Nathan at Five
I started this post the night before his fifth birthday, fully intending to finish it before we left on vacation. Best laid plans, as they say. So here it is, not complete and not on-time, but published.
What can I say about Nate at five years of age that he can't say about himself? Not much, really. He's so very articulate; so polite; so interested in science, in nature, and in learning in general. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn't bring up some amazing fact he's learned recently. Just tonight he started talking about gravity and how, without gravity we would just float around, and how he wishes he could turn off gravity and we could fly off into space.
I'm right there with you, Nate. Right there.
Nate, June 2011
He's turned into quite the wrestling mat for Lily. She loves to pounce and sit on him and he loves to have her do it. The two of them get along so well. You can see the admiration she already has for him. Sometimes he forgets that she's only nearly 15 months old, but then again, most of the time so does she.
I'm very grateful that he's not only kept, but grown his interest in books over the years. And it shows in his budding reading skills. And also, much to my chagrin, a marked increase in listening comprehension when it comes to intercepting and interpreting "mom & dad" code(s). He's a regular Enigma, I tell you.
Nate and Issac, June 2011
Five years old is going to be an amazing year, I can already tell. I'm so looking forward to it.
Nate, July 4, 2006
St Patrick’s Day Weekend 2011
We loaded up the car and headed down to Indianapolis this weekend to visit family & friends and enjoy our groups annual St. Patrick's Day Party. A little later this year, but scheduling what it is, I'm glad we were able to get together!
As 
helloheather recently pointed out in her post, the drive went well, with a long stop on the way down and shorter stop on the way back. Both kids did really well in the car and the weather for the drive was excellent. We made it an extended weekend, which was helloheather's idea and what a great one it was. So much more relaxing. The photo above was taken at Fort Harrison State Park which we visited, briefly, on Sunday afternoon. It looked so beautiful out that we felt we had to visit, but it turned out to be quite chilly in the wind. Still, a good time was had and now we've got a really close-by spot to go to next time we're down in Indy.
For the first time in many years I've uploaded photos from the weekend, 33 in all. Captions to follow:
Zoo plus Cold Equals Good!
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nate and I drove up to the Milwaukee Zoo. Frankly, I don't think I've had a better time at the zoo. Seriously, this was great. It was about 32 deg. out and mostly sunny. We were one of maybe a dozen cars in the parking lot. Nearly all the animals were active (save the grizzly bear which was/is hibernating and the petting zoo animals at the farm area) and all seemed* far more calm than usual. The big cats especially, as they were all hanging out near the glass. The one tiger was out strolling the outdoor compound area and then decided to rest right next to Nate at the window: http://cetan.org/index.php?showimage=1237 We could stop for as long as we wanted at almost any window inside or out. When we visited the giraffes we were the only ones there for easily 10 minutes.
I can't wait to go back.
*I say seemed because it's hard to tell if it was really just me that was more relaxed by the whole thing. 
Expansion
The major north/south road to our neighborhood is loaded with construction this summer (and next) but this is a good thing.
Not only are they putting in turn lanes and lights at much needed locations, they’re also building a bike path from, essentially, the high school to Veterans Acres Park. Which means we’ll (eventually) be able to ride our bikes on neighborhood roads almost the entire way to the park with only a short section of a “can-be-busy” road to ride on.
But it’s a bit of a ways off...not until next summer will the bike path be ready, baring any more delays from weather or labor disputes.
The one down side to all this construction was the need to remove a lot of trees along Walkup. Some of the trunks were easily 5 feet in diameter and the loss has removed a lot of shade and beauty from the roadway. So, that’s a bummer. Maybe they’ll plant some new trees along the bike path (one can hope).
Overall progress can be tracked on the construction project’s website:
http://www.walkuproad.info/
the hits keep coming
I was going to write about our day, but I decided that this is a better description...
voice-operated camera control
Photographer and software developer Scott Forman has written software to control a Canon camera connected to a computer (think studio shooting) with voice commands.
Very very slick.
How to be late by being early
My drive to the train station requires me to cross over the very tracks I will be riding on in order to park.
So imagine my joy at being stopped at the crossing by the very train I take because it was 5 minutes early. And, of course, because it was 5 minutes early, it just sat there and waited for 5 minutes. And so I sat there, on the wrong side of the tracks, unable to move, and watched my train leave the station on time.
I'm sure my boss was really pleased to hear my voicemail this morning explaining how I was going to be late because I missed my train.
After having such a good week last week, this week has been really difficult and stressful. I'm glad it will be over soon.
Fail x5 follow-up
A follow-up to my previous post regarding the structural failure of my Sandisk Extreme III SD card.
Sandisk will not issue a RMA because "physical damage" is not covered by the warranty. They, of course, don't care that (in all likelihood) it was their own card reader that caused these problems. It's frustrating because this was a gift last Christmas and a higher speed one at that.
So I guess we'll have to buy a new card. Though, I'm tempted to just remove the remaining three pieces of plastic and see if the card will still work in our camera and card reader.
Getting out the vote
All three of us went to the polling station this morning and arrived right when it opened at 6. We had a 45 minute (or so) wait (I think...I can't remember now) and Nate got a "I voted" sticker. When we left the polling station the sun was up and casting a wonderful orange light over everything.
A Happy Halloween
Today, in nearly every aspect, was a great day. The weather was amazing (windows open to warm breezes on the last day in October??) and I was able to get the lawn mowed (and leaves mulched) and finish a number of other "to do" list items. Nate had a great time with all the other kids at moms group and then, in the evening we went out to visit the grandparents and do a little trick-or-treating.
Transitions
A little while ago, GapersBlock - Chicago asked for submissions for a themed photo essay. That theme was "Transitions." There were no restrictions on how one was to interpret the theme, so I submitted a couple of different ideas.
Happily, and somewhat surprisingly, two of my photos were selected for the photo essay:
http://gapersblock.com/detour/photo/20081020_transitions/ ( #3 and #7 )
When the DMV says Express they mean it
On Monday I discovered that my drivers license had expired back in July. Ooops.
So, after work on Monday, I headed down to the Express DMV facility in Chicago's Loop. It's about 5 blocks east of where I work.
I was able to walk the 5 blocks there, take my eye test, fill out the renewal form, answer questions, pay my $10, have my photo taken, receive my new license, and walk the 7 blocks west to get to the train station, and board the train in, get this:
Twenty-five minutes.
Robert Asprin has passed away
When a friend of mine started a BBS sometime in 1990, I connected and created an account. I needed a user name and, being the nerd/geek that I was (and still am), a copy of Robert Asprin's "Phule's Company" was sitting next to the computer monitor.
And so..."phule" it was and, for the most part, "phule" it's been ever since. It's difficult to comprehend that I've been using the handle for 18 years. (Though, as many know, I've been a fool for 33...)
Robert Asprin passed away, rather unexpectedly as I understand it, on Thursday. May he rest in peace.
Photographers Appreciation Night – WBEZ
On Friday after work, I attending a reception at Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) for photographers who have contributed images for the station home page.
The evening started on their balcony, which is on the south side of Navy Pier while finger-food and drinks were available in the adjacent meeting room. I sat at a table with Torey Malatia, who is the president and general manager of the station but I was mostly a silent observer. I also met a favorite photographer of mine, metroblossom (who is also the managing editor at GapersBlock.com).
Station tours were given in small groups and a brief presentation of the new Image Archives feature of the WBEZ web page was demonstrated. Thanks to Andrew Gill, who manages the photo submittal and selection process, for highlighting my images in his presentation
Here's the link to all the photos I've had on the home page:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Daily_Photo_Photographers.aspx?last_name=Bernhard&first_name=Rob
You can view the archive of all photos here:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Daily_Photo.aspx