Cinnamon, Dirigibles, and 3D glasses

If you've never heard the song "Sons and Daughters" by the Decemberists, goGoGO listen to it right now! It is positively enchanting. A lovely way to start the new year.

I stayed with Beth and Kevin Saturday night, chatted with Rachel and Leslie before and after church, heard Beth preach, and had french toast for brunch at a texmex restaurant. We took pictures in front of the Christmas tree, and then I piled my stuff and self into the car and hit the road, abandoning my pillow and new tweed pants. Alas.
(Don't worry, Rachel is bringing them to the ATL for me.)

"we'll build our walls
aluminum;
we'll fill our mouths
with cinnamon..."

I spent New Year's Eve and most of New Year's Day at Andy and Anjie's brand spankin' new house at the camp. Lane, Ben and Allen were all there, too, and we had a delightful time. We took a walk around the camp, getting the lay of the land, so to speak. We (and by "we" I mean mostly "they") cooked a rockin' dinner, complete with pot roast, cheesy cabbage, black eyed peas, greens, fruit salad, roasted potatoes... We drank buckets of champagne, played with sparklers in the damp front "yard," and listened to "Sons and Daughters" over and over and over...
This morning, Lane, Ben and Allen left at 6ish a.m. for Atlanta, and then the rest of us slept more, ate more, watched the first Harry Potter movie (which I forgot to grab when I left...), and took another long hike around the camp. In the late afternoon, I left, setting out for my aunts' house in MD.
The road leading from the highway to the camp is curvy and a tiny bit hilly, with farms on either side the whole way. The farmhouses are mostly old, and the road is lined with short (like 2 or 3 feet high) stone walls. Cows and sheep wander through the fields along the way. I told Anjie that if she has to move to the middle of no where, at least it's gorgeous!

I got to my aunts' house this evening around 6. The fog had set in during the drive, but their directions were quite detailed so I had no problem finding the house. We had brunswick stew (made in the crock pot -- which was easy to clean up thanks to these nifty crock pot liners my aunt found). Then we layered our clothes and headed to an xmas light display at a botanical garden nearby. They have 3D glasses you put on to look at the lights. (Actually, they were sold out in the gift shop, but my aunts had kept theirs the last time so we used those.) The glasses have a predetermined shape (of your choosing, from a small selection in the gift shop -- ours were the star of Bethlehem) that eminates from the lights. I'm not sure how all that works, but when you look at the xmas lights (any lights, really) through the glasses, each light is surrounded by that shape. So, I walked through this crazy lit up garden seeing billions of different colored stars of Bethlehem. It's incredibly difficult to describe, but it was fun.

Tomorrow, my aunts, Betsy and Sharon, and I will head into D.C. for some touristing. Ford's funeral is tomorrow, so it could be positively insane in the city. But we're going to try to go to the National Gallery of Art and the Lincoln Memorial.

Tomorrow evening, I'll head to Mollie's in the Richmond area. I'm super stoked to see her and Brian, and especially to meet her little girl.

I have some pictures, which are forthcoming... just not right this minute.

Happy New Year!

"by land, by sea,
by dirigible...
we'll leave our tracks
untraceable..."