august means vacation

i spent the last week at my grandparents' farm for some good and some bad reasons. i got to meet my new baby cousin. such an adorable little wiggle! and my dad put the idea into my other cousin's head that he needed a mohawk. we all know how ideas are once they're planted -- hence the bright gold spikes in the picture.

excluding the time we were left there while my parents house-hunted, it's the first time my sister and i had been at the farm on our own. it's interesting how you can have just as much and as little in common with family as with everyone else. it was great to have flat out idle time, though -- i've never seen my sister sit still for so long at a go. just sitting and staring at the lake is an excellent way to recharge. and just-picked produce counts among the best things in the entire world.

i love the mix of ancient and new in upstate new york, where so many things have been there since forever (or as forever as america gets). it's a weird feeling to be related to someone in every cemetery along the road when i'm so used to having no ties at all. and to watch what changes when on so many levels it all just stays the same.

so -- cheers to taking time. and pictures.