Red Chuck

Miss Razorback and the Coonskin Cap Kids

Representin' at The Purse and the Person: A Century of Women's Purses.

Thank you Caroline for the pics.

Sayeth the Prince of Disco

We had an impromptu living room dance party tonight, after which, Harrison said,

"I boogied down til I sweated!"

Then, when he came upstairs, he said,

"Whew. I'm pooped. I'm totally exhausted from dancing PLUS I'm all out of jokes. Will I have jokes tomorrow?"

I think so.

Beach Report - Hermit Crab Edition

So today's beach report is that the big brother caught a . . . what is it called? Oh yeah. He caught a Hermit Crab.

I hope this was catch and release. We definitley don't want one of these "House of Sand" set ups at our house.

I can see a positive element to owning and caring for crustacean pets. The upside to all that misting and misting and well, more misting, is this - hermit crabs don't bark.

Links:

5 Things

Harrison's advice for Julian on what it's like dealing with babies and little sisters in particular. [editor's note: This is straight dictation taken from a 7 year old. I stuck as closely as possible to his diction and pronunciation.]

Julian, I got a list of things to tell ya. Well, having a little sister, life will be pretty rough. And, here's what they do:

1. They take up Mom's space.

2. They really like My Little Pony. I guess.

3. Julian, you got to co-opicate with them. You don't know what that means. I'll tell you that later.

4. When they are first born, they start saying oooo gooo gaaa gaaa, or something like that. When the baby says that, ask your Mom & Dad what that means. I don't understand that kind of talk.

5. Last thing. Lock your doors.
   Posted by Red Chuck at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

Snowball Trumpet

Sunday, Harrison told me that when he grows up, he's going to fill a trumpet with snowballs so that he can shoot snowballs at his children.

Fireflies

Saturday evening Harrison and I decided to catch fireflies. We found a small mason jar in the kitchen and poked air holes in the top. I bent the tines on a fork pounding through the metal but we were in a hurry. We could see small sparks from our window. It was the magic hour. The fireflies were in abundance. There was no time to lose.

Once we had our gear assembled, we went to the front yard. Even though it was only 8pm, it was completely dark outside. The sky was still overcast after a full day of rain. The grass was damp under the trees and the air was cool. We stood still for a second, quietly surveying our lot. Our neighborhood was dark and hushed. Not a creature was stirring not even a. . . then we saw a flicker to our right and another out towards the street. Harrison bolted into the yard. I watched him as he hopped a few paces away from me, down our sloping yard and into the night. He stopped near the street. He paused. I saw another flicker between where he stood and my position at the edge of the lawn. He saw the light too and was off again, running now with his hands out in front of him. "I got one!" he yelled. I couldn't belive it. It seemed too quick but I walked down and held out the jar. He put his closed hands over the lid and then unclenched his little fists while pushing his palms inwards, towards the mouth of the jar. Quickly I slid the cover under his hands and when we both looked, we saw that we had made our first catch.

"What should we name him?" I asked.

"Robert," said Harrison, without missing a beat.

We looked again and Robert blinked once.

Loverboy

So this Saturday I was screaming my head off at the TV. I had World Cup fever, especially during the Ghana vs Czech Republic game. "Shoot it! Shoootiiiit! SHOOT!" After enduring a lot of my couch potato revelry, Harrison turned to me and said, "Hey, Loverboy. Here's the deal. They can't hear you."

Last Day of Kindergarten

So here's the artist on his last day of kindergarten, which was last Friday. Since then, Harrison's been basking in summer vacation goodness: going swimming, going to the park, going to the zoo, etc.

This week we went out to dinner with some friends. While the waitress started taking our drink orders, Harrison said, "This is the life. . . no more homework. . . no getting up early. . ." Then he started waving his arms in the air like some sort of Sicilean Don, "THIS is the life, I say." The waitress started cracking up. "Look at the way he's waving his arms," she said, "That's so cute."

2 Drawings

Harrison has been doing some great pencil and crayon drawings lately.

I love the colors in this totemic creature.

I like this guy's attitude — I see: flower power meets bewildered blue crab with crooked arrow to yo mama.

What's a twerp?

"A twerp is another word for a teenager."
-Harrison

Elemental Cousins

"Wind is the cousin of gravity. . . you can't see them but you can feel their power."

-Harrison, Sunday, L Street Park

Jazz Music

Last night, Harrison was sitting at the kitchen counter eating a bowl of ice cream while I was emptying the dish washer. We were chilling out after a long day of outdoor stuff. I had the ipod on shuffle and we were listening to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Harrison said:

"Dad, you know the thing about Jazz music? Jazz music makes line drawings happen in your head."

Do You Like My Party Hat?

Yes, I like your party hat.

Me too!

I Click My Castanet In Your General Direction

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Though the celebration isn't until this weekend, today is the day. . .

Happy Birthday Harrison!

New Work

At long last, here's the new art. I lost a bunch of photos last week after I disconnected my new camera without dismounting it correctly. This set of Harrison's drawings was lost in that batch and I didn't get around to re-photographing them until yesterday. Anyway, here's samples of the new theme that he was talking about in my last post.

A Weird Creature Story by Harrison

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Once there was a weird creature fly. He thought a piece of bubbblegum was a new planet. He went on the planet. He said, "There is no intelligent life here. I'm leaving now." But when he started to leave he got stuck. He tried and tried as hard as he could but he couldn't get out. And then a robot spider came along and he also got stuck. He pinched the bubblegum and accidently set the weird creature fly free. Then the spider was stuck there by himself but then he pinched his self out of the bubblegum and he was making a new plan to capture another fly weird creature. The end.

The Competitve Spirit

Katherine was walking Harrison home from school this week when one of Harrison's school buddies caught up with them. This buddy is about a foot taller than Harrison. His name is Erwin.

"Hey Harrison, you wanna race to the end of the street?" said Erwin.
Harrison thought for a second.
"How about we see who can race the slowest?" said Harrison.
"OK," said Erwin and the two started walking in slow motion. After about one minute of this slow-off Erwin said, "Harrison, I can't go that slow. You win!" and off he ran.

I tell this to demonstrate that Harrison doesn't like to lose. He's not lazy. Harrison loves to race his sister. The two are constantly sprinting through the house to be first to the car. These races are always initiated by Harrison and they invariably end with him joyfully shouting "I win!" while Helen, the good sport, joyfully shouts "I lose!" So why not race Erwin? Because he didn't know if he could beat Erwin. He knows he can beat Helen. She's smaller and younger - an easy opponent. Erwin? Different story. So, how about a slow race, Erwin?

Harrison's a tricky little fellow. Gotta always remember that.

Gotta work on the sportsmanship with him, as well.

Stopping to Sniff the Frozen Flowers

Old Fashion Time Game

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Tonight, after dinner, Harrison played this "Old Fashion Time Game" (his words). This game obviously requires a fork, a cup, and one of Dad's old beer bottle caps. Yeah. Pretty sad. Almost Walker Evans sad. I should have changed the photo to black & white to really bring out the Rural South / Post Depression pathos of a boy playing catapult with his Pa's discarded bottle caps (but if I'd done that you would have missed out on all the great reds in the photo). So where was I? Oh right. Walker Evans. Old Fashion Time Game. Yeah, so that's the kind of fun we're having around the house tonight. Maybe tomorrow night we'll go play kick the can in the street.

Anyway, as sad as that is, after I took his picture, Harrison said, "Dad, you should put that on the blog."

My 6 year old son used the word blog.

Now that's 21st Century sad.

Girl Talk

Helen had a friend over this afternoon to play. When the friend arrived, Katherine overheard Helen say this:

After we tip-toe, skip, and twirl, we have to talk.

Sign Reader

Yesterday Katherine took the kids to Two Rivers Park for a hike. At the beginning of the hiking trail there's a little sign with the trail's name and some other information. Harrison walked up to it and pointed. In a tone that implied just-what-I-suspected, he said, "Yep, Poisonous Snakes, Coyotes, and Crocodiles."

Bird Brain

The worm is saying, "Well it sure is easy being a bird brain."

The triangle pointing at the worm is a bird beak.

Remember This T-Shirt?

Twas the Night Before Christmas And All Through the House Not a Creature Was Stirring Not Even a Half Creature Half Robot

A short conversation overheard at the top of the stairs on Christmas Eve:

Harrison (whispering): Helen, I have something important to tell you.
Helen (also whispering): What is it Hawwison.
Harrison: Its a secret. You can't tell Mom and Dad.
Helen: Ohhhhhh.
Harrison (really whispering deliberately): Helen. . . I. . . am. . . part. . . creature. . . and. . . part . . . ROBOT.
Helen (long pause as she processed this incredible admission): Hawwison. . . that's terrible.
Harrison: It's not so terrible.

Xmas Card

I posted a new Flikr badge in my sidebar today. It connects to a small gallery of shots that we rejected for this year's Xmas card. Coordinating two children and a dog was tough but I'm happy with what we finally got (see below).

Literacy Cure

Helen: Achooo. Ohhh. I already have a cold.
Harrison: Then read a book. That always makes you feel better.

Don't Giddy Up

(After galloping into the room on her invisible horse.)

Helen: It hurts when I giddy up.

Mama: Well don't giddy up.

Helen: Oh! OK Mama.

Flying Squirrels

Saturday morning it drizzled. Outside looked like good weather for shivering - cold, wet, and gray. Inside, we lit a fire and made a late breakfast. I drank chai tea and ate eggs scambled with basil and cream cheese plus a side of delicious, greasy Petit Jean bacon.

After breakfast, Harrison & Helen dumped all the pillows off the couch and started diving off the furniture into this make-shift landing pad. "We're the Flying Squirrels!" screamed Harrison in mid-air.

Tape That Sound

Daddy, you better tape that sound and put it in your computer and send it to all your friends. . .

but I really don't think you guys want to hear the elaborate sequence of smacks, snarls, and gargles that our especially-at-times-like-this-does-he-appear-apopleptic dog Lucky produces in that post-meal palate-cleansing ritual that Harrison finds hilarious.

A Recipe for Frog Stew

Of course, this illustrated recipe for frog stew goes under "Food & Drink."

And Another One

That's just life. . . living. . . life is rough

said Harrison. We were talking about Ringo and Quinn and I was explaining that Quinn had passed away.

Bird Oxygen Tank

I created a new category today called "Things To Remember." This is for all the memorable Harrison and Helen sayings that we hear each day. Such as:

If I were a bird, I'd wear an oxygen tank so that I could fly up into the clouds.

which Harrison said this morning.

Helen is currently saying oooooooWWWWWwwwwAAAAAAhhhhhh because she's in time out.

Cole

Tonight, Harrison said, "That Cole is a sure tough little guy."

The Legend of the Ghost Alien

Once, on a night, not very familiar, a family was leaving a Halloween party.

They saw a light in the sky.

And they followed the light in the sky.

And when they passed by a tree, it was gone.

But there were 2 lights.

The end.

—Harrison