Sunday, November 28, 2010

2009–2010

Busy year. Since finding out on Thanksgiving Day 2009 that we were going to have a baby, here's a rough timeline.

And then on July 31st the bean was born:

hello, world

Friday, November 26, 2010

Busy Year

Thanksgiving Day 2009:

Thanksgiving Day, 2009
Thanksgiving Day 2010:
Lux

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bean Recap

Now I'm done with the five days of Derbyshire posts and gathered all the photos together it's time for a quick Bean recap. So here we go.

Bean
Bean Day 112
Bean
Bean
Bean Day 113
Lux
Tasty Giraffe
Bean

Monday, November 22, 2010

Foggy last day

Day five in Derbyshire was foggy: a thick drippy low cloud was spread over Great Longstone. These trees from the day before were now these trees:

Trees

My sister Zoë came over and we went for a walk around the village. It was bright but super-misty:

Fence
Fog condensing on the wires of the fence:
Drips
Berries in the fog:
Berries
Wendy and Zoë inexplicably matchy-matchy:
Zoe and Wendy
Gravestones in the fog:
Gravestones

The rest of the photos are on Flickr.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Unfamiliar Frost

Day four in Derbyshire we woke up to a light fog and a thick frost. San Francisco gets one used to the former but not so much the latter. I popped out and managed to take a few photos before either had cleared. This is the gate at the bottom of my parents' drive:

Frosty Gate
the wall:
Wall
and the field beyond, with cows belonging to the couple who live across the road:
Cows in the Mist

Later on, on a walk above Grindleford, you could see the fog sitting in the Hope Valley below:

Cloudy Dale
although where we were it was as bright and clear as can be:
Tracks
and apparently very pleasant weather for sheep:
Sheep

A few more photos from the day are on Flickr.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Fall Nostalgia

My parents live in Derbyshire, about 15 miles from the city of Sheffield where I grew up. My sister now lives with her family in Sheffield, and on day three in the UK we visited her, introducing Lux to her two sons (Lux's cousins) Tate and Gil.
While there we all dropped in on Endcliffe Park and fed the ducks in the pond... the same pond where I used to feed the ducks (different ducks, presumably) thirty years ago. The experience, as well as the feel of the season, was powerful. I've been in this park many a November and it was just the same. Autumn leaves were mushy underfoot, the air was wet and cold, the sky was overcast and the sun had barely made it over the horizon.
And yet, and yet! British hardiness prevails: witness this dusk picnic in the mud, with the lone forlorn child in the background:
Muddy Picnic

I took a handful of photos, of which some highlights below. Zoë and Lux:
Zoe and Lux
Zoë and Brian:
Zoe and Brian
Wendy in the park:
Wendy
Tate in the park:
Tate

Friday, November 19, 2010

Derbyshire Day Two

The second day in Derbyshire we took a walk along the Monsal Trail, a staple of staying with my folks. The path's along a disused railway line which was built in 1863 and decommissioned a hundred years later—nowadays it's a flat graveled track about eight miles long, open to cyclists and walkers. It passes half a mile or so from my parents' house and is the shortest route to Bakewell (population 4,000), about three miles away and the nearest town.

We took the trail to Hassop Station and walked back again. Some photos from the way:

To Bakewell
Trees
Sheep

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Transatlantic Bean

Wendy and I just got back from taking The Bean to meet the English side of the family in Derbyshire, UK. It was her first time flying across the ocean.

Within a day of arriving Lux had been on a walk in the wonderful Peak District countryside, reunited with my mother, and met my sister, brother and father.

Sue and Lux:

Sue and Bean

Field:

Tree

Dave and Lux:

Dave Walking Bean

Wendy:

Wendy

Jak and Lux:

Jak and Lux

Church:

Church

Zoë and Lux:

Zoe and Lux

Full set of photos on Flickr.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Hallowe'en Bean

The English Hallowe'en tradition is that kids dress up as something scary: a ghost or a vampire or a zombie or a monster. In the US the tradition is that everyone dresses up as anything. It's a like a fancy-dress free-for-all: a car air freshener, the fail whale, a chick magnet... anything at all, it seems. Trick-or-treating is roughly the same both sides of the Atlantic, although the solid expectation over here is treat rather than trick.

On Sunday we went to a Hallowe'en party in Marin. Wendy and I intended to dress up but didn't quite make it (our costumes stayed in the car). Lux, though, went as a woolly lamb. The hood of her top had ears on it, but you can't see them in the best shot I have. I'm not sure what she made of the whole thing.

Hallowe'en Bean

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Luchador

I considered being a Luchador for hallowe'en. This one's another from the Saturday morning walk with Lux, and it gave me the idea.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1144/5130583520_a3de86a026.jpg
I wasn't a Luchador for hallowe'en.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Perpendicular Parking

The chaos last night became pretty intense and this is what we woke up to this morning:

ridqu.jpg
Seriously, that dip in the curb is our driveway. I did a double take when leaving the house to go to work this morning.

Here's one more from the walk at the weekend. 19th & Valencia on a wet Sunday morning, peaceful and un-rioty:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/5129978989_79be162466.jpg

Monday, November 01, 2010

World Series

I like taking these polaroid-style photos. The no-cropping no-rotating constraint makes you think harder. Here I messed up the horizontal (I nailed the wrong lines: the yellow ones) but I like it enough to post anyway.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/5129982003_4c31d04129.jpg

Tonight the SF Giants beat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. San Francisco's gone crazy. Our neighbors have a sound system out on the street as well as an open fire, several armchairs and a television. Everyone who passes honks their horn, including the police and fire trucks.

@thebeean is going all kinds of nuts.