Names

Can anybody update me on the name-to-be of Kaitlyn's little bro? Here's an interesting website to check out: you type in a name, and it gives you a graph showing the popularity that name over the last 120 years. "Nicole" became common around 1950, and peaked in the 1980s. "Mattie" was really popular in 1880--yes, 1880--but it declined over the last century. Though it's climbed back a little, in the last 15 years. It ranked as the 777th most popular name in 2005! That's not bad.

Escape from the City

Well, we succeeded in leaving Chicago for a few days of Spring Break. But only to find ourselves in 30-degree weather somewhere else! The landscape got greener as we drove south, and lots of dogwood was in bloom--but it SNOWED while we were in Kentucky. April in the South isn't supposed to be like that! Anyway, we had a nice time with Patrick's grandma (on the Iber side), who hosted us for two days, taking us to New Harmony, a 19th century attempt at a utopian community that now has picturesque old cabins, and several antique shops in Newburgh, the town where she lives. We bought a rocking chair that's supposedly from the 1830s-40s. It's beautiful, and comfortable, too. Grandma Liz fed us very well, and I really enjoyed getting to know her a bit.

We drove a little farther southeast on Friday, to Mammoth Cave. They don't allow people in the caves without a guide, and the tours were pretty crowded. We spent a little while walking around on the trails outside the caves (with freezing fingers and toes) and saw some interesting things, including sinkholes, the surface outlet of an underground river, and some frozen caterpillars. They look like they're moving, don't they? They were swarming all over each other on a twig, except that they were completely still. Patrick suggests that they might start moving again once it's warm enough. I hope they haven't been killed by the frost. It's kind of creepy.

I guess you'd probably expect to see some pictures of the cave, but I'm not going to post any. For one thing, I don't really like the way any of my pictures came out. Most of them are blurry, and everyone has already seen pictures of stalactites and stalagmites. (If you haven't, just do a Google Image search of "Mammoth Cave," or try this link to the Mammoth Cave National Park website.) Besides that, I was really struck by the effect when our guide had us all sit down (there were rows of benches in a large underground chamber) and then turned out all the lights. That's what a cave really looks like: totally black. There's something strange about illuminating it, even though there are some beautiful formations. Or maybe what's really weird is going through them with a hundred other people on a big tour. Anyway, I liked the tour we went on, but the only picture you're getting is of Patrick, sipping hot chocolate when we returned to the cold, cold surface. The caves themselves stay in the 50s all year. Oh another aspect of the the tour that was interesting: a kid asked the guide how old the caves are, and she gave two answers, which she presented as 1) what you get if you ask someone who thinks that the earth is 6000 years old (she did not make any reference to religion), and 2) what you get if you ask a geologist, someone who studies rocks and science. This got me thinking, how old do other major religions take the world to be? Leave me a comment if you know ...

Here's a final picture from Indianapolis, just to prove to you that it really was cold and I'm not just a wimp from California. Usually fountains don't freeze, because they're turned off in the winter. It is April, so I guess they turned this one back on thinking that it would be warm enough. The effect is cool, anyway.

Well, back to work! This should be an exciting month, in any case. Patrick's uncle, George, is coming to visit with kids Sophie and Annie; Na'amah is coming to Chicago for a conference; Patrick is going to DC for 2 weeks, and I'll go out for a weekend too to see Steve and Sanne! I'll keep you posted. Knitting pictures to come!

April Showers

It's that time of year again--spring! We're still having chilly days, but the trees are starting to show buds, the grass is already green, and early flowers are blooming. We went to the Garfield Park Conservatory yesterday (Patrick needed a break anyway from his mad rush to review his notes of the approximately 250 books that he's read since September; his exam is tomorrow), for a stronger dose of greenery, and found some neat things. Here's a bromeliad in flower (and I thought the red spears were their flowers!), and a bowl made out of paper-thin slices of kiwi and papaya that have been pressed, dried, and shaped.

I'm on Spring Break next week. Once Patrick's exam is over, we'll be free!!! The plan is to drive south, where spring will hopefully be a little farther along than it is here, to his grandma's house in Indiana. We'll spend a few days with her, then drive about 120 miles farther south to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, where we'll hike, camp, and kayak. I'm really looking forward to getting out of the city for a while.

I was rummaging around and found a card that Auntie Nancy and Uncle John gave us right before we moved to Chicago. There's a sweet message inside. I wanted to share the words on the front, which the card says is adapted from and old Irish prayer:

Take time to work.
It is the price of success.
Take time to meditate.
It is the source of power.
Take time to play.
It is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read.
It is the way to knowledge.
Take time to be friendly.
It is the road to happiness.
Take time to laugh.
It is the music of the soul.
And take time to love
and be loved.

All for now. I'll hopefully be posting again at the end of the week with pictures from the trip and my latest knitting project! Lots of love.