Seven Years Later

 

Here we are, seven years after my last post. On our 19th anniversary, David and I were looking at the old blog, and I thought, "I miss the Voyage of the Bloomingtonauts. Maybe I'll restart it."

Life is very different now than it was in 2015. David, Malinda, and I are living in Claremont, California, where I'm working as the Head of Cataloging & Metadata at the Claremont Colleges Library. David left his teaching job at Florida State when everyone else was leaving their jobs during the pandemic. He's in school now, working on a certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

For our 19th anniversary, we went to our favorite California botanical garden, the LA County Arboretum. We sat on a bench by the pond and watched a huge flock of swallows swoop and dive over the water. There were turtles piled up on a rock, and a great egret stalking across the shore. "I wish we could see a peacock," I said, because the Arboretum is famous for its gorgeous, shrieking peacocks.

Then this peacock swept into view and strolled right past us, posing for pictures as it went.

What Happened in April

Malinda imitated the statue on our dining room table.

I went kayaking.

And hiking.

 And looking at wildflowers.

And contra-dancing.

 David and I celebrated our ten-year anniversary with a wonderful trip to Amelia Island.

We saw an alligator.

 And a snake getting a drink of water.

 And a billion fiddler crabs.

 And two little ground doves.

 We walked through the woods.

 And out on a fishing pier.

 And along the beach.

A shrimp festival was going on, and we got stuck in the middle of a parade. Everyone in town seemed to be dressed as pirates or shrimp. At lunch, we met a group of pirate ladies, and they gave us some beads.

The Woolen Anniversary

Did you know that seven years is the woolen anniversary? Neither did I until it arrived. My present-wrapping and card-decorating theme was that line in Vergil's Eclogues where he says that in the Golden Age, sheep came in all different colors.

We went to St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge for a day of birdwatching and nature photography.

It was a perfect day.

We climbed up to an observation platform above one of the ponds, which gave us a great view of the alligators, while keeping us safely out of their reach.

In some places, the water was so clear that you could see the alligators' legs, and crabs crawling along the bottom.

We watched this great egret catch and swallow a fish.

This redwinged blackbird looked like a plush toy.

We watched him fly to the top of a twig and sing his heart out.

The Cast Iron Anniversary

Sunday was our sixth anniversary, and the theme was cast iron. We thought it might be a challenge, but it turned out to be one of the best themes so far. I got David this fountain, which has a cast iron base. I'm hoping that birds will like it, but mosquitoes won't.

David went to the greatest antique store of all time and got me this cool cast iron elephant ...

... and also a wonderful Victorian inkwell. It's not cast iron, but he couldn't pass it up. He knows I love antique inkwells.

This one is an amazing find! It has fantastic decoration, including siren figures and satyr faces.

And leafy tangles of vine that, on closer inspection, turn out to be weird little faces.

The leaves and vines remind me of my wedding ring.

Our Wooden Anniversary

It's hard for me to believe, but David and I have been married for five years. The theme of the fifth anniversary, according to Emily Post, is wood. So I gave David a wooden slug. I like to keep up the traditions.

David wrote me a beautiful poem (in Greek) and gave it to me in a wooden frame.

Also, a booth at my favorite second-hand store was having a clearance sale, and I took the opportunity to pick up some more wooden objects. I surprised David with this table, which is going to provide us with some hallway organization ...

... and with this lovely vintage desk for David's study! So the wooden anniversary was a great success. And next year, we can look forward to gifts of ... cast iron. Maybe I can find a cast iron slug.

An Anniversary Poem

It's all I have to bring to-day --
This, and my heart beside --
This, and my heart, and all the fields
And all the meadows wide --
Be sure you count -- should I forget
Some one the sum could tell --
This, and my heart, and all the Bees
Which in the Clover dwell.

-- Emily Dickinson

A Year of Voyaging

A year ago today I posted to this blog for the first time. Since then, the Bloomingtonauts have gone through four career changes and one cross-country move, decorated and redecorated two apartments, written thousands of words and read hundreds of books. (The writing was on classical subjects; the books ... not entirely.) We spent our year observing the weather and the birds, teaching classes, baking pastries, sorting documents, watching our plants grow, reading poetry, entertaining the cat, doing beadwork, and taking pictures of everything. David's flower photography got even more gorgeous. I started carrying a little camera with me everywhere. We took picture after picture of birthday parties, holiday get-togethers, board games and walks in the park and farewell lunches, because whenever we got to spend time with our families and friends, we wanted to celebrate it here on the blog. Each little moment on the blog, posted one at a time, added up to a whole wonderful year for the Bloomingtonauts. Thanks for keeping us company on our voyage.

Four Years Ago Yesterday

To My Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay;
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persever,
That when we live no more we may live ever.

--- Anne Bradstreet