Expedition 5280: 3/8/09

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Will and Grammy were able to "dine together" via Skype a couple days ago. My mom is full of great ideas!

First Bike Ride

For the first time in MONTHS I was FINALLY able to get back on the saddle! Will is able to sit up assisted and has pretty good trunk control so he can go in the Trek that Bee and Cat gave us.

Such a liberating experience! Steve and I took turns towing Will. I definitely drew the long stick as I had the wind to my back! That was a good thing too because my riding legs still need some toning. When we swapped Will over to Steve's bike I felt light as tumbleweed and was giddy as ever! Will and I shall have many adventures riding and I'm going to have some seriously strong legs!

First Meal

Will encountered his first "solid food" last weekend. he partook of the classic rice cereal which was more like a soup than anything. Grandma and Grandpa Holly were present via Skype. Steve's computer was acting funny, so we lost the connection at some point and weren't able to Skype Grammy and Papa. I've always had a fetish for sitting on counter tops. My mom tried to cure me of it, but unfortunately, I find some strange comfort in it.

He's sitting in a Bumbo- the best invention EVER! Will watches me do most everything in the kitchen while in his Bumbo. We have great conversations about cooking and life and I've learned that he can knock cylindrical things over as well as reach pretty far while in his magic chair.

Tickle Treatment

As a little girl, my mom would take my braids and tickle my face and ears with the ends. Here, Will gets a bit of tickle treatment from his mama.

A Recent Rare Phenomenon

Last night we were at a local coffee shop with some friends. While sitting by the widow, we noticed that it had unexpectedly begun snowing. A few minutes later we all looked up to notice bright flashes, similar to that from a camera flash reflecting in the window. Since you never see lightning (or hear thunder) during a snow storm we all looked around for the abnoxiously bright flash from someones camera. It was nowhere to be found. Next thing we hear the boom of thunder and immediately car alarms start sounding. At this point we all look outside to see what looks like hail....but its not. It is simply pea sized snowballs that are falling like rocks from the sky. Needless to say, this was the first time any of us had experienced anything like this. The snowballs were not hard but soft...just like snow. The lightning and thunder continued for a while longer, as most everyone who was in the coffee shop either was glued to the windows or went outside for closer inspection. Bethany, who was sitting with our group, said that she had heard something like this happening before and said it was called a "thundersnow storm". Well, it is a true and rare event that is even more rare in a "land locked" state like Colorado. Here is the local newspaper headline from the Rocky Mountain News: "We were enjoying the lights, sights and sounds of a thundersnow that rolled through downtown around 9:30 p.m. And, we didn't make up that word thundersnow, either. It's a real, but rare phenomenon (and very rare in landlocked Colorado), according to a quickie Google search. In the simplest of terms, cold air meets warm air. As those two air masses interact, it causes friction, or a convection (up- and-down movement of air), which if violent enough, can cause lightning and thunder".

If you are still interested, check out the Wikipedia article for it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow