summer flashback :: discover olympia

I figured since you/know/who was headed to Greece this week, I'd take a look back on our trip there this summer. I'm not going to lie. It's been hard to look back at these pictures. As you know, we lost our Violet while we were traveling, and I've said before that this trip we took was not the best for me. Our trip to Delphi, which came the day after we got the news, passed in pretty much of a haze. A tear-filled eye phase, for me.

And that's a shame, because look at this place. The museum, which was reorganized in 2004, is stunning. It's not huge, and its size and relative intimacy makes you feel connected to the amazing works they have showcased there. I was particularly struck by how well lit the statues were. Compelling.

We were early in the season, just at the start of June, and our day was threatening storms. Because of this, when we got down to the actual ruins, our group of scientists (and their families) had the place to themselves. Cal and his friend Sam ran a footrace in the stadium (that profile shot of him above is from there) and we were free to wander to our hearts' content.

I was struck then, as I am now, how nature takes over. Grasses covering columns. Flowers finding purchase. Looking at these pictures now, I'm struck anew at the majesty of the place, but also, look how sad my boy was. We all were.

If you're interested in reading more about the history of the Olympics (More? I didn't even touch on it here! But you can see where the torch is lit every four years for the modern Olympic Games and that's pretty awesome sauce.) I can't recommend this book, The Naked Olympics, highly enough. Cal's Latin teacher recommended it to me (warning me that it was a bit bawdy, but I persevered), and it was great to have such a thorough background before our trip. Honestly, I recommend it even if you're not headed that way soon.

We headed up the mountains to dinner after our tour, and I'll be back on Thursday with some photos from that amazing meal. Nothing heals like food, you know.

weekend lookback, september 22

Oh my god. Are you guys sick of me yet? I'm sick of me. Whine, whine, whine. I feel like I've been sick for months. And now Cal. And now Lucy.

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that we took our hang-dog hound to the vet on Friday. She'd been limping off and on all week (we all figured it was sympathy pain since Cal had been home sick), but she clearly wasn't getting better, and it seemed best to have her seen rather than not. We figured maybe a pulled muscle (she can play hard), but her diagnosis is a bit more complicated than that. Our vet showed us her x-rays, and it was, frankly, disheartening. She has degenerative bone disease. So where bone should look smooth, like polished wood, hers look like jagged mountain peaks. Both front legs. We didn't see the back.

She's been in tons of pain, apparently, (Our vet gave her a pat on the head, saying, "See? All this time they thought you were faking and you've been stoic.") so our goal right now is to get her as comfortable as possible. She's been pretty mopey all weekend, but maybe? Maybe, moving a little better. Poor little girl. She's missed her Violet desperately, and now this.

So we hunkered down. Out of town three weekends out of the last four was more than plenty for us, I think. We're all in various stages of recovery, so I brought out the big guns and made this soup. (I just picked one at random, and it worked.) It was a huge hit! Definitely moving it into the rotation. Perhaps on a daily basis.

And yet, my mind is active. Isn't that the funniest thing? I feel like my subconscious is filled with tiny bubbles, ideas that keep rising to the surface, like champagne effervescence. How do you know which ones to follow? How do you know which ones to let stream off into the air and when you should take a sip? Time will tell, I suppose.