There's something about the warm weather that makes me feel like building. When I was a kid, about nine years old, I recognized that I wanted to be an architect when I grew up. A couple of years later, my family embarked upon a summertime labor which brought me close to that aspiration. In our back yard, starting in the summer when I was eleven, we built an addition that doubled the size of our house. My dad was a teacher, and had the summers off. He supervised us with incredible patience and care. The older siblings were all given a new pair of sneakers, a hammer and a nail apron. We started off the project with digging, shovel by shovel, the crawl space and foundation. The younger kids had a great time playing in the piles of dirt.

If I remember well, that phase took a month or two. I enjoyed the physical labor, and didn't hold much of a grudge on 'having to' work on the addition. We worked the morning until lunch, took a two hour break, and then worked some more through the afternoon. Any socializing or hanging out was done after dinner.

The addition was like a part of the family. Our cousin played a main role on the work crew, as well as various aunts and uncles. I remember when the trusses were delivered early one morning. We all stood there in our youth, commenting on how in the world we would get the largest ones up to the second floor, let alone nail them in. We were a motley crew, and we knew it. Somehow we knew that this great responsibility was really an honor.

So, as the summer rolls along, I aim to focus my skills and build something with wood, hammer and nails. Of course the kids will be asking, "Mom, can I help?"

Summer vacation is in full swing. The kids were finished school on the 17th of June; it was a very long school year. We've been passing the time with board games, hanging out with friends and visiting with family. The kids caught up with two different sets of cousins, first nearby in Newark, and then at the beach.

I got to try out a new set of fins while swimming in the ocean. The week prior, I'd spent a little time reading up about free diving. While the ocean is not the safest place for me to try this out, our neighbors up the hill have a one acre spring fed pond. With friends nearby, I look forward to exploring the underwater world there.

On most days when I'm not at work, you'll find me at home in the backyard, working in the garden. Pictured above are the snap peas and broccoli. Our youngest child has a wheelbarrow and set of tools which keep him happy. He's got a pile of sand and soil of which he is fully in charge. He helps me water and mulch, and will gladly transport piles of weeds onto the compost. Even in the heat of the day, he stays focused on the task. When he's tired, he stops working and lets me know he's ready to go inside. I try and follow his lead. These are very special times that we share together.

This week there was an incredible thunder and wind storm. The power was out, and dinner had been served hours before. I was ready to be relieved of any domestic chores, so I decided to go out for a run. Our second child was adamant about joining me.

"Not today. I want to go by myself."
"Mom, I want to go with you. Please, please Mom!"
"Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no. Right now the answer's no."

He runs away as I lace up my shoes. By the time I am finished putting my hair up in a ponytail, he returns, holding his thickest pair of winter socks. He proceeds to put them on, pulling them up as high as they can go.

"OK, come on, we'll go together."
"Yeah!! Thanks Mom."

Children are so easily pleased. We drive to a nearby trail, and the second we close the car door he's off and running. I follow his lead, and let him set the pace. When he's tired, he walks, and I run ahead and then back, so that we're always in sight of each other. Half-way through he asks if he can take off his shirt.

"Sure."
"Yeah, I saw two other people running with their shirts off."
"Well, it's pretty hot."
"Hey Mom, if you're sweaty, you can use my shirt to wipe your forehead."
"Thanks. Can I use it right now?"
"Yeah."

He's a very considerate person. We had a wonderful time, and we've got plans to run together once a week. Next week he says he wants to have a race.

Our daughter has been busy, with end of the school year projects and tests. Last week we finally caught up for some laughter and conversation.

"So, what are you reading now?"
"The Percy Jackson series. Oh Mom, the 5th one came out last week. Can we go to Borders soon?"
"Let's go tomorrow after breakfast."
"Oh, cool, thanks."

She's old enough now to buy these things with her own money. The next day she spends all afternoon reading on the couch. I admire the way she works hard at school, and then sets out to relax on the weekend. She's meeting her own needs. She was one of twelve students (out of 56 who applied) chosen to be an ambassador for her school. Reading that letter of acceptance was a moment for me to step back and realize that her school community recognizes her for the wonderful individual whom she is. I am happy for her, and humbled by her wisdom and grace.

It is really helpful for me to recognize how easy it can be to be a positive, loving presence in my family's life. They are continual reminders of the never ending present moment, otherwise known as 'life'.

Such an interesting article...

Cyber Millenials: High-tech And Highly Educated Young Adults Who Drink Way Too Much

ScienceDaily (May 17, 2009) — "Audience segmentation" refers to categorizing people by their behaviors, attitudes, opinions, or lifestyles. It is widely used in social-marketing efforts. A new study uses this method to find high-risk drinkers in the US, leading researchers to a group dubbed the Cyber Millenials: "the nation's tech-savvy singles and couples living in fashionable neighborhoods on the urban fringe."

---

"Marketing research provides a unique window on individuals as consumers that has rarely been used in alcohol-prevention efforts," explained Howard B. Moss, associate director for Clinical and Translational Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and corresponding author for the study.

"We already know that a substantial proportion of the morbidity and mortality associated with alcohol use is due to heedless high-risk drinking," said Moss. "In this study, we utilized an established and widely used marketing research database and merged it with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in order to identify high-risk drinkers, their demographics, and consumer behaviors and media habits."

"This is a new approach, which is exactly why this paper is so interesting," added Vivian B. Faden, acting director of the Office of Science Policy and Communications at NIAAA. "Analyses such as this one may provide an important additional way to identify high-risk drinkers by understanding the 'social' groups in which they are most likely to be found. Understanding these groups better and more broadly in terms of their habits, likes and dislikes, and shopping, entertainment and other preferences can help inform prevention efforts."

Moss and his colleagues used multiple marketing-research data sources merged with the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System database. They performed a segmentation analysis of those individuals who self-reported consuming five or more drinks per drinking episode at least twice in the preceding 30 days.

"We identified the top 10 audience segments in the U.S. that engaged in twice-a-month, high-risk drinking," said Moss. "Five of these audience segments were made up of young adults, and five were middle-aged individuals. The young adult segment we called the 'Cyber Millenials,' with the highest rate of risky levels of alcohol drinking, represented well-educated, ethnically mixed, technologically sophisticated individuals who live in urban fringe areas on the West Coast and Middle Atlantic regions."

One of the surprising things about this group, added Moss, was that it is one of the most health-conscious segments of American society. "They have a lower-than-average smoking rate, they go to the gym, they consume organic produce, yet they binge drink at a level that is clearly detrimental to their well-being."

What was not surprising, observed Faden, was that this group was relatively young. "Drinking and high-risk drinking are most prevalent among young people," she said, "and many Cyber Millennials may be continuing drinking patterns established in their late teens and early twenties. In addition, this is an affluent group whose members have the resources to pay for multiple drinks, in a bar or club for example."

"Clinicians tend to be more blasé with younger, healthier patients, and might not even ask them about their level of alcohol consumption or screen them for alcohol problems," said Moss. Since half of our top 10 high-risk drinking segments are young adults, clinicians might want to 'ratchet up' their index of suspicion when these individuals present clinically. Asking about drinking behavior, giving advice, or conducting a formal brief intervention might save lives in the short-term, and reduce the risk of later development of alcohol-related organ damage or alcohol dependence."

"The average reader may be interested in figuring out which group they belong to," said Faden. "Knowing what the drinking habits of that group are may encourage them to reflect on their own drinking practices and recognize that they may be engaging in high-risk drinking." These findings could also be very useful in designing health campaigns for different audiences, she said.

"Readers need to recognize that a healthy lifestyle should include moderation in the consumption of alcoholic beverages," said Moss. "Being young, sophisticated, smart, successful, affluent and physically active does not protect against the adverse effects of heedless and excessive alcohol consumption."

Rain, and lots of it...

The cold rain hasn't stopped the boys from playing outside. A break in the clouds or even a steady drizzle has them putting on any available dry footwear. I coax them into hats and jackets, and remind them to be careful.

"It's slippery outside. Be careful on your bike."
"OK Mom, we'll be careful."

I stay inside, warm and dry, looking out the window every five minutes or so. For me, it is cookbook weather. I make a hot cup of tea and sit down at the kitchen table with a nice stack of favorites beside me. There's Nigella, Jerry Traunfeld, Heidi Swanson and the Barefoot Contessa, all set out to join me for the rainy afternoon. After sorting through half the pile, rereading old favorites and studying the pictures and techniques, I set out to make something delicious.

I set some water onto boil, get out the measuring cups and salt, roll up my sleeves and get to work. Really though, it is more like play. I get to mess around in the kitchen and create edible expressions of love and care. First, cornmeal mush with butter and smoked cheese, as the kids will be hungry from playing outside like puppies. Next, I sautee some onions for a while, to allow time to chop and steam vegetables for a spicy peanut stir-fry. There's a pot of rice cooked yesterday to go with that.

Then onto something sweet. There's a favorite recipe for bars, with oats, dried cranberries and ginger. I double the recipe, and soon find out that this is best made one batch at a time. Oh well, it makes for a pleasant granola. I make another cup of tea while I wrestle with the dishes. The boys burst in from outside, smelling like wet dogs. Their pants are soaked up to their knees, but their eyes are shining. They soon get changed into warm, dry clothes and join me at the table to enjoy bowls of cornmeal mush. It is an honor, to care for my family in this way.

Storage Units Make Great Neighborhoods

Photos by Christina Storozkova

I found this interesting article on www.handsonbuildergrower.blogspot.com :

Color Matching by the Color Blind

Color matching is an important aspect of the printing industry and something I got pretty good at after 8 years in the industry. Generally, when a color is not right it needs one of five colors to make it right - red, blue, yellow, black, or white/clear. 15 years later, I still describe colors as having more of one primary color and less of another (I have never been good at naming all the crayon colors).

Sometimes when we were stumped, we would ask our color-blind associate to help us. He could only see color as gray, but he could tell if one gray was darker (denser) than another and that would help us make the adjustments that to color that the rest of us couldn't see.

This was a surprise to me, that a color blind person could help match colors. When I asked around about it, I was told that color blind people were used to look at aerial photos during World War II. They did not see the camoflage. They could pick out hidden artillery or tanks that others wouldn't see.

Think about that the next time you are picking out numbers from the colored dots at the eye doctors office.

With the warmer weather comes the inevitable days spent at the creek. There is a place nearby where two branches meet. The water is clear, and there's ample shade and a sandy beach on which to have a picnic. There is an old rail road trestle whose stone walls are still standing strong. The kids enjoy a safe place to climb and descend. The other day we found some charcoal from a small fire pit, and promptly set out to decorate the larger stones nearby. These afternoons are well spent with friends and their young ones.