The Smell of Summer

If I ever needed proof that memories are tied to smells, I don't anymore. Put on sunscreen for the first time this year (no, I don't wear sunscreen in the winter, even though the snow reflects; I would if I went skiing) and immediately felt happy. Totally relaxed and calm. Serene. Blissful.

It took me about 5 seconds to realize that I don't just really, really love the smell of my sunblock. It smelled like summer. More specifically, it smelled like swimming.

The only sad thing about moving to Portland is that I won't be swimming much this summer. I'm going to miss having the river right down the street.

PS--That's the first dandelion of spring. Can't wait until there are fields full of them.

Sanna Sanna Ho

Posted a bit over on the family food blog about my delicious Easter.

Spring peepers!!!!!

Definitely one of my favorite sounds.

Notable First Sentences: The Hobbit

by J.R.R. Tolkien

"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

Spring!

Saw these on Thursday:

The Return of the Sleep Quilt

The plan:
Note: the original pattern included time spent baking bread (green striped), which was later removed for simplicity's sake.

When I left my mother's house in May 2008, I had cut out all the pieces and finished about 1/4 of the sewing.
I want to finish it before I graduate.

Mercedes the Millipede

Today we got to hold Mercedes in zoology lab. She is in the genus Archispirostreptus (I think that is the right species as well).It felt a bit like being walked on by a toothbrush.