 lbs +. They call them the Clydesdales. Recently they have begun to offer such a group for "heavier" women. They call it the Athena. The really painful thing is the Athena group is 140+ lbs. Now I'm not quite 140 lbs but with a few late night snacks and a couple heavy meals I probably could be. Which provides a dilemna, should I try to improve myself as much as possible and end up average Or do my best to bulk up and try to become the winner of the fat race? Thoughts?

What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?

I'm not a very musical person but sometimes when I wake up in the morning I will have a song stuck in my head, going round and round. The unfortunate thing is they tend to be rather bad songs. Last Friday I woke up singing "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor?" I have NOOO idea where that came from, but it is a rather catchy tune.

I'm adding to this blog since Sarah informed me that not everyone knows the words to "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor?"
So here, thanks to WIkipedia are several of the verses. Thoses sailors were a creative bunch.

Intro
What shall we do with a drunken sailor, (3×)
Early in the morning?

Chorus
Hoo–ray/Wey–hey/Heave-ho and up she rises, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Verses

Take him and shake him and try to wake him, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Put him in the bilge and make him drink it, (3x)
Early in the morning.

Soak 'im in oil 'till he sprouts flippers, (3x)
Early in the morning.

Spray him with whiskey and light him on fire, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Hit 'im on the head with a broken hammer, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Hang him from the sails til his eyeballs fall out, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Put him into bed with the captain's daughter, (*) (3×)
Early in the morning.

Slap him around and call him Suzie, (3×)
Early in the morning.

And my all time personal FAVORITE:

Shave his belly with a rusty razor, (3×)
Early in the morning.

Outro
That’s what we’ll do with a drunken sailor, (3×)
Early in the morning.

* The Captains Daughter was the other name for the cat o' nine-tails whip.

The Inconvenient Truth

The inconvenient truth is that I sweat, sometimes a lot, and I get BAD helmet hair, and I sound like a dying horse going up big hills, but I have started to ride my bike to work.
I've actually wanted to for a while. I live well within biking distance to my work place, I'm only 3.5 miles and a few big hills away. And those big hills are great fun to go down. Which makes me wonder, why don't more people bike to work?
You can fight fat, enjoy the beautiful outdoors, and some days you are even faster than the bumper to bumper car traffic. Plus, it's so cheap. A good car costs you a couple thousand bucks, a good bike, a couple hundred. And there's no need for gasoline so you can save that money too and reduce acid rain, smog and the US foreign oil dependency. All in a days ride...

PS Does anyone have any tips on reducing helmet hair? I thought I'd just shave my head but Aaron got that panicked look of horror on his face when I brought up that option.