Lillian Claire photos
Lillian Claire Bernhard
Born: August 2nd
Weight: 7lbs 14oz
Length: 19"
I'm working on a larger post about Lillian's birth but it's been slow going. I have, however, been able to upload photos from our stay in the hospital. No captions yet, but I'm working on those.
http://bernhard.us/photos/v/family/lillian/lillian-birth/
wherein life stresses me out…
It's been a complex and difficult couple of weeks.
We've had a family member pass away suddenly and unexpectedly. We've had other family members hospitalized and/or have medical procedures. We've had family members lose their jobs. We've had medical problems ourselves, some of which are still unresolved.
We have stress thinking about the pending birth of our second child (a child who still doesn't have a name) and the changes that will bring.
Oh, and our cat is sick. She has to be put on an even more special food than what she's already been taking and will start getting cortisone shots which, if the diagnosis is wrong, could actually make things worse.
I'm trying to think positively though. I'm still employed and financially things are improving for the company. Also the company went 100% business casual which is a nice change. The weather has been improving and I've been able to get out during lunch. Also bernhard.us et al will be migrated to new servers in a couple weeks which should make things much faster and more stable.
syrup, sugar, and sunshine
On Saturday, Nate and I headed out to the Coral Woods Conservation Area for the Festival of the Sugar Maples. This is a yearly program run for two weeks by the McHenry County Conservation District.
It's a half-mile hike through the snow in Coral Woods with four stops detailing some of the history of maple sugar and maple syrup: from Native Americans sugar production in a hollowed-out log to modern sap collection. At the end, where they have an evaporator set up, you can sample the syrup they do make from the sap being collected. As the program only runs for two weeks there's only enough syrup to give out the tastes at the end, so none to take home.
This years warmer temps and sun made for a great time. Nate was very interested and participated at all the stops. He also received a number of complements from people in our group with how articulate and involved he was. By the time we were done with our tour, the number of people at the park had probably quadrupled. So we had clearly arrived at just the right time.
During the drive home, I failed to keep Nate awake (and who could blame him after our morning), which re-set his clock and left 
helloheather and I with a lot less time to work on house stuff. So...
Off Nate and I went again; this time to the Crystal Lake Nature Center. It's a small but fun building that is part of the Veteran's Acres park. We read books, looked at some of the animals they have, and then hiked in the slush and snow around the pond.
It was a good Saturday. The kind of hints-of-spring type day (we heard sandhill cranes flying north while at Coral Woods) that really can reinvigorate.
river of green
Last week, while riding home on the train, I was rather startled to see, well, nothing.
That's not entirely true.
What I saw previously I could no longer see. It was replaced by a wall of green leaves. Buildings, homes, streets, parks, all had "suddenly" become hidden behind trees fully engulfed in leaves.
And as the train passes by, the trees ripple like waves in a river.
Spring is always a surprise for me, I'm not sure why...it just seems like what were small buds just starting out, suddenly burst forth into fully formed leaves. I know this is not the case and I can even watch the trees foliate, but there's something in my brain that seems locked to the winter scene. And then a switch is flipped and I realize that we have shade again and the world has been turned green.
taking advantage of what we have
Nate and I went to Moraine Hills State Park on Saturday for a morning of outdoor exploration.
Every visit to the state park makes me want to go back for more. We are rather lucky in McHenry County to have a rather large number of conservation areas and three state parks. These are areas we need to take advantage of more often.
On Saturday, Nate ran ahead to the end of a wooden walkway (one that extends over the bog/wetlands area at Moraine Hills) and sat down. When I caught up with him a small snake was wiggling by and into the grass below. We also saw a Great Blue Heron take flight from its nest on the edge of the waterway. (Actually, I missed the take-off because I was busy shooting a macro photo of what looks like part of a jawbone from a critter.)
I discovered today, on the website FreeSound.org, user Tom Haigh (aka audible-edge) made a recent (March 14th) recording of the ambient sounds of Moraine Hills.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=69252
I think it captures the park quite well.
Eggs and stained fingers and peanut-free chocolate
Yesterday we went to an aunt and uncles' for Easter (my mom's side of the family). They were very accommodating to us re: Nate's peanut allergy and treats. They organized an easter egg hunt out in the back yard and only put in hard candies and gummy candies.
And Nate, in typical exuberant form, abandoned his basket about 10 seconds into the hunt when he realized there was a big swing set in the corner. He proceeded to run and swing and climb and tell us he could see easter eggs hiding in the trees (there were none there but he was very convincing in his insistence).
It was great.
Also, it is worth repeating what helloheather wrote on Friday.
Tonight's Good Friday service was a presentation of readings and choral songs. We brought Nathan into church with us, thinking that we'd keep him there as long as he wasn't disturbing anyone.
Well, the music held his attention for the whole service! Rob and I have both noticed that he really tunes in to new music. He likes to listen, and asks what the different instruments are, or who is singing.
Tonight, as we were walking out in solemn silence, Nathan whispered, "It was a good sing."
(http://helloheather.livejournal.com/628167.html)
I love that boy.
we might be having some weather
edit: ah they dropped the totals down to "1 to 5" which means we got just enough to put the plows out once and that's probably it.
Or so it would seem...so much for spring, eh?
Snow through the night. Chance of thunderstorms. Snow may be heavy at times. Snow accumulation of 5 to 7 inches
the bluebird of happiness
I believe I saw my first Eastern Bluebird in the wild only a couple of years ago. It was an Easter walk with family in Sterns Woods in Crystal Lake. There were a number of man-made nesting sites in the area, so I guess it was inevitable, but I was still surprised. Such a brilliant blue!
Today, while eating lunch, I noticed a bluebird hanging out on our red Maple tree. As quickly yet stealthily as possible, I grabbed my camera and telephoto lens. I knew the shots were not going to be very good, as I'm using a rather cheap telephoto and was shooting /through/ the glass of our sliding door to the patio, but still, he stayed on the branch for so long, I had to try for a few frames.
Also, male robins have been sparring over territory all around us. It feels so much like spring is just a step away.
Road America bound
My cousin Steve and I are headed up to Road America on Saturday for the SVRA event and I'm looking forward to it. I've not been to RA since...well, it's been so long I don't remember. It was probably for a SCCA event, I'm guessing June Sprints. My uncle used to race in the SCCA, first with a Fiat X1/9 and then later with a DSR Sorcerer R1 (not 100% confident on the name of the second car).
RA is about 2.5 hours north, not too far from Sheboygan. Surprisingly, the track is only a short drive from a lake called Crystal Lake.
I expect to shoot a lot of photos while there and I expect to keep very, very few. 
With any luck, the possibility of storms keeps dropping (it's down 10% since yesterday). I am also planning on bringing my Holga+Polaroid back with for a little extra fun with photography in the paddock areas. We'll see how well my Polaroid peel-apart film has held up. Expired film packs tend to die because the chemistry dries up. Hopefully this is not entirely the case, as I still need to get a few more shots of Nate before retiring that camera forever.
So, vintage race cars, a road course, and photography. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
Weather, Easter, and other musings
Our friends Aaron and Serena had their second child (a daughter) almost two weeks ago. They came down for a brief visit for our St. Patrick's Day party on the 15th (when she was only 3 days old?!). Hopefully they're all doing well.
Last Friday we had about 12 inches of snow in Crystal Lake. I had taken the day off and was able to enjoy not having to dig my car out of the train station parking lot. I pulled Nate around on the sled on Saturday.
Our street was not plowed until the storm was almost over (and, as it figures, right after I finished clearing the driveway) so I was concerned that all that heavy wet slop was going to snap the pole in half. Thankfully, new mailbox survived the pummeling and the wood did not break.
Easter was spent in Des Plaines with helloheather's family. The sun did not disappear as predicted and Nate and I spent some time burning off energy outside and soaking our shoes in melting snow.
10 minutes
After arriving home last night, with the skies threatening, I started mowing the lawn. (I needed to have it completed before the weekend.) The wind was tremendous and I ended up with face full after face full of grass clippings and dust. This might be a minor annoyance were it not for my allergies. I won't go into any detail, because it's not really important, but suffice it to say, my sinuses and eyes were not doing well by the end of it all.
But that's not the point of this post. The point is what happened after.
Within 10 minutes of me completing the lawn and putting everything away:
- Dinner came out of the oven
- helloheather wrapped up her gardening and moved the car into the garage
- Nathan went to sleep for an evening nap
- It started to rain
It was like some sort of dinner nexus came together and we were able to relax and eat. With the temps dropping by the minute as the rain came through, and the strong winds blowing the trees to and fro, it was really quite wonderful. I love a good spring rain and a cool spring breeze.
Later, Nathan woke up from his nap and all three of us danced in the living room to Eli Paperboy Reed's "Take My Love With You."
It was a really nice evening.
Extending the walk
(click for a larger view)
Yesterdays walk was a bit longer than normal. On the map above I went counter-clockwise starting in the lower-left corner for a total of 4.3 miles. My original goal was to walk along the lake up to Olive Park near Navy Pier, but sadly the park is closed due to construction. Not realizing that crossing Lake Shore Drive wasn't possible until Chicago Ave. I continued north from the park. But there was a nice cool breeze coming off the lake and I was glad to walk in areas new to me.
(click for larger view)
uneasy happiness
Every spring I get an uneasy feeling that I'm missing something, or have left something behind. What is it? My coat.
Transitioning from heavy winter coats to lighter jackets is fairly easy, because I still feel a weight on my person. But the change from jacket to no-jacket often leaves me feeling uneasy. I feel like I'm forgetting something or that I've missed some sort of deadline.
I'm not "complaining" mind you, I love spring and the pleasant tempertures and rain/storms it usually brings, but it is something I notice.
Cherry Blossom Festival – Washington DC
Photos from our visit to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC are now online:
