Pemban flying foxes and a rain forest

On Valentine's Day, we took a "tourist day" and borrowed a car to go see some sites on the island. Not far from our town is a roosting site for the Pemban flying fox, a large bat that has black wings but reddish-brown fur and a face much like a fox's. There were hundreds in one grove of trees.







I know they are hard to see, but each strangely-shaped blob is a bat, hanging from the branches.



Our second stop was a indigenous rain forest in the northwest corner of the island. Most of Pemba used to look like this, before people started living and farming here about 1000 years ago.









Notice how green everything is. And did I mention this is the dry, hot season?

october

Since we only have the weekends together, we really take advantage of them. Last weekend, we went to an aquarium in eastern Connecticut. We'd been there before, so this wasn't our first time to pet sting rays



but it was our first sea lion show



Afterward, we drove right on past our house and up to West Rock, one of the highest points in Connecticut. To give you an idea of how high that is, we hiked it in about 20 minutes. Only to discover that most people drive up. Oh, how I miss real mountains.

Still, the view of the leaves changing in late October in Connecticut is spectacular.





I can't help but take pictures of the leaves every year. Can I? Nope, I can't.

And who wouldn't want to spend the day with these two?

December

December naturally revolved around the winter and the holiday season. We started the month off with writing a letter to Santa (just to see...). The letter reads, "Dear Santa, for Christmas I would like a nin tendo DS a ninja sword and a scooter. I hav bn a good boy this year. Juma Beckham 2008"




The note was successful: not only did Juma get all three things he asked for (though two of them from grandparents, not Santa), but he also got a note back in the mail from the North Pole (via the USPS), signed Santa.


On Winter Solstice, we lit a fire to mark the shortest day/longest night of the year, and made goals for the new year. And roast some marshmallows. 'Cause who can resist?




Our Christmas tree was up almost all month long. Justin cut the tree down himself at a tree farm (video is coming...). It crowded the apartment a little bit, but it was nice to have that pine smell and the festive decorations and lights for weeks.





We also made new stockings, since Juma's been surviving off an undecorated one all these years.



We spent Christmas day just the three of us, which was quiet, but lovely. We also got to video chat with our families, which was great.

We also had lots of snow this month, and went sledding. Juma spends hours and hours outside with his friends, bundled up against the cold and wet, conquering mountains of snow, chipping away at ice, or pretending they are prisoners whose job it is to shovel and carve away at the snow piles. Ah, to be six.

recent events

Juma's aunt Andria reminded me that I hadn't reported on Halloween yet. So here you go.

Juma was Commander Fox, a clone trooper (from the recent cartoon The Clone Wars):




I didn't dress up, but took the opportunity to do my hair crazy:



Justin helped Juma carve a pumpkin (read: Justin carved a pumpkin for Juma) to go with Juma's costume:




Also, Juma's pet fish, Lampy Lamp died one Saturday morning. We took him our to the Amistad Memorial on the sound and had a mini-funeral. This is the same place we "buried" his other pet fish, Nemo, a few years ago. That death was rather hard on Juma, and he was upset about this one, too, but also quite practical. For example, when I suggested we say some words to remember Lampy Lamp, Juma asked, "Why? Fish die, and their bodies return to the earth. It's just what happens, Mom."





The very same day, we caught and kept a garter snake we found while hiking a few miles north of here. Juma named his new pet Sam. And the fish tank where Lampy Lamp used to live? Now full of food-fish for Sam.




We also went camping and enjoyed the mild weather and fall leaves:





Juma bought a "fossil block," a block of plaster of paris with five fossils hidden inside. So far, he's found a shark tooth and a sand dollar.

rain in Pemba

It’s not the rainy season, but it rains nearly every day anyway. I’ve never been here during the long rainy season and I’m not sure I want to, with the heavy water running muddy and murky and toxic down the roads and ditches. Even in the cool, dry season that is now the water in the stream in the bottom of the valley emits a putrid smell and unearthly bluish glow and the houses nearest it are on the cheapest plots of land. The rain when it comes in this cool, dry season is quick and loud and weighty, pouring on the tin roof with a glorious sound that muffles conversation and is surprising every time. In Stone Town’s narrow stone streets, these rains create instant rivers of the walkways, with side streams feeding in from the alleys into the larger openings.

Boys playing soccer scatter to the higher ground of baraza and porch steps, under the awnings, to wait it out, because they never last long, these rains. Juma was caught on the wrong side of the street-turned-river on one of his first days in Stone Town when he was three, stuck crying under a tin awning as the rain made a noise too loud for his little heart to handle, too far away from his mama, and he never quite forgave the rain and the tin roofs for that. A teenage boy looked and understood his desperation, hefted him up and raced him across the little river to me, both of them soaked by the falling water, and the teenager’s jeans soaked up to his knees from the street water.

death valley

During spring break, we took a road trip down to Death Valley, the hottest and lowest place in the Western hemisphere. Luckily, it's still spring, so the temperature only reached 95 degrees while we were there. We had a great time, and saw all sorts of amazing geological features, including

Artist's Palette, though the pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the colors




The Devil's Golf Course, full of strange, rough salt deposits



Mesquite Sand Dunes, where the dunes are high and the sunset gorgeous






Zabriskie Point, where borax was once mined




Manly Beacon, named after a man named Manly who didn't get lost because of the beacon




Salt Creek, salty, hot home to a species of pup fish




and Badwater, the lowest point in the hemisphere (282 feet below sea level!)



Who knew there was so much to see in Death Valley?

repotting mandrakes

In February, it was warm enough to plant some spring flowers in the yard. Justin's mom asked Juma to help her with the planting, thinking she could have some nice grandma-grandson bonding time. Juma, however, was reluctant to do anything that looked like work (hey, he is five), so I tried to get him excited.

Juma had recently read and watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, so I suggested he pretend like the flowers are mandrakes, from the Harry Potter world.





He immediately jumped up, excited, and grabbed a couple winter caps to cover his and Grandma's ears--to protect them from the mandrake's fatal cries. (There weren't any ear muffs.) They planted several flowers in the front yard, always wearing their caps.





Juma even provided the sound effects, screaming shrilling when each plant was out of the flower pot until it was firmly planted in the ground and covered with dirt.

almond blossoms

The Central Valley's various orchards are coming into full bloom. Today, we visited an almond orchard, and walked among the trees while listening to bees hum around us.

Juma took some pictures with his camera:

And I took some with mine:

john muir redwood forest

The Saturday after Christmas, we drove north of San Francisco to John Muir Forest, full of giant redwood trees. And rain. Brother-in-law Matt dubbed the spot the Dagobah System, and wished we had brought the nephews with us so he could tease them into going on a search for Yoda.

We didn't see Yoda, but we did see some impressive trees.