Normally, snowstorms bypass the Shenandoah Valley, because we’re so well protected by mountain ranges on both sides. Ice storms are a bigger problem here than snow, and the schools close if there’s an inch of snow on the ground.

However: this weekend we had between 22-24 inches of snow. The governor declared a state of emergency, plenty of people have been injured, parts of the interstate were closed, and it’s just been a big dramatic THING. (Those of you who know how much I HATE snow will be pleased to learn that I think this is a very pretty snowstorm, the world looks beautiful, and things are wonderful. Shocking, I know.)

These photos were taken Saturday while it was still snowing:

Here are our cars - there's at least a foot and a half of snow on top of both cars.

The swingset is wearing several hats!

Looking north towards our neighbors

The last time there was a significant snowfall in the valley was 1996, with about 18 inches; apparently the last time there was this much snow was 1908. (And yet, for some reason, several of our neighbors own snowblowers…this seems odd to me.) Friday night there were people in all the grocery stores fighting over toilet paper, bread, and milk (because you can’t get through two or three days at home without 48 rolls of toilet paper? apparently).

Here are the pups playing in the snow – the snowfall is definitely taller than Declan, so they both have to bound through it like jackrabbits. They had an absolute blast playing yesterday.

Anyway, we’re fine, safe, all is well here. We’ve played lots of Scrabble, eaten great snowed-in food, made more jam, and watched every Christmas movie we own. Merry early White Christmas!

As most of you know, my mom is doing much much better. She’s home now, she’s eating really well, she’s on home oxygen, and she’s working really hard to try and do well. A physical therapist and a home nurse come by a couple times a week, and she’s very clear headed, which is fantastic. Without a heart-lung transplant, which isn’t going to happen, she probably only has a few years, but I think they’re going to be fantastic years.

While I was home last weekend, I suggested my parents get a cat, and they loved the idea. So today a tiny little black and white kitten came home with my Dad – they found her on Craigslist. Pictures coming shortly.

So all is well! Thanks for your kind thoughts.

I interrupt the “Returning” series with sad news. My mother was taken to the hospital on Sunday with congestive heart failure. At first we thought that her heart failure could be treated with drugs, if she was willing to make some serious lifestyle choices.

However, yesterday we learned that the damage to her heart and lungs is too severe to be managed by drugs. I don’t know a lot at this point, but we do know she’s not a candidate for a heart-lung transplant, which would be the next logical step.

It’s hard, and it keeps getting harder. But my family is managing, and trying to take care of ourselves while letting our mom know how much we love her. And as always, Greg is taking amazing care of me, I don’t know what I’d do without him. I don’t really know what the next few weeks will bring, but will try and keep you all posted.

Animal harmony continued to increase at home:

Greg and I attended a rainbarrel workshop, and came home with our very own rainbarrel; this lets us capture runoff rainwater from the roof and store it for watering the garden and flower beds. It removes some rainwater from the storm system, which is already overloaded, and it means that we don’t have to pay for water from the hose to keep the plants alive.

We also attended another Nats game on the same day, an evening game, which meant that we didn’t get home until 2am. I’m far too old for that, and we were exhausted for several days afterwards (but the game was great – it was the first time I’d ever seen the Nats win).

I bought a new, much more powerful camera, and spent a lot of time playing with it:

We joined a CSA this year – Community Supported Agriculture. We are members of Radical Roots Farm, in Keezletown, Virginia, and we paid them a chunk of money upfront throughout the winter, and then get big bushel baskets full of vegetables each Monday from June through October. In each basket is a huge pile of whatever is in season and ready to pick that week, and it’s been such an incredible challenge to find ways to use everything (such as the four foot long Chinese cabbage that would not die). It’s completely changed the way I cook, and is an absolutely fantastic way to explore new foods and new ideas. I don’t think either of us has ever eaten this healthily before. I meant to take pictures of the basket each week, and post something about what was in it and how we used it, but that didn’t happen. (See previous post about how nuts my summer was at work.) But here’s one example:

Some silly things: Greg was entranced by a water bottle with a personality.

During construction on the Pear Street – Erickson Avenue corridor, we found this exciting notion:

Yes, the Port-o-Potty is open for business. Thank goodness.

I spent a long weekend in San Diego with Nicole – we worked on her dissertation, we sat by her mom’s beautiful pool, we ate fabulous food.

My flight schedule on the way back was absolutely insane, but the tickets were cheap. I flew from San Diego to Denver, Denver to Kansas City, Kansas City to DC, DC to the Shenandoah Valley. It was a nutty 12 hours of traveling, but the pictures were worth it:

And that was June 2009.

What can I say, it’s been an intense summer.

I’m going to add a post for each month since May, and try and hit the highlights.

We planted the garden:

Added some more flowers:

Baked some pirate cupcakes:

Greg, Dan and I took a lesiurely Sunday drive through Shenandoah National Park:

I even hiked the Appalachian Trail (about four feet of it – and yes, this was WAY before Gov. Sanford “hiked” the “Appalachian Trail”):

Greg spent Memorial Day weekend in Illinois, visiting friends and family. Naturally, I have no photos of that weekend, since I wasn’t there.

The week of May 11-15 was one of the busiest I’ve ever experienced at work – I was coordinating three different events at the same time, at three different locations on campus (things like this are one of the reasons this blog disappeared for a while…). I had the first of two weeks for our military officers, a week of police officers studying internal affairs investigations, and a business growth seminar for 200 people.

May 2009, ladies and gentlemen. June 2009 coming soon.

I so very rarely do these meme things, but:

(stolen from E, previously from The Boastful Baker)

Dan, Sarah and I ventured to the Farmer’s Market Saturday morning – Greg elected to stay home and mow the lawn before it got too hot. We got downtown, and kept finding every street to the heart of downtown blocked off. We tried like eighteen different routes, and couldn’t get there, and were getting more and more confused. So we finally parked and walked into downtown, and discovered that the streets were blocked because of the Sherry Anderson Memorial 5K Walk/Run. Sherry Anderson was killed by a drunk driver while jogging in the early morning in January – so sad and unbelievably horrifying, especially in a small town like this.

After we visited the Farmer’s Market, we went to the Artful Dodger for drinks, and had italian sodas out on the patio.

(Those are my farmer’s market eggs in the corner – I got the last carton of large eggs, and they were so big the carton can’t close around them. I love non-standardized food.)

The bell tower of the Presbyterian church downtown with the pink puffball tree in the foreground – I wish I knew what these trees were, I want one badly.

Anyway, we went to the spring football game, where I got to meet this gorgeous guy:

This is Duke, the University Bulldog. We have a regular human mascot in a fuzzy suit, but there’s also always a real dog, and yes, he’s wearing a JMU football jersey.

The day finished with dinner on the porch and Trivial Pursuit, and it was fantastic.

We’ve had a lovely few weekends, visiting with friends and family and traveling and other good stuff.

Last Sunday, we drove to DC for Shane’s birthday, and saw a Nationals game (playing the Florida Marlins). The Nationals lost badly, but it was a lovely day. Andy & Claire were there, and Sarah happened to be in town for a conference, so Dan and Sarah joined us as well. I think E & Shane had two of their worlds meet last weekend, which is always an interesting moment.

You remember when I taught Claire to knit at Thanksgiving? Well, she’s going like gangbusters, and this is her first hat. We will make no comments about the fact that she intended that hat to fit her head when she started, none at all. Suffice it to say that it’s an adorable hat, and a very neat first attempt, and an excellent lesson in the value of gauge.

Sarah and Dan, looking adorable as usual. The new Nationals stadium is gorgeous – we hadn’t been to a game since the summer of 2007, and the new stadium is clean and beautiful.

There’s Greg (or, rather, Greg’s chin), Andy & Claire, and the birthday boy perched on the edge of his chair in the Nats jersey and hat.

During the 7th inning stretch, the gentleman who played the national anthem on saxophone came out again and played God Bless America (or America the Beautiful, I can’t remember). His name was Jeremiah – Justin – something like that.

Our tulips are all blooming now – mostly red and orange, with a few other colors, and the last of the daffodils. The lilacs are about to start, too, which makes me happy. (We planted a Beauty of Moscow lilac last weekend – pale pink and white blooms with intense fragrance, but it won’t  bloom for several years.) I’ve never liked this color orange, but that photo above might change my mind. The cherry trees are blooming too – last year, they bloomed and then didn’t fruit at all. I don’t know if it was too dry, or if they’re too young (I’ve no idea how old these trees are).

Bailey with a particularly daft, sappy, goofy look on his face. (I was holding a stick in my left hand as I took this picture, that’s what he’s staring at. One track mind, that dog.)

So we’ve had a lovely productive Sunday, and it’s stunningly gorgeous outside. We went to church this morning, met Sarah and Dan for brunch (more on the rest of our weekend adventures later), cleaned the house, washed the cars, went shopping, watered the flower beds (soaking myself completely in the process, naturally), and were just generally productive and awesome.

So now it’s 5:30, the air is starting to cool, and I decided to sit outside with a glass of white wine for a few minutes before starting on dinner.  I strolled through the garden, imagining a thousand things we could do (arbor, anyone?), and discovered a raspberry bush I didn’t know we had, and then walked on past the daylilies. I was stunned to find this:

We think it’s a luna moth, the giant green gentle moths that are such a rare delight in the summer. I’ve never seen one with purple edging before, but everything else looks right. Greg’s theory is that it’s an immature luna moth, just emerged, and that the purple will disappear as it dries and settles into life.

Look at those gorgeous feathery antennae, and the beautiful purple spots (eyes, of course).

Want another angle? Happy to oblige. (Just so you know, taking this next shot involved standing on my head and hooking my left elbow around my neck and under my right knee.)

Beautiful. If anyone wants to correct me and tell me it’s a Lithuanian death moth or something similar, feel free. Til then, that’s my story. (Sticking to it, yada yada.)