All Creatures Great and Small

Even better than the fact that this was our third time attending the Blessing of the Animals in celebration of the Feast Day of Saint Francis, was the fact that this is our second year in a row securing a blessing for Miles' imaginary dog, Snandy.

These Episcopalians, Lord love them, will give out blessings to anyone, for free! As if they cost nothing!

Miles holds Snandy by the leash.

It was so adorable, you guys. Our priest knelt to bless Snandy, hand poised over a spot about 2.5 feet above the ground. Later, our Christian education director pet a spot about the same height. Miles confided, "Miss E. and Father S. think Snandy is taller than he really is." I told him, "Father S. and Miss E. really love you. But it's very, very hard for grownups to see Snandy. You have to help us."

Snandy: A Portrait

I will sure miss Snandy when he wanders off to that place where the imaginary friends go when they are outgrown. But I know he'll have great company in the invisible lion I had when I was a kid, and in the like of Puff the Magic Dragon.

Anyway, there were a number of non-imaginary dogs there as well!

It was a glorious little service and such a sweet way to end the weekend.

Adele got a kick out of the chance for a pavement run in the sun.

O God, who made everything good, teach us to love what you have made. Help us to see
you in the stars and planets, the trees and flowers, the rocks and the rivers, and
especially in these pets of ours you have entrusted to our care. How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth. Amen.
-A Prayer for Pets

Hanging Rock

Saturday afternoon brought us to the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in Monroe County, West Virginia. We often joke about how we know nothing about the surrounding towns and counties to Blacksburg (I call it, sweepingly, The Country), and how we almost never leave town. So this was an intrepid effort!

You hike for about a mile. It's relatively gentle, though a bit rocky and steep in places.

You get to go through golden woods.

Ponder your existence and compare it to things such as trees and sky.

You get occasional glimpses of the valley below, and sometimes you can sense how high up you are. But mostly your view is confined to the grove of trees you are in.

So it's good to have beautiful people with you, within that grove, to look at.

You marvel at strange sights along the way,

...and you trek up and keep the faith that you'll be able to see what there is to see, soon.

And then, suddenly...

...you can.

Ok, I recognize that was an excessive amount of photography. I couldn't help it. It's 360 degrees of glorious.

We saw few raptors. There was a bald eagle, a few turkey hawks, and I think another kind of hawk. Some ravens. But apparently you want cooler, windier weather for better viewing. Those we saw were so high we needed the binoculars at the observatory to make them into birds and not wheeling specks.

Oh, but it was so worth it.

This guy wanted to scale some rocks with me. This control-loving, cowardly Mama actually let him! In a controlled way. I just wouldn't let him use the huge rock slope as a slide. Would you?

It's so hard to know where parenting becomes coddling.

Adele cried the last 10 minutes up the mountain, but once we got up here? She was charged with joy.

This little house on the top of the world was so cozy. I wanted to do yoga there.

 

Miles now cherishes a desire to live here. Or in some other tiny house on a mountain in West Virginia. He's not too picky. 

When evening came, we shoved off down the mountain again. It made for a long day.  

Again: it was worth it.

Fall Festival the Third

There is a bit of a recurring theme here on this blog. The theme is this: "Here we are doing something in Blacksburg for the second, third, or fourth year in a row. My how things have changed!" Have you noticed this theme?
For the third year in a row, the first Saturday in October found us chugging out to the Fall Harvest Festival at the Meadowbrook Public Library, in Shawsville (read: The Country).

(Here we are last year and two years ago, if you are interested.)

Once again, Miles sits down to play musical hay bales. Despite his glum expression here, he did win a painted pumpkin and he picked the Hello Kitty one, much to Adele's delight.

Mill Mountain Zoo was back with an array of small critters.

I do love owls.

Barnyard animals were seriously underrepresented this year. All they had was the one goat. We still enjoyed the encounter.

Andy's faithful partner has gone on to horsey heaven since last year! We tried to console Andy as best we could.

The hay ride was a bit short on hay, but there were still thrills to be had. At one point, the ride went downhill and the horse cantered!! Children were whooping and beaming all around. 

Miles & I especially loved the bluegrass.

Adele requested a surprisingly patriotic decoration for her face:

We were there escaping the homecoming scene in Blacksburg, where the Hokies were playing UNC. Hokies won anyway, despite our absence. :-)

Miles' choice.

It was a sunny Autumn dream of a morning. It was hard to drag ourselves away, but Jon had another attraction in mind for the afternoon.

We took a ride to West Virginia (more Country) to what end the reader will have to stay tuned to see!

Astronomy for Amateurs.

There is a blessed gap in the evenings between the bath and the Final Stories where we just play. Adele has taken to imitating our postures, whether reading on our tummies, sitting cross-legged, or belly-up, gazing at the planets.

A few of the planets on Miles' ceiling.

Kid pile!!!

Storytime. As Miles requested, "Miles and Adele" are substituted for the names of Franklin & Harriet the turtles.

I do love having two bedrooms for these tinies. Adele has been sleeping through the night (except for times of illness) since we got back to Blacksburg in August. Miles... still needs encouragement. We told him yesterday that if he woke up and was reeeeally scared, he could take a pillow and blanket and sleep on Adele's floor.

He was on her floor by 8:30 last night. And he slept most of the night there. We're pretty much okay with this.

And I must say, it's extremely convenient to have two kids so fond of each other in the mornings. Sunday Adele woke up at at 7 shouting, "Miles! Miles! here! Adele!" and he went running to play with her, throw every stuffed animal she owns into her crib, etc. And we got to sleep in another 45 minutes. We'll take it.