a quick visit to the grand canyon

we visited the grand canyon on sunday. i hadn't been there since the mid-90s and husband had never been. sabin had driven up with a friend last year. we didn't have time do an actual hike, so we just visited several observation points and even had a picnic that we'd brought along at grandview point, which was our favorite of the spots we stopped.

it was so much fun, watching husband's face as he gazed upon the grandeur of the canyon for the first time. i got goosebumps watching him take it in. and i felt a little envious of him for that first time experience. though it had been so long since i'd been there that it almost felt new again. and it's so awe-inspiring that it cannot fail to impress.

we are already planning to have a longer trip, one where we get to camp(!) and do some hiking. it's a place that warrants further exploration, for sure!
 

checking in

whoa! where did a whole week go?  i've been flying and visiting (and talking politics) and visiting (and drinking gin) some more and laughing and baking in 107°F/41°C temperatures.

we got to spend a little bit of time at the farm on st. mathias, near brainerd, minnesota. they were holding a celtic festival last saturday. the fabulous lisa of lil fish studios was demonstrating needle felting at the event, which also featured sheep-shearing, spinning, irish music, a guy who was forging swords (the vikings could totally have taken those celts) and wonderful organic, locally-produced food. it was so inspiring. i definitely want to stage a viking version at our place one day.

we also fell in love with a kitten and may have brought her home and are getting the health papers and ticket arranged so we can take her home to denmark. we can't seem to find the right name for her. every name we suggest, she shakes her head and vetoes it. if any names come to mind, please do let me know in the comments.  she's absolutely adorable.

lisa demonstrated how to make her little sheep and you can buy a kit and make your own if you'd like one. i got to help her pack the kits, so i can vouch for how awesome they are! they come with everything you need - wool, beads for eyes and felting needles and all!

and now we're off to go find a cool spot at the river. hope you're all having a fabulous summer.

travel and driving and thinking and antiquing

we drove for eight hours today along stretches of not-very-busy interstate highways. and tho' we had three kids in the backseat, they were pretty content with iPhones, a DVD player and a nintendo DS or two, so it wasn't a bad trip, aside from the begging to stop at all of the snack villages (courtesy of my youngest nephew, our family name for those well-stocked truckstops). but there were quiet moments and they enabled a lot of thinking and some crocheting (when it wasn't my turn to drive).

i can feel on this trip that i was in need of the change of scenery that travel brings - new impulses, new impressions, new thoughts. it just realigns you in a way that staying at home can't do (even if you've just moved, apparently). all of the new input brings fresh inspiration and new configurations in the way you think about things.

there's something about being on the prairie that makes me feel nostalgic. it's partially going back home (which will be covered in another post), it's partially telling stories to sabin, and partially the purposeful nostalgia that is wandering around antique shops, plus a little bit of laura ingalls wilder. it's the winds blowing summer grass and seeing as far as your eyes will allow and the golden light of a prairie sunset.

so during those moments in the car when i had time to think, i found myself mulling over the textiles i had seen in the antique shop, the care that had gone into the stitches and the care that had gone into displaying them - they were washed and bright and charmingly displayed. little bits and pieces of lives gone before, lives lived on these prairies - handmade lives. pieces of a time both gone by and one which we find ourselves yearning for to the point where we scribble notes about them in the notes app on our iPhones. so i was thinking of how to marry that nostalgia with the present. how to live with a foot in both worlds. and whether it's even possible....

a sparkling good time

the weather is completely glorious - low humidity, perfect temperatures in the upper 70s, low 80s (mid to upper 20s for you, my european peeps), sunshine, fluffy white clouds in blue skies. visits with old friends and new friends, baseball games, hours spent in a bookstore, hitting a gap outlet, getting to know our iPad (fabulous, i tell you), good food, loads of fresh fruit that's perfectly in season, loads of laughter and sparklers. what more could one ask of their holiday?

the potato holiday

no real posts 'til sunday when we get home. we're on the kartoffelferie - potato holiday - the traditional autumn holiday that kids in denmark get from school because once upon a time they had to help gather the potato crop. now they don't do that so much, they get dragged around from one cultural experience to the next. today, i landed from istanbul and we headed off immediately for the wilds of jutland (that bit of denmark that's attached to germany). the ceramics exhibition at koldinghus was actually pretty cool. fantastic exhibition space that does that ultimate danish thing...combining old and new in a fresh, new way. tomorrow, the west coast.

and if i haven't been by to visit you lately, please forgive me. i'm on deadline at work and trying to sell the house and go to istanbul and then be on holiday and all.....but i haven't forgotten you and i'll be by soon!

in the meantime, another shot of the amazing light and the amazing space at koldinghus...