…in a travel seat! Hard to say goodbye to Nana and Grandpa and the Newman Lake retreat. Incredible thanks for their heroic hosting of us. We ate like kings and every day was as if Thanksgiving! We slept like princes and princesses under our down comforters and mohair blankets! We were kept warm with roaring fires! Our fortress and castle was continually being shored up around and under us! Our hearts were exercised in soulful ways! We had a very special two weeks. We will most assuredly remember this October fondly for years to come. Thank you Lynn and Duane!

Here we are now trekking back across the state into the eye of the storm. Slowly and surely. Daddy, here we come!

Lake is usually up for an adventure involving a walk. And we’ve been having fun walking around in the surroundings’ Eastern Washington Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine, forest. The air has such a fresh fragrant aroma! There are also birch and alder in the upper wetlands at our end of the lake. We love the trees!

Today is stormy typhoon rainy, but the last two days were the opposite with warm days and freezing ights. They had been super sunny clear days with brilliant blue skies and geese taking flight in v-formation. We had walked down the way to the end of the lake through the neighboring McKenzie Nature Conservancy again. We love it in here. We ended up at the old apple orchard by the lake. More cool trees! We picked a few apples by reaching on tippy toes and climbing up into the lower branches. Taking a sample I paused to appreciate our youngest traveling companion. 

He is a sweet and amicable little fellow. So kind, thoughtful and easy going. In spite of not having vocabulary, he’s nonetheless a clear and honest communicator. Lake has quickly become the apple of my eye. I’m not the only one either. His grandparents are not immune to his charms and are incredibly devoted to him as well. 

Last night the rain stormed down in torrents. It was reminiscent of one year ago exactly. Our wedding day. Which, for good measure hosted a monsoon amount of rain. We had wanted a simple outdoor wedding but having seen rain on the forecast, chose an outdoor shelter for the ceremony. Boy, did we luck out! Our romantic enclave in the rose garden gazebo at Woodland Park Zoo sheltered us perfectly while rain streamed down around us in every direction. They say a wedding in the rain blesses the union and makes for a happy marriage. This appears to be so for us. We are very happy!

Embarking on our journey together has been nothing short of brilliant! It’s been a truly remarkable year. Lake is a gem; a phenomenal complement to our small cast of characters. 

So far our experience with water has been an overall fail. Baths, not so much. So we do the sponge bath version. Swimming, nope. He could do without. Today, we went boating. Out in the “barge” rowboat. Not a great time, really. Naw, Lake is more of a shore man. Just think of him as Lakeshore Odin. He prefers to sit on the beach and watch grandpa’s fire. For the time being, anyways. I guess he is only four months old. He’s still got time. 

We have been eating well all week. Fresh, local, organic. On Wednesday we headed over to Carver Farms, or simply “Carver’s” as we commonly refer to the area’s longtime U-pick local farm.

We were upholding a longstanding tradition of u-picking corn and beans, berries and other veggies all summer long and into the late autumn. The weather of late has been tempestuous, and this day was no exception, bringing us sun and rain by turns. The clouds were dramatic. Yes, we saw another rainbow in the sky, but the real rainbow came in the form of all the colorfully diverse produce we gleaned from the fields.

First there was the red.

Lake and I found a few dozen raspberries hanging on the canes and ate them so-fort. I think Lake appreciated the berries most of all. He was having a generally merry visit, cooing as we walked along the fields, but showed particular interest for the red raspberries. Hold on there, Lake! Enjoy the description, colors, fragrance, shapes and feeling for now. Taste will come in time… It’s my duty to introduce him to all the different culinary pleasures and we have begun with the concept of eating with our eyes, not just our mouths.

“Make vegetables a child’s first food”, Pamela Druckerman writes in Bringing up Bébé. In contrast I’m alarmed by the well meaning mothers (and mothers-in-laws) excitedly plotting to introduce ice cream to their infants (or Lake) before they are even a full six months. Think spinach! and your babe as a mini Popeye. Nutrient dense over calorie dense matters from a young age. My job is to introduce nuances of taste and texture to his palate, assiduously!

Ok, little gourmet! Onward we go with our Carver Farms tour: walking and picking and sampling. Then there was the orange. Orange pumpkins and squash and gourds.We got some gourds for seasonal decor because there were so many interesting shapes and spooky varieties. And two big Hubbard squash because, yum… squash soup!

We take a break to wander through the maze of maize. It’s taller than Lake is! The dry stalks and leaves brush against him, providing the full-on sensory experience. We continue with our food immersion tour… They even have a field of popcorn corn here!

Then green tomatoes. Tomatoes as far as the eye could see. The real stars of the show for me were actually the ripe tomatoes. I ate four in the field and then picked several bags at $0.99/lb each. They were just lying sprawled out in the field. Fields and fields of them. It was challenging to walk through without stepping on the vines, much less squash the tomatoes. Heavy, ripe, juicy and delicious. Next time I’m bringing salt with me!

Blue kale. Well, kale that looks blue. Carver’s wasn’t sure what the variety was. They hadn’t advertised it and therefore threw in the bagful I’d picked for free. I’m looking forward to making some hearty kale salads and tossing it into my squash soup. Kale is a superfood! And so handsome, too!

And last but not least we had the aubergine: purple eggplant. So pretty! The Carvers said the eggplants and peppers didn’t grow very big this year, so extra accolades to my friend Katie for getting her eggplants to grow at all in Bellingham (USDA  Zone 8a vs 6b)! Well, I ould use some help here: I love eggplant dishes. I’m often ordering eggplant entrees when we are out at Thai or other restaurants. However, neither Nana nor I feel very confident with our egplant culinary skills… So if you have a good recipe or secret for cooking, please share!

Lake had his eyes wide open the whole time, taking it all in… He’s psyched about all this rainbow of produce. He’s the ultimate locovore, keeping it very local!

This evening nature created quite a show. It had been really rainy this afternoon, and when it let up a rainbow appeared. I reflected on the riches of the lake and on being here with Lake and my parents: the penultimate gift of spending time with my family. 

The lake is incredibly still and quiet after a rain subsides and the summers’ amusements have officially passed. The setting resonates as wilderness at this time of year. It’s quite a treat to be sitting by the fire my dad built taking in the lakeside attractions: fire, clouds, lighting. I remarked that it feels like we are camping, to be out here at the lake this time of year, in October, the end of the season. Then because we have a snug cozy cabin and endless warm fires kept up in the hearth by my parents I further elaborated 

Glamping!

And grandpa made the addendum 

Gramping!

Ha! We think that’s pretty right on! We’ve found the pot of gold right here. Grampfire lakeside!

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While Grandpa held Lake, Nana and I lept into the red canoe and snuck in a paddle out into the misty dusk. The sliver of a new moon was just rising over the hillside behind us, and again the mist was rising up off the water all around us. It was enchanting. We breathed in the fresh air and the fading light and then turned and paddled back to our family’s cozy nest, our own pot of gold. 

We woke up feeling well to sunrise over the hill and mist rolling off the lake. From there the day just unfurled like a good dream, truly beautiful and peaceful. We are enjoying our good health, our good weather, and our good society. 

The day opened with loud thunder and my tummy echoed the ominous rumbling. The ensuing two days and one long night foretold a tale of great intestinal distress. I guess you haven’t really been a parent until you’ve been breastfeeding on one side and vomiting over the other. Luckily my parents didn’t mind getting up at 3 am as well, taking over Lake care and stoking up the fire, while I was completely out of commission. 

Today I was trying to balance my desire to eat with the likely retaliation of my gut later on. It’s hard because I’m hungry and I also need to keep on providing Lake his meals. So after being sick all day yesterday and not eating anything I was feeling literally depleted by dinnertime. My appetite encouraged me as I tucked into a fine meal of Dover sole, baked sweet potato wedges, polenta with salsa and green salad. I took a double portion of everything. The night was one of recompense. So today I didn’t eat really tried to stick to the BRAT diet, a few Banana slices, Rice and chicken soup, Apple slices and Toast, well toasted rice tortillas. It required exercising much restraint not to have the second bowl of chicken and rice soup. But if my body’s not ready, it’s not pleasant. 

I’m hoping that the night will be uneventful and tomorrow the tummy thunder will have passed. 

We have this tradition in our family, and like many family traditions I suppose, no one is sure where or why or how it originated. We love it though; it’s like a game. The good luck game. The challenge is this: the first day of every month, the very first thing you say out loud to start off your day is 

Rabbit! Rabbit!

And the very first thing someone says by way of response is 

Rabbit! Rabbit!

And if you remember in time so that the very first thing you say out loud on that first day of that month is

Rabbit! Rabbit!

**then you can enjoy good luck all month!**

It’s twelve chances per annum to have a full lucky month. We make it fun in my family and my brother and I especially try to remember very early in the day to text each other different double rabbit icons to help each other maybe remember in time too!  It’s hard to believe how difficult it can be to remember to have 

Rabbit! Rabbit!

be the first thing spoken aloud in the morning. So many other words or thoughts or phrases can edge in ahead of

Rabbit! Rabbit!

without even intending to stray off topic. 

Good morning honey!

Bye honey!

Ow!

What time is it?

What time are you leaving for work?

Oh, the sun’s out!

What time is it?

Is that Lake?

Argh, mmumff, what time is it?

Will you be an angel and make me a coffee?

Yipes! Rabbit! Rabbit!

Today the day broke with thunder and I heralded the morning with no one around to hear. But I remembered in time and sung the rabbit praises. What a cause for celebration! We’ve missed it the past few months. Lake has managed to garner all my waking thoughts and words. I’m feeling so blessed to have the good graces on October, now. And we could really use it as our house hunting continues! Meanwhile Nana and I had a glorious little walk down the peninsula with Lake and some autumn color. Great way to start the lucky month of October!

Rabbit! Rabbit!