Road Trip

Happy belated Mother's Day to everyone out there. Last week was a busy one. We started with a visit from Matt & Maria - it was nice seeing folks I haven't for the past six months or more. It was also a good kick in the pants to contain some of our sprawl in the house. We got to show off Dan's favorite pizza place and Dan got to explain some of his in-depth analysis of what constitutes good - strike that - excellent pizza. Penny got to show off her walking skills and her ability to smile at guys (she used to cry around adult males, even ones she knew).

We also expanded our walking exploration in search of a local playground. Penny was brave enough to actually play with one or two of the kids there. She also did a little more slide experimentation. There were a variety of shapes and heights of slide, so there was much to investigate. Luckily, many of them were tubes, so we had somewhere to hide out when it started to rain. She was undeterred by the sprinkles, choosing to catch a quick snack while waiting out the fast-moving storm. Then it was back to fun with the blazing noon-day sun. I certainly regretted forgetting the sunscreen for myself.

Then on Friday we welcomed Dan's brother, sister-in-law and niece from Atlanta. It was good stuff watching Penny play with Catie. Just when I thought it wasn't possible to get more energetic, Catie managed to wear out Penny. Penny's been taking two naps a day since their visit. Of course, it could have to do with the longer days, but it was definitely tough stuff keeping up with her older cousin. Saturday I got to enjoy my second venture driving into Brooklyn. Getting there was no problem, getting back was entertaining, though. Ed was nice enough to lead the way back through the maze of one-way streets to the highway. The wind that day was so strong, though, that I was really focused on maintaining my lane. Suddenly, the highway split into two in front of me and I couldn't find a sign to indicate which way I should go. I took a chance on the left path. Soon I found myself at the water's edge as I passed under the Verrazano Bridge. Huh...not at all what I had planned. Luckily, there was an exit for a familiar street from our trip to the Children's Museum - the last big street I was on before getting on the bridge, so potentially a helpful exit. With the Brooklyn map I had picked up at the museum and the occasional teeny little signs posted odd places saying "Verrazano this way," I managed to get across the bridge and back to Staten Island. I was mentally exhausted, though, from the drive - the bridge is high up and those 40mph winds were no picnic.

On Sunday we took both cars and everyone got together in New Jersey at the house of Dan's other brother. We were a little late because we had to feed Penny before heading over, but I wasn't behind the wheel and so I was fine with whatever traffic we encountered. It is nice to know there are multiple routes to get to their house. I got a chance to catch a picture of the other side of New Jersey - it is more than just highways. NJ is also the big filter that keeps the sludge of the inland from escaping into the sea. Here you can see at high velocity one of the myriad wetlands along the Hudson that absorbs all the waste from the high population density there. It's really fun to see from the sky when you fly into Newark Airport. There's this incredibly densely populated area, then this confounding green wavy sea along the river. With the premium on space here, it is refreshing to see this little bastion of nature, often littered with old tires and shopping carts, but also teeming with wading birds and other fun wildlife. There is some self-preservation involved in keeping this natural sieve keeping pollution from overwhelming the river, but I'm guessing that doesn't stop developers from asking for the land. So somewhere out there someone cares enough to keep it. Yay!

I'm considering helping with a BioBlitz in a few weeks, where scientists will converge on a local park to devote 24 hours to counting every species of living things living in the park. I went to one in DC and it was pretty fun (we got to help with the bat counting). I think it would be fun to see what kinds of critters and plants live here, despite and because of the human presence. We'll see if I can figure out how to manage it.