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wednesday cat blogging [photo post]

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

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Teazle’s latest favored place to sleep is in the box where Hanna keeps her knickers. She has to jump up onto the shelf above and then worm her way into the box. It’s a process we shamelessly mock her for.

Gerry, meanwhile, clearly feels relaxed enough these days to do a dead bunny impression. She slept this way for a good half hour on Sunday, effectively trapping me on the couch!

Sunday was definitely a day for snoozing.

Hope everyone’s week is going well and that y’all are staying warm. We’re definitely ready for spring!

blizzard of ’14: black river books [photo post]

10 Friday Jan 2014

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Yesterday, in an attempt to re-boot the vacation we’re inadvertently having, Hanna and I took a small road-trip to South Haven, Michigan, to visit a bookshop Hanna found via the Internets.

Black River Books was well-worth the thirty-minute drive down I-196. Our outbound trip was punctuated by a stop at Uncommon Grounds, where we refueled with two French Giana lattes. 
We paused at the cafe’s community bulletin board to wistfully gaze at the “for rent” advertisement featuring a three-bedroom house on offer for less than what we pay per month for our one-bedroom in Allston.
South Haven was quiet, still digging out from the beginning of the week.
Sidewalks clearly weren’t a top priority.
Hanna and I were the only two customers at the bookstore, which made for leisurely browsing. The shop was clearly set up as a sit-and-read business, complete with coffee urns and comfy chairs.
Like all used bookshops worth their salt, Black River Books had stacks of overflow (neatly labeled!) on the floor and steps-stools for easy book access.
They also had two shop dogs, who snuffled us out upon entry and then curled up in their appointed locations by the shop counter, waiting for snack time.
I have to say that only in West Michigan are you likely to find a religion section subdivided by Christian theologian (and “Jesus” shelves alongside [Philip] Yancey and Matthew Fox).
Though to their credit they also had extensive LGBT and Sexuality sections, as well as separately-shelved erotica, clearly labelled and tucked away above the paperback mysteries.
In the Sexuality section, I was delighted to find a 1972, hardcover and full-color edition of Alex Comfort’s The Joy of Sex for which a review post will simply have to be forthcoming. Its loving sketchy drawings of the heterosexual couple enjoying intimacies of various configurations are as delightful as Dr. Comfort’s opinions about things such as bisexuality are antiquated.
In any event, if you ever find yourself stuck in West Michigan for ten days longer than you anticipated in the middle of a snow storm, Black River Books is definitely a place we would recommend for a field trip!

blizzard of ’14, day six [an update, with photos]

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

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Today, our flights were re-scheduled for the fifth time in a week — pushing us out to ten additional days in Michigan! It’s wicked wild (as a Bostonian might say) how far the ripple-effect of cancelled flights and serial bad weather can reach.

So it’s time for more self-soothing photography!

Playing with reflections on the dining room windows a couple of nights ago brought out some interesting visuals.

The family Christmas tree, mirrored in the glass against the falling snow.

A neighbor’s out-door lights as seen across the church parking lot, drifted with snow.

The “brisk” temperatures of the Polar Votex brought in some gorgeous frost on my parents’ windowpanes. This was yesterday’s patterning on our bedroom window.

This morning, a strange globe of light appeared in the sky for a short portion of the morning. We took the opportunity to go out on a few needed errands: emergency prescription refills at Model Drug pharmacy, emergency coffee at lemonjello’s, emergency trip to Herrick District Library for books.

Shoveling has become a bit daunting.

We’ve been so grateful for lemonjello’s caffeination and gluten-free muffins!

The fierce wind and cold temperatures have conspired to create some fascinating snow sculptures along the eves of many buildings.

When I got off the phone with United this afternoon, first I spent a few moments pounding my fists on the floor in frustration. Then Hanna and I decided an emergency trip to the library was in order.

Because where do two snowbound librarians find peace, except in the stacks?

I like the way the children’s room decorates …

… and, perhaps more importantly, attends to the nutritional needs of its young readers!

On our walk home, Hanna snapped a few wintery pictures as the snow, once again, began to fall.

This has been another update from the Clutterbuck-Cook family adventure of January 2014! We hope all of you continue to be well.

blizzard of ’14 [more photos]

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

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Today was a slump-y sort of day. We woke up to yet another round of emails announcing the cancellation of our flights home (scheduled for tomorrow) and no further updates re: when we might actually be able to head Eastward.

(my digital camera somehow did this, and I have no idea how!)

It’s not that we’re in a bad situation — we’re warm and fed, and have a stellar group of friends and colleagues holding down the fort in Boston — but it’s hard, harder than I would have anticipated beforehand, to adjust to repeated new plans. Just as we adjust to plan B it’s snatched out from under us and replaced with plan C, which in turn … you get the idea.

Hardly the worst thing that’s happened in the world since New Year’s, but kind of draining.

And we miss our kitties.

(We’ve been here long enough now that Toby will grudgingly share the blankets…)

So I tried to soothe my grumpy soul by taking photos of some spectacular snow, more snow and colder temperatures than my parents have seen since the late 1970s.

Hope College, where I did my undergrad and where my father works, has delayed the start of classes for (if I recall correctly) only the third time in the past quarter century.

This has been a self-soothing update from the Clutterbuck-Cook expedition of January 2014. I hope that wherever you are tonight, you are warm and well and with those you love.

snowbound in michigan [an update with photos!]

05 Sunday Jan 2014

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Since last Thursday’s post, our flights out of Michigan have been cancelled twice more due to weather, and now we’re scheduled to return to Boston Tuesday evening – closing in on a full week longer than we anticipated being away! 

We’re thankful to be safe and warm and not paying for hotels or on stand-by at the airport. It’s also wonderful to have parents/in-laws we get along with, a flexible cat-minder, and understanding co-workers.
This afternoon, following the third postponement of our departure, Hanna and I were feeling a little punch-drunk and decided to walk down to New Holland Brewery for lunch. I took the camera, so here are some pictures from my snowy home-town!

The obligatory couples’ portrait-taken-at-arm’s-length on the front lawn. The new knit hats from my mother-in-law have really come in handy!

Hanna bundled up outside the church on our block.

The wind and snow-blowers have combined to make intriguing drifts around the trees.

The iconic Dimnent chapel at my alma mater, in the snow.

The brewery, as one of the few gathering places open on a Sunday downtown, was hopping. The snow was very picturesque from inside the pub!

Hanna and I have been admiring the Christmas decorations on main street this year, which depart from the usual red-white-green spectrum.

There wasn’t enough traffic out and about to keep the snow off the roads. This is a view across the intersection of River and 10th, looking toward Centennial Park (dedicated in 1876).

The snow-melt network under the sidewalks was only keeping up with the snowfall under awnings, like here in front of the Park Theatre. No one had been out to brush off the public benches.

And this a view of the Holland Museum, where I got my start in public history twenty years ago. When I was a child, the museum was actually housed in what is now a B&B on the other side of the park, originally Holland’s first hospital. The building pictured here was our post office until the late 1980s, and now houses the museum and archives. 
When I was twelve I used to deliver the daily paper to a very sweet, elderly Dutch couple who lived in this house. I doubt they live there any longer, but Hanna and I both agree that its location directly across from the public library can only add to its charm.
Wish us felicitous weather for safe travels Tuesday afternoon as we are scheduled to fly home to Boston!

a year to carry on carrying on

20 Friday Dec 2013

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Gerry practices her balancing skillz on Hanna’s lap.
Looking back on the past year with my therapist on Thursday, I realized that this is the first year in over a decade (for both Hanna and I) in which no major life-transitions have taken place.
Neither one of us began or ended a relationship (yay 1st anniversary!).
Neither one of us began or ended a job (or moved to a different position within our workplace).
Neither one of us began or ended an academic program.
We began and ended the year in the same city, neighborhood, and apartment.
We began and ended the year with the same two companion animals.
With the exception of my grandmother, Marilyn, in June, we had no major illness or death on either side of our immediate extended family.
Cats, they give no fucks for your life accomplishments.
Of course, many other things did change in the past year. The Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional. We got new tattoos. We witnessed the wedding of our near and dear friends Diana and Collin. Hanna delivered a conference paper at the Northeast Conference on British Studies. I briefly served as a guest blogger for Family Scholars Blog. Teazle learned to scale the drying rack; Gerry learned to be a lap cat.

But overall, this was the most uneventful year I have had since turning eighteen.

And I can’t say I’m disappointed with that.

mid-week cat blogging [photo post]

20 Wednesday Nov 2013

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A couple of weekends ago, Hanna and I got out the map of Boston so we could draw a three-mile radius from Hanna’s workplace in Longwood so that we could get a sense of what neighborhoods our likely-next-year new apartment search might encompass.

Geraldine had a few ideas.

Most of them involved scratching her between the ears.

Teazle had other plans, as she so often does.

When I was finally able to achieve access to the map without feline assistance, we determined that our “within walking distance of work” primary criterion gives us Allston-Brighton, Brookline, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, the North End, Somerville, Cambridge, and all of central Boston (though most of that is not affordable/unattractive to us for a variety of reasons.

Gerry seems to be voting for Chestnut Hill/Newton — too far, little kitten! Your mommies would not appreciate the commute (and you would have to wait even longer for evening tuna).

Stay tuned in 2014 as the Clutterbuck-Cook family starts looking for new digs!

from the neighborhood: autumn sights

03 Sunday Nov 2013

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A few photos I took last weekend.

Afternoon sunlight on the fresh flowers we bought to put in the flower vase / tea pot brought home from the Thormoto wedding.

Shortly after I took these photos, of course, Teazle discovered the flowers and the vase had to be removed to higher ground.

Geraldine, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less. Why should she, where there are laps/pillows available to sleep upon?

The house with the abundant garden on our walk to Coolidge Corner is settling in for the winter season.

The Hubway bikes will soon be put into storage to make way for snowplows and snowbanks, but for now they’re still available to take out for a spin!

A couple of months ago, Hanna and I realized that the central marquee on the Coolidge Corner movie theater often makes amusing found poetry. This is the latest iteration.

Enough said.
All is lost,
Don Jon:
12 years a slave.