Being a bachelor

Hopefully Timmy's bud George doesnt get mad at this......

Right now I am taking a break from stacking some rock maple that I have been splitting over the past week or four....Amanda and Callum are safely arrived in Rochester, NH to visit Andrea and Michael. As I have already spoken to Amanda this afternoon, I know Callum is enamored with the Clauss's baby chickens they are raising for eggs. Callum just LOVES animals of all kinds. Perhaps he will grow up to be a James Herriot or a Calum Buchanan or a Siegfried Farnum, even...

I am enjoying the house all to myself. This morning, after church, I did a 20 mile ride through some beautiful country (I call it the RIVER ROAD LOOP). The only downside to this is that, whereas my ride takes me through some beautiful farmland, farmers are out in full force, dropping manure on their cornfields. This, in turn, means that the road is covered with dried up manure tracks from the big tires of the tractors. I got home, had lunch, and I have been out doing firewood ever since. Later, I will get a Ming Lee combination plate (which I will eat with a spoon) and watch some serious X-Files (well, I mean I will "seriously" watch several episodes....NOT that I will only watch X-Files individual episodes of a serious nature....)

Callum has been really loving building towers lately....



These things are taller than him, even. Amanda and I clash over blocks. She grew up as a Lego kid, and I grew up as Lincoln Logs kid. There were basically only three types of kids when we grew up: Lego kids (who are now all the left brain, sequential, logical thinkers who can, let's say, put together kid's toys, follow directions of manuals, etc), Lincoln Logs kids (who now are all grown up and plagued with a keen fascination for all things wood...particularly firewood), and Tinker Toys kids (these kids are all at WPI or MIT now, and probably will never marry)
Before I get back to my wood, I wanted to show what else Callum has been really into lately: Drawing. He loves crayons--but he particularly loves colored pencils. When I say he "loves drawing," what I really mean is that he loves to hold crayons and tell US to draw him things on demand. Like, for example, he'll hold three crayons and say "Cat!" and want me to draw him a cat. Then, he says "I did it!' and takes credit for the work I did. Hopefully, he grows out of this liberal-American phase.....
Have fun Amanda and Callum. Be careful. Dont get pecked by chicks. Get me a present!