June update

I realize I've been slacking a bit lately - it's a combination of getting used to this new format, remembering I even have a blog, really. Please excuse me during this transitional period. I promise great, or at least semi-great, things ahead. In the meantime, a brief update.

  • A new brood of baby bluebirds are thriving in our backyard. J got a picture yesterday which I hestitate to post here, because a) I'm (as mentioned above) still getting used to this new blog and how to use it and b) they are pretty ugly. We'll post a pic when they get a little nicer looking. Of course, not sure when that will happen as J was nearly attacked by the father bird yesterday when he went to snap the shot. Hey birds, we're keeping live worms in the fridge for your enjoyment. We get to take pictures of your day-old infants.
  • I'm going on about two weeks without a cell phone and am beginning to feel a bit like a caveman, or person from the 1980s. Today I heard some little old woman showing her new cell off to Josephine - its sounds, its features - and I nearly lept up and grabbed it from her, just so I could write one text. Just one, short, pointless text...Luckily, the insurance carrier (that's right, I have insurance on my cell phone due to my cell phone history) has sent a new phone and I should be receiving it shortly. When I do, I should probably put it in a bulletproof sachel and lock in in some sort of iron lockbox, but instead I'll probably throw it around my¬†car after making seven or eight calls while driving down the highway and then drop¬†it in the toilet.
  • While at the Bay this weekend, J and my father decided that the newly renovated rooms needed names, and J promptly decided that the loft area, which will be used as a library of sorts, should be called the "Kuralt" room. My father got very excited about this and immediately started referring to is as such, like, "We need a computer for the Kuralt Room." For those of you who aren't aware of my family's twisted¬†relationship with the man, he's referring to the late, great journalist Charles Kuralt, whom my father adores. Later, when we were talking about what kind of art we could put in the room, my mother mentioned that, in addition to pictures of Kuralt, we might want to put up some pictures of his second family.
  • It is finally, after a week or so of pounding rain, summer - hot, oppressive summer - here in North Carolina,¬†the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup, and in the jungle that is the front yard of our tiny, cinderblock cottage, flowers¬†are blooming, and we even¬†spotted a couple adorable chipmunks last week, that Mina definitely wanted to eat, or at least carry around in her mouth. Although I know it's just a sign of the season and, of course, won't last forever, everyone on the streets of Chapel Hill seems undeniably happy and it's a wonderful thing to observe.

Guess what? That's too many exclamation points.

My old friend Sarah recently contacted via email to tell me she'd just gone through some old boxes and found many letters I'd written to her when we were both precious girls of 12 and 13. And for me, by "precious" I mean: Had huge pink, plastic-framed glasses and very stylish (very stylish), fluffy hair. I just got the letters in the mail and read them this morning over a large cup of coffee. I decided to post one here for your enjoyment, and depending on the response, maybe more. This particular gem was written during a family vacation. I could edit and change spelling errors, but I won't allow myself, I've decided. You need to see it in its honest, complete form. It's a good thing the incident I describe didn't happen after I reached adulthood, because apparently I was a lot braver as a kid. Now, I'd be scouring the airplane, looking for some Xanax, I'm pretty sure. But can you say "neurotic flyer in the making?" Jesus.

I really think this is an excellent indication that I'd grow up to be a writer. Especially the parts where I talk about breakfast. Seriously, the breakfast stuff is borderline pornographic.  

July 15, 1991

Dear Sarah,

Hey! Well, here I am about 30,000 feet in the air. If you guessed I'm on a plane, you're right! Good guess! Do you like this paper? There was this lady who had it and it was the only paper I could get so I took it.

Guess what happened? See we boarded the plane at 7:10 and it left and all and then it had a problem so we had to go back to the airport! After about 30 minutes we had to go back! Now we're on this plane and everything's going fine. It's not broken, like the other one. The other plane had like a broken nose gear or something. You couldn't tell that but you could tell that something was wrong. See, the plane kept on turning and we weren't very high off the ground. I'll have to admit, I was scared. But now everything is perfectly fine! I like this plane a lot more than the other one. This one feels more secure or something.

I'm sitting on a window seat. It's a great view. I love it when we go by a pool. It looks so blue and tiny from up here.

Hey breakfast is coming! Great, I absolutely love airplane meals (sike!)

This plane is only going to St. Louis. Then we'll take a plane from St. Louis to Arizona. We're going to see the Grand Canyon there and then on Thursday we're going to take a plane from Arizona to California.

This is a great plane ride! No turbulants or anything! It's perfectly calm.

I want breakfast! I'm hungry! Oh, hey, the pilot just made an announcement that we "just leveled at 35,000 feet. And also, we're going over the Mississippi." That's a nice change to hear instead of hearing "there's a problem with the nose gear. We'll get back to you after we find more out about this problem. Thanks!" That's not exactly something you want to hear when you're on a plane!

I'm sitting next to my brother. On the other plane we couldn't sit next to each other so I guess something good did come out of switching planes.

Oh, hey, breakfast isn't here. It's just drinks and stuff. Or maybe it is breakfast. I don't know! I can't tell from here.

You know what! Me and Vinnie don't know where our parents are! My mom and dad are somewhere on this plane, but we have no idea where. Oh well! Just as long as they're on the plane!

Ooooh, it is breakfast, and I'm about to get it! Hey it looks good! I'm gonna eat it and then I'll get back to you!

I ate breakfast! It was good. Really - I mean I'm not lying. Well, I've explained everything to you, so I'd better go. I'll write to you from Arizona and California. I miss you!

Love,

Cara