Sylvia, Reese & Co.

It’s probably been about two-and-a-half years since Darcie and I had an entire day to ourselves. We often get a morning or an evening thanks to the grandparents, but ultimately our days are shaped by the desires and needs of a toddler and the responsibilities of work (if you include Darcie’s apprenticeship, one of us has worked every day of the week for the past year or so).

Sunday was different. Sylvia is in Jackson, and Darcie is no longer teaching her Sunday yoga class, so we had the day entirely to ourselves. It was amazing what all we packed into a single day:

1. Picked Darcie up from the airport
2. Ate breakfast at Bennison’s
3. Rode bikes to our garden and tended the garden
4. Rode bikes to the beach where we swam and sunned
5. Rode bikes to Al’s Deli and ate lunch
6. Took a long bike ride along the lakefront
7. Went to the movies (Away We Go)
8. Went to the Evanston art fair
9. Grabbed a coffee
10. Strolled through the rose garden
11. Went out to dinner in Lincoln Square
12. Watched some TV
13. Read a little

On a normal Sunday, we would have been able to accomplish two, maybe three of those things. I’ll be glad to see Sylvia on Thursday night, but it was fun having a day like that. Thanks, grandparents!

Darcie relaxes by the lake

Chris enjoys doing nothing

The rose garden in bloom

Darcie's shirt matches the roses

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After tanning on the beach in Gulf Shores at the Price family reunion for a few days, we headed to Fairhope/Point Clear to stay with Dede and Papa. Sylvia loved the pool at the Grand Hotel which is probably the most kid-friendly pool I’ve ever been in. She also became mildly obsessed with a ‘marching band’ which consisted of four or five high-school kids playing drums and brass. The band circled the pool everyday at 4 PM and led guests to a cannon which was fired after a brief lecture on the hotel’s place in military history. Sylvia was much less affected by the loud blast than we anticipated. In fact, she was much less affected than her mother.

Other highlights of the visit included golf lessons from Papa who presented Sylvia with her very first set of golf clubs. A highlight for Darcie and myself was an anniversary dinner (7 years) at the Grand Dining Room.

Here are a few photos:

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Last night I had the first meal from our garden. It was just a salad, but it was good. Sorry for the iPhone-quality pic. It’s about four different kinds of lettuce from the garden with a few store-bought things: sunflower seeds, olives, roasted red peppers, and a miso salad dressing. We have so much lettuce, I think we’ll be having salads with every meal for the rest of the summer.

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I’ve just returned from my Southern coastal travels. Darcie, Sylvia, and I first went to Gulf Shores Alabama for the Price family reunion. Next we headed over to Fairhope, Alabama to spend some time with Dede and Papa by the Grand Hotel. It was great seeing so much family and spending a few days in the sun and water. I returned to Chicago to find 90 degree weather (and a non-functioning air conditioner in our condo) so the heat has followed me home.

Here are some photos from Gulf Shores.

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Today while I was waiting for the coffee to brew I took some time to admire Sylvia’s latest painting. It’s a nice piece with circles of red, orange, green, and a dark gray-purple. Then something occurred to me: it looked similar to a painting by Papa which hangs above her easel.

The whole set up

Sylvia's work 'Tomatoes on a Table'

Papa's work 'Tomatoes in the Kitchen'

Does anyone else see the similarity? Don’t you see the tomotoes?

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I went to the garden to do some weeding and watering yesterday before heading to MS/AL. The garden has come a long way in two weeks. It looks a little ramshackle and the weeds made a pretty strong showing, but for our first bed it seems we might have a decent harvest.

Carrots

Beets

Lettuces and Peppers

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I walked in the door last night about 11PM. Home at last.

I do have to make one final post about the trip to China, though. Yesterday morning before heading to the airport, Stefani, Jim, and I visited the Olympic Park in Beijing. We were able to go onto the field in the Bird’s Nest. It was a pretty exciting experience to see the stadium in general, but to see it from the field was just awesome.

Birds Nest

The Wall of the Bird's Nest

View from the seats

Self Portrait

Posing in front of Huanhuan, the Olympic mascot of the 2008 games

Water Cube

'Stay of the Grass' is a little more poetic in Chinese. It reads 'Tender fragrant grass, how hardhearted to trample them'

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In Toronto. Almost there. We’ll be boarding the plane for the final leg of our trip in about an hour.

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Every time I speak with Sylvia I tell her that I get to eat noodles for breakfast. I think it’s a custom she would like America to embrace.

Stefani has posted a great video of the process of making the noodle soup on her blog:

http://web.me.com/stefanifoster/Chinablogs/Trip_12/Entries/2009/6/13_Goodbye_noodles.html

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Tonight we had our last dinner in Dunhuang. It was a nice banquet with the entire Dunhuang Academy digitization team. I’m sorry to say I don’t have any photos. We were so busy talking, toasting, drinking, and eating that I really didn’t pull my camera out.

This trip has been a great experience. On my past trips I was always just one of the many hands who sat off to the side. I worked on the project full time in Chicago for about 3 years, but when I arrived this time many people whom I had met before didn’t remember me. This trip was different. I was part of the team – the broader team, the Dunhuang team. Even though I’ve been here three times now since 2002, I’m considered a ‘new friend’. It’s nice to be a friend even if it did take a couple of years.

Tomorrow we board a plane to Beijing where we will spend one night before heading back to the states. It’s been an amazing trip. The setting is amazing of course, but more enjoyable has been the personal experience of working with, teaching, and getting to know the people here.

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