yesterday, i went to get the trailer off the farm where it's been since we moved into our new place. after a pleasant 3 or 4 hours of getting the airstream ready to move, under a steady and cool oregon rain, i promptly got the van stuck in the mud. more precisely, i backed up to the trailer and stepped out in time to watch the van slowly sink about 6 inches into the ground. (for the other boy-dorks out there, think of the scene where luke crashes his x-wing into the dagoba swamp) fortunately, Justin, the only person in oregon that i know well enough to ask a big favor is also the only person i know with a big 4-wheel drive and some chains. after a bit of mud-wrestling we got the van and trailer out with a large "splorch" kind of sound. we parked the trailer in a storage lot near the vegetable oil station on the edge of town. seeing it lined up with a bunch of volkswagen vans in a fenced lot made me a bit sad, it seemed like such a small and ordinary trailer to have contained so many experiences; my home and vessel for the biggest adventure of my life so far... a long luxurious shower at home, however, washed away both the mud and nostalgia and i am very happy to be on to the next thing. (picture: wetland preserve trail, next door to where we're livin')

this is most of our new pad, minus the bedroom which just looks like a bedroom. i finished the floor today so the faux hardwood now extends all the way to sasha.
here's the view from the big glass doors in the kitchen: frozen-pond fun after the recent cold snap. the kids took turns being the puck. the tarp in the background covers the beehives and a heater to keep their bees-knees from knockin'. if you haven't yet, it's time to mind your own bees-knees.

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