Scotland

I'm disappointed (though not surprised) by the outcome of the Scottish Independence vote. I would've welcomed an independent Scotland and would've looked forward to moving back there. (That, by the way, is not an academic notion. My wife and kids are Scottish. We've lived in Scotland before and will do so again. It's not a matter of if, but just of when we make the move back.)

That disappointment aside, though, I'm pleased by two seemingly contradictory things. One is that the vote wasn't super close. It would've been hard to take if it had been a really narrow victory or loss.

The second is that I'm quite proud of Scotland. They just had a peaceful vote on their future, on a big issue unlike any most of us face at the ballot box. They turned out in massive numbers to have their say. And that 45% that said yes is actually really impressive. That's a lot of yes in the face of a lot of NO-inspired horror stories that were being rolled out on a daily basis, and of course it's harder to make a huge change than it is to stay the course.

All in all, it was an impressive showing, one that reminds me why Scotland is a country I love.

Birthday Stuff

Yesterday was my wife's birthday. There were a number of presents involved, but two of the nicest came from our kids. Maya produced the following original card:

Not to be outdone, Sage produced an original story. For your reading pleasure, the text:

Gudrun the Fair Isle Fairy
-a birthday story by Sage Anthony Durham

Gudrun raced through the woods, feet flying over the hard earth. Her bare soles crunched the leaves of fall beneath them, but she didn’t even hear them. All she could think about was getting to the otter. She didn’t know why but she knew she had to get to it. She had a bad feeling. And when she had bad feelings it meant something. Maybe the birth had gone wrong. The otter wasn’t due for another month, but…

Oh, she just ran. Good thing she had her trainers and spin gear on. Suddenly she was slipping and sliding down the stones toward the beach. Sure enough the otter had given birth. The pups were sooo cute. Small and lovely, eyes closed and looking like the best things ever. But… something was definitely wrong. She could see it in the mother otter’s eyes and hear it in her breath and feel it in her heart beat.

And then she knew. The otter pups were too small. Of course! It was a really early birth so the pups wouldn’t have nearly enough fat to stay warm in the North Atlantic. But that wasn’t all. They were cool to the touch, not warm like new pups should be. They needed to be heated up and soon. The sun was sinking into the hills and in the east a raucous gathering of clouds promised a storm. There was going to be weather, no doubt.

 Gudrun looked around. The landscape, bare and craggy and beautiful as it was, offered no help. Not a person to be seen. It was all on her. She inhaled. All on her. Nobody watching. That was bad, but it also meant one good thing...

With no witnesses, Gudrun pulled her knitting needles from the quiver on her back. Quick as an Elfen archer, she began to work her magic. She reached up and snatched at the last golden rays of the setting sun. The staccato click of her needles snapped away on the wind, but she didn’t falter. She wove the sunlight into glimmering yarn.

And she knitted. Oh, she knitted. This was her magic, something only she could do.

She worked fast, as was her style. When she was done the pups were snuggled up in warm gold hats, cardigans, scarves and pants; all of them pulsing with sunlight. Gudrun was content that the pups would live and grow up to be big and healthy, for they were covered in the magic of a Fair Isle fairy, a rare, secret breed, one of the last of the species.

 That day, feeling young and fit and in control of herself and her skills and her meaning in the world, Gudrun set off to look for other animals in need. She helped forty animals that day and saved forty lives. Next year, she’d aim to help forty-one.

Better with age, of course.

More magical.

(Not bad, huh?)

Gudrun's Got A Creative Bug

The famous Shetland Trader knitwear designer is at again. A new thing this time. She's gone video!

Gudrun's first Creative Bug knitting video is live now. It's an instructional video for a lovely lace cardigan. Got knitting? You might want to give a look, then. Personal tutelage and all that. Lots of explanations and details.

The shooting of the video was quite a thing. They flew Gudrun out to San Francisco for the better part of a week to shoot several different projects. This first one was the most complicated in that during the filming they had to work backwards, ripping out stitches and essentially unmaking the cardigan in the process. But in the video everything's been rearranged. A bit mind bending, but it worked!

The other cool thing is that they do a short (free) intro video about each designer. For Gudrun's they sent a guy out to film in our home and environs for an entire day. Out of all of that he edited down to a few minutes. If you want a glimpse of where we live and what sort of stuff we get up to (walking the dog and crazy things like that) take a look.

The clip is HERE.

Maya's Latest

This is an Instagram snap taken of my daughter, Maya's, latest portrait. The color tone is a bit different than the original, but the image is the image.

What?

Edinburgh Art College. She's got you in her sights!

Paris, Through Maya's Eyes

The latest offering from my artistic 13 year old daughter. She did this drawing for extra credit in her French class. Pretty yummy, huh?

We'll be in Paris again this summer. I'm expecting it to look just like this...

A Few Flakes

So this is Saba yesterday, checking out the first few snowflakes from the coming storm.

His assessment was that it was the real deal. And that proved correct. The day after:

Wish Me Luck

I'll need it.

I'm heading to town to visit the middle school. I'll be speaking to 80 eight graders about my writing, and then meeting with a class to discuss a short story of mine that they've read.

What's more? This is my daughter's school - and her class! I'll do my best not to embarrass her. ;)

Knit with Me

Or... Not, me, so much, but with my wife and, hopefully, with someone close to you!

Just wanted to announce that my wife, Gudrun Johnston, has just published her second book of knitting patterns. This one she did in conjunction with the yarn company Quince & Co.

It's called Knit With Me - a mother and daughter collection. You can read all about it HERE.

The idea, in brief, is that all the patterns are ones that could be knit in adult and children's sizes, mixed and matched, hopefully projects that a mother and daughter could work on together.

The photo shoot happened at a friend's awesome, rambling New England farmstead, and features family friends as models. It's lovely, and it would make a great present! As would Gudrun's first book, The Shetland Trader.

The Spider Dream Vanquished!

So, you may have read about earlier mentions of my son's battles with a very unpleasant spider dream. Alone in a house full of spiders. Trapped. They're attacking from all sides... That sort of thing.

Sage has been having really troubled nights. We all have. We tried suggesting that he get active in the dream. Swing up that Nerf Gun and start blasting. A flamethrower? Sure. Bring it on. Take care of business. Sage was a bit incensed about these suggestions. He just wasn't sure I was taking him seriously. I was, but...

For a couple of weeks, nothing worked. And then, a breakthrough.

Apparently, last night, for the first time, he realized he was in the dream while it was happening. He knew. He just had to figure out what to do. I'm both proud and troubled by what he came up with.

He used to be alone, right? Not this time. This time, he turns around and grabs... me. Dear ole dad. Unceremoniously, he shoves me toward the swarming spiders. Then he runs. He doesn't watch what happens. He just gets out of there. As he runs he breaks through the dreamwall and wakes up.

As glad as I am that he thinks he has the dream beat... I'm of mixed feelings on his method.

Any thoughts? Should I be troubled?

Too Early...

I don’t know why this strikes me as so funny, but it does.

The other day, when my daughter came downstairs for school - at a pitch black 5:45am - she thought that I was sitting in front of our woodstove stoking up a little fire to take the chill off. Reasonable enough. I had just done that very thing. But she only saw “me” out of the corner of my eye.

In fact, I was on the other side of a partition, in the kitchen. She walked half way across the room when she gasped. A moment later, she rounded the corner, holding her hand to her heart, looking shaken but amused. Apparently, she’d had one of those bizarre early morning moments when, finally looking at “me” she saw this:

It was Saba standing, as he likes too, right beside the stove. For Maya, though, it was one of those funky moments when reality bends.

She was like, “Oh no, dad what happened to you?” Just for a moment...

I was a dog.

Summer in the Red Shack

Can I just mention that today looks to be a perfect summer day here in Western Massachusetts?

Low 80's. Low humidity. Sun all day. We've got friends coming over, and it's to be a day of swimming, kayaking, lounging about, snacking on early summer veg and maybe a little something on the grill.

G&T's will probably get in there somewhere.

Should be a very good day.

 This photo is the view from the one room shack/cottage we're staying in at the moment. If you're at all interested, you could visit my wife's site - The Shetland Trader - where she's just put up a few more photos of our current abode.

Something Remembered

In the process of ordering a birthday present for a certain young man (keep that quiet, though) I recalled something.

It's from a few years back. Sage had fallen in love with Naomi Novik's Temeraire books from listening to the first couple on audio. Later, he picked up a copy of the third book at the library, anxious to read it himself. He got home and dashed up to his room, book in hand, ready for some dragon action.

Time passes.

I go up to his room at some point, and find him in bed, red-faced and teary. Crying.

It took me a little while to get out of him what was wrong. It was that he couldn't yet read the book himself. The sentences were too long, vocabulary above his reading level, words too small on the massmarket pages.

Much hugs ensued. My boy, brought to tears because a book he so wanted to read was, at that point, hard for him.

I've been there too. Haven't we all?

I don't mind saying that he chews through big books now with nary a tear. Times change. Kids grow.

Zombie Academy

My daughter, Maya, recently had a school project that involved coming up with a story board for a short film. It was supposed to be something that all the students in her class could be in.

After a little back and forth, we came up with a zombie story. Maya put her artistic skills to work, and before long she had what I think is a tight little film sketched out.

Now, the idea was that all the students would show their story boards, and then they'd vote on the one they wanted to actually film. Problem is that Maya finished hers on time. Others took a few extra weeks. And then today, when it was time to show the story boards, Maya couldn't find hers.

Typical.

She had to describe it instead. Needless to say, that put her project at a disadvantage. A different one got chosen for filming.

Frustrated and yet proud parent that I am, I'd like to offer her story here, for your consideration. It's called Zomberfeldy Academy.

Take a look, and let me know what you think!

First Day At School

Strangely Empty Hallways

Mr. Grave's Classroom

Her first view of her Classmates

When they turn around...

Fear!

She bolts out of there.

Heads for the loo.

Contemplates her options.

Gets light bulb.

Film and music montage.

Her triumphant return to the classroom.

Spooky Girl

Today, a post showcasing my daughter's continued growth as an artist.

She's recently begun taking an online art course with Juliette Crane. I met Juliette a few years back, and I've admired her artwork ever since. As Maya was needing a challenge with her work, we thought Juliette's course "How to Paint a Girl" might do the trick.

So far, it's been lovely. Even has Gudrun and Sage inspired to try their hand at it. Maya's the star, though. She's caught on wonderfully to painting, to layering, to making use of mixed media. Photos don't quite do her girls justice - since there's so much texture and fabric at play also - but here's a glimpse:

Spooky Girl

Cat Girl

The girl's got talent...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, folks! I hope it's a great one for you. We had a lovely New Year's Eve here at Upper Park. Had some friends over for a couple of days. Lots of laughs, MarioKart, wine and great food. We set off fireworks, and watched other ones erupt from a few different spots on the surrounding hills. Resolutions were made. Some will be kept. As ever.

These Last Few Days

Had a lovely few festive days recently. Very Scottish.

It began on Christmas Eve, when the family headed out to see the traditional "panto" at the Pitlochry Festival Theater. This time they did Sleeping Beauty. Very silly version, lots of audience participation and laughs, a disco time travel thing...

The best part, though, was that my daughter, Maya, had a role in it! She's not in the photo above, but she was one of the faeries. Speaking lines and everything! She's doing quite a few performances over the holidays, and she's loving it. I have to admit being really impressed with her performance. Also... well, it's a really Scottish show. By Scots, for Scots, filled with Scottish humor and accents. And my daughter held her own there, one of the locals at the moment. That was fun to watch.

On Christmas day we did the usual present thing, and then took a windy walk in the shifting, dramatic Scottish weather. The sky was filled with drama, high clouds, low sunlight, rain to one side, wind everywhere, a bit of snow on the mountains, and... (I'm not kidding) several rainbows. Really lovely. Later it was great food and some Glenrothes single malt, Settlers of Catan and then the animated film The Illusionist. Good stuff all.

In whatever way you're spending these last few days, I hope you're having a lovely time and are looking toward the new year with enthusiasm and optimism!

Colors, Colours...

My daughter, Maya, every now and then gives us little glimpses of her life outside of our house. Tonight she mentioned that the kids in her school - the Breadalbane Academy in Aberfeldy, Scotland - don't know much about America. (Weird that, considering... um, what's on tv over here.)

Apparently, she mentioned that she lived in California for a while. True enough. It got her a barrage of questions.

Question: "Were you in a gang?"

Answer: "A gang? No."

Question: "Did you have a gun?"

Answer: "What? No!"

Question: "Did your dad have a gun?..."

It went on like that for a while. By the end of it, I doubt any of them believed she actually lived in Cali at all...

Wintery Upper Park

After a mild and very wet autumn, we've just had the weather turn wintery here at Upper Park...

Sure, it's pretty, but we live up a 1/2 mile track - mostly uphill (or downhill, as the case may be). We've had to park the car at the bottom of the track and hike it in and out. Here are the kids heading off to school.

Apparently, Maya's not loving it...

Some pics from a trip we did up to Rattray Head on the Northeast coast of Scotland a little while back. It's supposed to be the sunniest spot in Scotland, and during our stay there it lived up to that. We stayed in a hostel made from converted buildings from the lighthouse. Had the place to ourselves and exploded throughout it!

Saba was welcomed with a dog bed, biscuits and food dishes. He was much pleased. He was even more thrilled when he got a view of the sand dunes. Here he is positively hovering with joy...

 

Stretching his legs...

Us acting silly...

An old shipwreck...

And a bridge we crossed over on the way home...

Saba Portrait

Maya (age 12) has taken to doing realistic drawings in the evenings. She came up with this one the other day, a portrait of a sleeping Saba:

Pretty cool, huh?