on saturday night, our good buddy Audrey let us sleep on her floor. Dave and Monica hung out with us too. plans to hit the cool swimming holes were scuttled due to weather, but we had a good time sitting around and chatting. Jax and Audrey had a great time being silly. dinner at Whole Foods, a quick run to REI and some time spent at Book People rounded out the evening. it was great.

sunday morning, we put our stuff back into the car (now a bit drier) had lunch with some friends and then headed off to Pedernales Falls State Park. we got a great camp site hidden under some shade. with camp all set up and ready, we set off for the river. along the way we saw plenty of people on “bi-seek-uls” and we said “hi puppy” to the our passing canine friends.

it was a short walk to the water, but the grade down to the river was pretty steep if you’re not quite 3 feet tall.

we got to the bottom of the hill and discovered that there were “big, big rocks” in the water. some of them needed to be moved around a little and someone had to splash the water. a certain little boy even decided to really get into his work and lick the rocks. this was not advised by the parental units on hand but we all know how far that goes.

with the water thoroughly tasted and redistributed across the clothing of our keen adventurers, we headed back to camp where we watched the fire and got some much needed rest.

the next morning, we set out for the falls. it wasn’t a bad hike down and Jax seemed to really enjoy it. there weren’t too many places where he could get out and hike, but he had plenty of “big, big rocks” and “wagater falls” to point at so he was pleased. there were also plenty of folks to whom we could say “hi people!” and “more people!”

there were some rocks we had to climb.

and a couple of dicey jumps.

but we survived to tell the tale.

we followed one of the trails along the river and let the dude run free.

and run he did. in fact, he hiked well over a mile. we were so proud of him for setting the pace.

there was a fantastic picnic spot by the river’s edge under a tree.

the peanut butter sandwiches went down smoothly in the surrounding silence.

at the beach, there were more rocks to be tossed around and Jax single-handedly re-routed the river.

oh, and Stacey was there too.

another night in camp with some serious rest. we were very tired campers and the weather was nice and cool. there was much snoring and Jax even slept in his very own sleeping bag for the first time. in the morning, we had some oatmeal and went to find the trail that overlooks the twin falls. it was a really, really pretty view.

we took a quick family photo at the overlook.

we left the falls behind and broke camp to head off to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. we’ve been there before, but there were several trails we didn’t get a chance to hike the last time and it seemed like a good, close place to put in a couple of nights. and it was!

the trail we took around the main rock led us to some serious tests of climbing skill!

and some tests of our letters! again, Jax was quite the hiker on this trail. he covered most of the ground around the rock itself.

we hiked around the lake…

and found our way down into echo canyon where we took a left turn and started our ascent. we made it to the top pretty quickly and fortunately, there was a puddle to inspect.

Jax hiked over half of the way down Enchanted Rock all by himself. he’s not one to quit and it took quite a bit of work to convince him that it was time to get back in the carrier.

back at camp, we relaxed and made some popcorn.

and then some of us just passed out from all of the fun.

before we left on thursday morning, we saw four deer running in the dry riverbed near our camp site. this was pretty handy as Jax had been going on and on about “deer” since we first set up camp. on our last trip to Enchanted Rock, there were plenty of deer for a not-quite-walking Jax to check out. it was good to see that they were still there. he also mastered the bridge that crossed over to the site and the steps that led up to it. for a kid who lives in a house without stairs, that’s a pretty big deal!

snow?

huh? apocalypse? now? but i still have to finish lego indiana jones!

When we found out that we had a little dude on the way it was decided that SG would retire from her career as a system administrator and take on the fulltime job of being a parent. This would require some adjustments to our lifestyle, but not big ones (we’ll talk about our experiences with the dual income myth in another post). We had already cancelled cable television as spending money on something we didn’t watch was silly. We never really ate out all that much because we love cooking and we’re pretty good at it. It’s hard to swallow shelling out good money for food you can make better at home for a fraction of the cost. And as most of our friends and family know, our idea of a vacation is a week in the mountains in a tent so we weren’t looking at a lot of extravagant spending (except at the bookstore or REI).

Our boy is 15 months old now and as the world economy continues to slow we’re seeing “the experts” advocate a style of living that we’re quite accustomed to and wondering where everybody has been all this time. Living simply is easy. The hardest part is throwing away the mental baggage and accepting that those of us in “Generation X” will be living more like our grandparents and less like our parents in short order. That’s what we want to talk about here.

After World War II America started to embrace the idea of making tasks less time consuming by using more industrial products. Women were the main targets here as the industrial food chain started to get itself into high gear. Michael Pollan does a great job of explaining all of that so we’ll leave that to him. As the years passed it became natural to open a can of green beans instead of buying them fresh or, Heaven forbid, growing them in the back yard. Back yard gardens disappeared in most places and we became a society that was perfectly happy to eat meals from a box with “just add ground beef or chicken” flambouyantly printed on it.

Around our house we’re not so big on that.

The fact is, vegetables from a can taste pretty bad. Most of the meat available at the grocery store is gross too. And eggs? Forget it. Our addiction to good food started small with SG hitting the farmers market for vegetables. From there we moved on to locally grown eggs. And then to a split quarter of pastured beef. The difference was astonishing. Our bottom line wasn’t really touched much either. We pay less for veggies, a little more for eggs, and buy meat once a year. We prepare our meals at home using things that we grow in the garden and make some seriously good food. Certainly better than anything you’d get at a restaurant without a reservation.

But making dinner takes time! Yes. Yes it does. We might spend up to 30 whole minutes preparing dinner. While we do that all three of us are in the kitchen talking about our day and being quite silly. Indeed we are missing a rerun of “Roseanne” on the SuperStation, but if that’s what we have to give up for a brilliant pasta in homemade sauce served with freshly baked bread then that’s the sacrifice we’re willing to make! And what kind of sacrifice is that? At the end of the day all of the promised time savings of the industrial food chain and the associated disposable lifestyle simply gave us more time to watch TV. When TV leaves the agenda there is more time for those million other things we’d like to try or do.

Please don’t misunderstand. TV and technology aren’t evil. A frozen pizza isn’t the worst thing in the world either. But it’s not the best. All things need to be done in moderation and moderation isn’t something that our generation has been taught very effectively. We will learn. The times that we’re living in now will be a great teacher. That said, we’re going to open up this space to talk about how we live. We’ll show the little things that we have done to make our lives more frugal, responsible, and fun.

we got to enchanted rock and set up our camp site.  it was a nice site with a sheltered picnic table and plenty of sand and rocks for a little boy to pour all over himself. 

once we established our base camp, we set out to conquor enchanted rock.  it’s a massive chunk of granite that begs to be climbed.  the grade is pretty significant.  the “trail” goes up about 450 ft over 0.6 miles.  but that’s nothing if you can fit into a backpack and sucker someone into carrying you up to the top.

it was an amazing view.

we went to bed when the sun went down and got up when it rose.  a quick cup of oatmeal and some really bad coffee/tea/pediasure for breakfast and we were off!

the drive across texas to the mountains was a long one.  we quickly learned that little boys like to stop every 2.5 hours to wander around random playgrounds or parking lots.  anything to be free of the car seat!

many hours later, we made it to the davis mountains state park.  the nice ranger set us up with a great campsite next to “the creek.”  it should be noted that the chihuahan desert isn’t known for its creeks.  this one was good and dry.

we put up the tent and got settled for the evening.  as we were making our dinner, we had a visitor:  a buck mule deer!

we got very quiet and watched as it got closer.  we snapped some photos and watched as he looked us over. 

the seconds turned to minutes.  the minutes grew longer.  the deer didn’t move as the dude banged his pots and pans together.  j.c. got tired of waiting for the deer to get skittish and tossed a rock in his general direction.  the animal walked over to the rock and sniffed it.  then he looked up at us as if to say “this isn’t a meatball.”  finally, the deer got bored and left.  this was more sad than anything else.  people in the park have fed the deer so much that they have lost their fear of humans entirely.  this is decidedly not cool.  it was made even more distressing when we were visited by a pair of does later on during our visit.  not cool.

remember people, don’t feed the animals!  keep the wildlife wild!  seriously…it’s not even a little OK.

the next day we set off to climb the mountain.  again, this is pretty easily accomplished if your dad is roughly 10 times your size and thinks you are the greatest thing this world has ever known. 

we walked up the mountain bike trail as the folks at the park who were “in the know” told us that the grade was mellow enough that hiking it with a baby would be easy.  and it was.  we saw wilder mule deer and plenty of cool birds and plants.

at the top of the mountain there was an observation deck and we grabbed a seat for lunch.  the wind was incredible.  it didn’t stop at all.  the dude had some great play time in the CCC built  shelter.

after about an hour we began our descent.  it was a long climb down a sheer cliff.

JUST KIDDING GRAMMY!

slowly but surely we made our way back to camp in time for little dudes and dads to have a quick nap.

on our final night in the mountains, j.c. and stacey sat up recounting the adventures.  from near the camp there was the loud thrashing of someone or something stomping through the dry grass.  the first thought:  chupacabra!  what we got was a close second:  javalina!

not to be on a soapbox here, but hunting one of these things has to be like ordering a pizza.  they snort loudly, travel in groups, and seem to have no ability to walk quietly.  they are about as subtle as a freight train.  maybe these animals knew they were in a state park, but c’mon people!

it was cute to see the first one.  we’d hoped to see plenty of animals and this was a front row seat.  seeing the second one come out of the brush was neat too!  after the sixth one entered camp, we began to regret leaving porschea at home.  they say that javalinas will kill dogs.  i still think that if she thought that the boy was in danger my money would be on the rottweiler.  come to think of it, if she’d been there i doubt that any of the animals would have come to call.  in any case, next time the dog comes along!

our trip back was broken up by a night in fredericksburg at the brand new (as in opened the friday before!) motel 6.  it was marginal, but it did the job.  we had some great food at the beer garden and watched the same episode of iron chef america that we saw the last time we had access to cable tv…in february…in ohio.  amazing, eh?

it was a great trip and we hope that it won’t be too much longer before the next one.  we are so proud of our little boy.  he took to the tent like a pro and didn’t fuss any more than he would have in his own bed at home.  he loved being outside and playing under the vast blue sky.  he’s a natural outdoorsman and we couldn’t be more tickled.

go team wilson!

ike didn’t really abuse our home too badly, though we had a tree fall down…

and there was an awful lot of wind:

we managed to survive the lake in the backyard…

and the river in the street…

when it was all over, we set up a little shade on the deck so we could hear the generators better and really enjoy the bouquet of their fumes…

with only a couple of shingles missing, we settled in for the heat and the boredom.  the fact of the matter is that we don’t do a lot (aside from using the computer) that is completely dependent upon electricity.  that said, things like going into the walk-in closet or even searching the pantry was a hassle.  missing out on refrigeration is a bummer too but in the end, it was the ceiling fan that i missed most.  when the air doesn’t move, the world becomes a hot and stagnant place.  and that’s not cool.

so to beat the boredom, we decided to hit REI, get a dude backpack and head out to bastrop state park for an 8.5 mile hike!

see how happy we are?  how thrilled we are to be in the great outdoors!  the excitement of the trail!  the wind in our faces!  the sun gently kissing our shoulders!  what more could we want?

this was obviously before mile 5 when the “i haven’t had my nap yet” crying started and mommy and daddy realized that it was a lot warmer out than they had anticipated.  this isn’t to say that Jax didn’t try to nap!

all in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon…but it was a bummer to come home to no power.  not that we expected it.

but all of that changed today!  10 days after ike blew out the lights, they came back on and with them the ceiling fans and dishwasher.  life is back to normal and we’re safe and sound.

stacey and jax had to head out to the nearest store because of the things we forgot, pots and pans were the first we noticed. because she’s a genius, she also picked up baby wipes. it seems like no matter how many tons of those we have, it’s never enough. sadly, she also brought the devil to our camp in the guise of coffee singles. man are those weak.

but once we got all of the things we’d forgotten socked away, jax got fired up and demanded that we hike! and who are we to deny him?

on our way up the hill, we saw a big turkey. i mean, a really big turkey. this picture doesn’t do it justice, but here it is anyway.

i tried to get closer, but it bolted. clearly it didn’t want me to cross its path…with gravy!

we had a really good walk up the hill and then took the stroller down some fairly rough terrain. things that Meme would groan at knowing that she provided a vehicle for such recklessness. like playing with a leatherman…

but we did it! and the harness in that thing? pure gold. the dude giggled the whole time.

after following the map (incorrectly) we wound up back at camp. dinner was provided for the dude and then he sat on mommy’s lap while daddy (that’s me) wrestled with the fire and cooked up some burgers for those in the party with teeth and thumbs. think about that for a minute. we passed the rest of the evening relaxing around camp.

we turned in around 8:30 pm. it was dark enough and the dude was ready. we knew he wouldn’t sleep without us, so we loaded up in the tent. the temperature got down to about 55F and that was good for all of us. he only woke up once or twice. or any time i moved my arm as that was what he chose to snuggle with all night.

and then it was 5 am. and he was awake. for real.

i got up and made a fire. breakfast was ready at about 7-ish. we chowed down and hit the trail. again, it was a great day of hiking. at the end of it all, we decided that two nights would be too much and headed home. we’ve learned a lot about camping with babies. one night is good. two nights, maybe less so. so we’ll stick with our newfound knowledge and see what happens.

he is happy and healthy.

mom is doing amazingly well after a rough day.

we. got. lucky. we hit below our budgeted price point and the place was just down the street. we were pretty excited. so excited, in fact, that we moved everything out of those rooms except for the massive china cabinet and the couch. i scheduled friday off and we set to work thursday night doing demolition. with the last of the furniture removed, things looked like this:







tearing out the carpet was a breeze. and yanking out the tackstrips only went to prove to me that the builder was not interested in the finest concrete makind has produced. but whatever. with the help of our good buddy bryan we had the china cabinet out and the demolition done in about an hour. then we ate pizza (i told bryan he had to stop and eat NOW before SG inhaled it all…apparently, the baby LOVES pizza).

with the carpet up, it looked a lot like this:

notice how we’re still silly and loving life. we had yet to really begin to work. somewhere deep down i knew that, but we were still having fun with it.

since the night was still young and we were planning to take friday morning to drive out to where SG went to redneck college and pick up the 1/4 grass-fed cow that we’d oredered weeks ago (and man was it good…steaks for dinner saturday night proved that this is the way to eat cows!) we decided to be crazy and put down the padding. it looked easy enough! and it was. so much so that i decided that it was my turn to be in a picture (nobody ever takes pictures of dads during pregnancy).

friday came and we got our beef. then we started slapping down the flooring. it goes very quickly once you get the hang of it. and honestly? it’s a one person job. which turned out to be quite handy since SG isn’t much for bending over these days. but she did have two very important jobs that really saved us some time. first, she got to stand on the boards as i clicked them into place (this kept things from popping up and bringing down a storm of profanity that might have disturbed our lil dude) and working the power tools. hey, you don’t have to bend over to use a compound mitre saw!

friday saw most of the floor go down. after we got about halfway through the living room (did i mention that the whole project was about 580 sq ft? no? yeah. that’s a lot of floor) betty and ken came to take us out for dinner and give “baby james” his first easter gift. let me assure you, it got to him.

that’s some seriously cute bread. really. i almost felt bad when i bit its face off. but the buttery tasty goodness made it all ok somehow.

after dinner with the in-laws, we hit it again. by the end of the evening, all of the floor was down. and we figured out why it is that we don’t take pictures of men when they’re expecting:

i remember being wiped out like that a few times in my life, but wow, i look pretty special there. so much so that i didn’t even notice when SG snapped the pic.

saturday morning i felt pain like i haven’t felt in quite some time. muscles i never knew i had were screaming at me. it would seem that crawling around on the floor all day isn’t for me. huh. whoda thunk?

and yet we still needed to get transitions and quarter round to finish things off. our numbers were off so i had to take a break from swearing, i mean putting in the transitions and quarter round, to pick up more. after another day on my knees, we were done. a trip to target to get some rugs and assorted items earlier in the day really finished everything off quite nicely.

before bed we put all of our furniture back into place and i sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor. that is to say i fell onto the couch and couldn’t move for a good thirty minutes.

in the end, it looks like a new house. it’s almost like we were on one of those home make-over shows only we paid for it all and did all of the work. so i guess…um…it’s nothing like that. except that i did get to work with a hottie who is good with powertools!

and i should mention that porschea is beside herself. she hates it. running around on this stuff is like trying to sprint on an ice rink. she keeps to the rugs in the middle of the room and is doing some serious pouting because she knows that she’ll never win at tug again.

you can find all of your pictures here:
http://othertime.com/galllery/main.php?g2_itemId=72

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oh yeah…we’re having a baby soonish. we’ll post about that in this space.