The Good Land

There Will Be Cucumbers

Those of you who know us, might once or twice (or a hundred times) have heard us extol the virtues of Vermont. We try to keep it somewhat low-key, because we can imagine how terribly depressing it must be for all of you that God loves Vermont so much more than He loves wherever it is that you live. But sometimes it's difficult to hold back.


We are home now, the mountains are still green, the air is fresh and in the upper 70's, our garden is overflowing, and our beautiful neighbors have left things like coq au vin, anitpasto platters and fresh apple crisp waiting for us in our kitchen. Our cat still loves us.

And Eli likes it here very, very much.  Although the cat kind of freaks him out. 

Before I get to that, though, I have to throw in this picture of Allison getting treated like Tyhpoid Mary in Hong Kong.  On entering Hong Kong, all travelers are screened via infrared cameras for any sign of fever.  Allison's apparently was 99.6 that day, so she got to wear this groovy face mask and answer pointed questions about her poor personal hygiene and possible fondness for livestock.  They're a little skittish about epidemics after the SARS and avian flu and swine flu panics of the last decade.  I'm not sure that loose-fitting mask is really protecting anyone from dangerous pathogens she might be spraying, but hey, whatever makes them feel better. 

Grandpa tastefully dons a shirt for his first picture with Eli

And of course, we also spent time in Chicago before we came home, with 20 DeGroots.  There's a lot of us now, and many of us are both dangerous and clumsy.  There was only one trip to the emergency room during our 30-hour stay, however, and it didn't involve any members of our immediate nuclear family, so we can't really complain (you didn't need those teeth anyway, Gabe).

What's that?  Oh, yes.  We came home.

Our flight to Vermont was strangely uneventful after the craziness of the first several legs of the journey. We were home by lunch time on Sunday. Eli settled right in and started dumping toys all over the place and then picking them up again. The picking them up again part didn't last long. His favorite implements are a mid-sized plastic broom and dustpan combo. He really enjoys sweeping, which we think bodes well for his potential to serve as our personal lackey, and also proves he already knows a few things his older brother and sister could stand to learn.   

Adjusting the Feng Shui

 

He found walking on grass to be a new and not terribly enjoyable experience -- as if we were inviting him to walk on crushed glass.  We think he's never walked on anything but concrete or possibly wood floors.  He also refuses foods picked from plants.  We have several quarts of blackberries so ripe they practically explode when you pick them, but he treats them like they're arsenic.  I managed to sneak one into his mouth once and he spit it right out.  This, from a kid who will happily eat multiple bowls of barley and bean stew in a single sitting.

Despite this fruit allergy, however, we're thrilled with his weight gain.  He's already more like a regular kid his age, and has dropped his gaunt-chic runway model look in favor of rounder cheeks and a sturdier frame.  He likes full-fat Liberte yogurt and bacon and cookies of all kinds, so I guess we'll give blackberries a pass for now.

That's about as ambitious as we've been, so have nothing else to report.  Townes and I have the worst jet lag, and were up at 2:00 a.m. last night.  Allison and Naomi are doing better, but still tired and muddle-headed at times.  Eli slept 10 & 1/2 hours straight last night and just took a 2-hour nap.  If he's experiencing jet lag he's hiding it extraordinarily well.  It won't be the last time he will surpass us.