Mom, That was beautiful! :)

Apparently, we are in for yet another weekly snow occurrence. I will keep you "posted" - yuk, yuk, yuk. Drew had a great visit with Anne and Bunny over the weekend. Sarah and I saw Black Swan (haunting). Natalie Portman is incredible.

LIFE'S BEAUTIFUL TOUCHES

Julie's snowbanks were reminiscent of those New England winters I remember so well---a time of coziness and hibernation, and that occasional unexpected holiday. And last night we had a delightful family reunion via Skype with Elli, surrounded by Emily (eating breakfast), Rachael (dressed to go to town), Ken (painting Rachael's bedroom for Em to move in), and Luke (over for a day's visit). This weekend we look forward to some quiet time with Rico and a family birthday party for Alden on Sunday. These are the rich colors on life's daily canvas, so treasured.
Here's another. On Wednesday evening I went to the Met's HD offering for this month---Puccinni's "Girl of the Golden West". It had everything; entrances on horseback, blizzard lasting for an entire act, gunfights and dripping blood, an ardent and passionate love story, beer and poker duels, an almost-hanging on the gallows. The beautiful music is a given, but I was bowled over by the reality and power of the production---so totally believeable. Opera didn't used to be this way---it had the music, but not much action or effect. How it has changed!
I found myself musing the day after, thinking of Honey, who loved listening to Pavarotti but hated opera---how he might have eaten this up. And I wish for him, that in a future reincarnation, he treads the opera stage as a famous baritone or bass, relishing the drama that surrounds him and captivates the audience, and turns him into the total opera lover! It would serve him right and well! Hugs, Mom

Okay, since the week before Christmas vacation, we have not had a week (including vacation) that hasn't had a snow worthy of a snow day. Here is the latest pileup in the driveway. We are running out of places to put the stuff! However, it sure is beautiful! Sarah is getting some snow driving experience.

We had a burst pipe under the playroom last night. Our plumber was able to get to the house and diagnose the situation,.....temps finally above freezing, old pipe used by crawlspace cement workers had frozen and thawed letting loose the deluge. We never turned the water off because we didn't know they had turned it on.

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE????!!!!

ALDEN'S TURN!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ALDEN,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Alden!

With love and kisses from your Australian family: Ken, Elli, Rachael, Emily and Chai

HAPPY 53RD BIRTHDAY JULIE!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JULIE,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day - we'll be thinking of you! Lots of love from all the Blackwells XOXO

Wow. I am so glad you all are okay. Julie

Aftermath

Today (Saturday) Ken, Emily and I finally gave in to temptation and took a drive to have a "stickybeak" at the Brisbane River. I had been fighting the urge to go and have a look, as people have been asked to stay away from the city unless it was absolutely necessary. I wanted to see the river in all it's muddy madness, so we decided to take a drive but avoid the City and the worst-affected areas where the cleanup was in full swing.

We drove along Kingsford Smith Drive which follows the river, past the Brett's Wharf CityCat terminal and along Breakfast Creek (Mom and Dad will know the area). This is downriver from the City, where the river broadens and gets ready to empty into Moreton Bay. Under normal conditions, the river here is wide and lazy, with CityCat ferries (catamarans) and private vessels cruising on a regular basis. No such activity was apparent today - all ferries have been cancelled due to dangerous conditions, and most of their pontoon docks have been destroyed. The river was running fast and was brown, smelly and full of debris. This photo shows the City in the background to give you an idea how far we were from the worst-affected areas, and Mom and Dad will appreciate the difference in the water's appearance!

The amount of debris on the riverbank was amazing, as this photo shows. The irony of a watertank as flood detritus...!

The image that sticks with me is this one: a child's toy stuck in a Mangrove on the river's edge. It speaks of the loss that so many people have suffered.

We drove home along Breakfast Creek, where there were cleanup crews, sandbags, ruined belongings and office furniture in abundance. Home - to our clean, dry and undamaged house. How lucky we all are.

Count your blessings every day. Love to each of you, Elli

Welcome, Ken!!!

"Upstairs", we are having a snowday! Shoveling, sledding, and Sarah driving in her first winter conditions - promises to be a day of excitement. Ironic simultaneous water related days off.

It is comforting to know that you are at a computer and it's working! I tried to skype you all last night but I really don't know what I'm doing.

Stay dry and safe! Julie

FLOOD DAY!

Well here's my first post on the blog, thanks to a Flood Day! Can you believe it? My boss phoned me this morning and told me not to bother going into work. I've heard Julie and Rico talk about snow days and never really understood what that would be like. Now I have a bit of an idea. I've had my first Flood Day! So, what does one do on a flood day? Well, I'm helping Rachael shift rooms. I'm going to need a Back Day to recover!

Getting back to the flood, Elli has probably already mentioned it, but if you go to www.couriermail.com.au you'll see why we're having a Flood Day. My work premises is right on the Brisbane river, so there's a pretty good chance we'll have a lot of cleaning up to do when the flood subsides. It wasn't that long ago the authorities here were talking about the possibility of us all having to drink treated effluent because of the drought. Talk about a change in the weather!!

Weather: Whatcha Gonna Do?

All the weather events of late have me thinking about Mark Twain's quote about people not having anything to talk about without it. I'm glad that everyone is weathering their own storms alright and staying warm and dry. We've been up and down, warm and cold, windy and snowy, but that's Colorado for you. We had some nice catching snowflakes on the tongue conditions today and I got some photos I had to post. I really enjoyed dad's thoughts on the fun he's having being a grandfather- gives me something to look forward to! I must say it's great for us too to have the grandparents living nearby. I'm starting to get back in the groove of being back in school and managing a whole lot of stuff, and the household is re-calibrating to school mode. I think it's going to be a busy and fun 2011!

Soggy Aussies!

I like the look of the Coburn world! The outlook here is much more bleak:

I'm doing some washing today, but I think it will go through a few more heaven-sent rinse cycles before it gets dry! Our Canadian visitors (Wanda's daughter Davina and her friend Alexa) are out at Tangalooma feeding dolphins in the rain and making the most of their soggy holiday. They are enjoying their time despite the weather. Davina has tickets to the Australian Open, so I hope the rain doesn't follow her south!

So far we remain dry under our house, although the yard is a different story. The chooks are getting mighty fed up of having wet feet, but they continue to give us eggs. Driving around this area is still okay, but we have regular road closures due to flash flooding. It makes my work a bit tricky when I have to go to low-lying areas, but so far I haven't had any trouble. More rain is forecast for the next 5 days....

Here is our world at the moment. I had school and an 11 am dismissal. Everybody else in the family slept. Matt is bemoaning the fact that he may, yet again, be delayed getting to school. He is planning to ride back with a "brother" from Pelham at 8 tomorrow but, alas, it is snowing in VA as well as here.

Matt's week long trip to Chicago to visit Joanie's family fit nicely between snows. Sounds like he had a wonderful time.

Grandfather moments

Boulder Coasting Hill Jan. 1st viewed from the warm car - Reid, Boden, and Rico are on the hill.

Making a construction using saw and other items in Boden's Christmas gift from last year on Jan. 2nd.

Jan. 4th arrival at Eldora for last day of vacation trip to the slopes - Babbo, Ried, and Boden, and a stranger in pink.The above photos record highlights of the last week. It was good to see the sliding hill, but it sure was a cold day and it is a wonder Reid and his friend, Dason, didn't freeze in the two hours they were out. Working with Boden was a pleasure. He had full concentraton for two hours of construction work and handled the saw, drill, scredriver, and hammer very well. We found several items to nail or screw on the base and ended up with quite a creation. The skiing was a joy. The two boys were so good together helping each other and following directions so we all had a good day in spite of some wind. It is so nice to see how adaptable they are to the cold and willing to head out after lunch for three more runs. The sun was warm, the snow soft and sparkling, the trails almost deserted, and the enthusiasm was high. Riding the triple chair together provided time for chatter and planning the coming descent. Each of us had turns leading the descent and planning the turns and both boys caught a bit of air on several jumps. Reid served as a source of power for Boden on a couple of flat areas and did a nice job of keeping him moving, pulling him along at the end of his pole. It is something I'm just not comfortable with now. I look forward to another trip but the pressure is on to head up the big mountain so I'm planning on some trips to get in shape - the four of us did one run from the top on our previous trip and I came down last feeling a bit tired so some training is due! Mom came along and joined us for lunch and drove home - a big help.

Mom and I saw two films this week. Finally saw the Social Network and would recommend it. It says a lot about the personality of Zuckerman - do any of the Dobbs Ferry family remember him? We figure matt and he are just far enough apart to have missed being in school together. The acting is good - not up to The King's Speech - but the flow of the movie and the presentation of the story line is vwery interesting and well done. I fint it turned me off of Facebook even more and raises many questions in my mind about this person who is changing our world so dramatically. His power over cultural change may be as great as Alexander the Great's at a comparable age. Alexander, by forcing mixed marriages, laid the foundation for Hellenistic culture - Facebook, by readjusting concepts of privacy and communication, may be laying the foundation for an equally dramatic change in how people relate and understand the world. How's that for an historian's perspective?

We also saw the broadcast of the opera, Don Carlo, live from the Met last night. A wonderful performance of that great five hour opera that ties together a love triangle, the struggle for Flemish freedom from Spanish rule, and the concept of duty. It is a very forceful story that was timely when written by Verdi as Italy struggled for unity and independence in the mid to late 19th century.

Art Hanging

Happy New Year!

On January 1, Dad, Rico, Boden and I went to a local coffeehouse with six of my abstract watercolors, and hung them on the walls. Rico, who knows how to do these things, was invaluable---measuring, wiring, taping, etc. etc. with great efficiency. Dad and I handed him his tools as needed, and eyeballed for straight lines. Boden worked with sticky tape, and managed the tape measure, and sipped his free drink with great relish. We made a grand work crew!

After an hour of climbing on and off of chairs, trying to avoid paying customers, and developing serious cases of the "squints", we were done. The paintings will stay up until the end of the month, and are available for sale. I came home, and in a fit of shameless self-marketing, wrote notes to all the people I could think of who might be potential buyers, alerting them to their big chance in January! We'll see---

I wish the order of the photos here was a little more coherent, but then, I consider myself lucky to have any photos at all. Maybe a new years resolution will be to work on blog composition!

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

I feel like I've had to wait on posting until the unbelievably unseasonable, beautiful weather has re-calibrated itself back to what you might expect from Colorado at the end of the year. The reason is simply empathy with those of you living in the parts of the world that are afflicted by horrendous weather events. Elli- I hope you're all staying dry and that the sunshine smiles on you again soon! Julie- I hope you've all dug out from the giant dump and you're keeping the house cozy and warm. For our part, we finally got the snow that was so reluctant in coming, but the kicker was the single-digit temperatures. We've been working hard at finding ways to cure cabin fever. We had a nice New Year's lunch with mom and dad today and had a couple of fun parties with neighbors the past two nights, but the best cabin fever killer was the bicycle sledjoring. Here's the recipe:

1 frigid snowfall

1 unplowed street

1 Mountain bike

1 Vehicle recovery strap

1 Sled

Mix together with some people who are thoroughly fed up with being indoors and add a dash of creativity with a cup of pent-up energy and this is what you'll get:

Here's the rider's-eye view (may cause motion sickness):

Mom and Dad posted a lot of photos similar to the ones we had from Christmas, but I'll throw a few of ours up here. There's some cute ones of Boden and Babbo and the whole crew on Christmas day.