Just outside of our house, we have one leg of a moose in a black trash bag, sitting on an old school desk, right next to the grill, surrounded by kid’s toys and lawn chairs, all of which are covered in snow. Sometimes we are so Bush. The moose leg was given to us by the pastor that comes to Circle on Sundays. It’s a road kill calf, so it’ll be nice and tender. It was frozen solid when it was given to us, so we haven’t been in a huge hurry to deal with it. It could sit outside and remain frozen until April.

The crazy thing, though, is that we’re experiencing some unbelievably warm weather. Yesterday morning the thermometer read 4° above. I watched it climb steadily all day to 9°, then 11°, then 18°, then 22°, then 28°. In the middle of the night last night, we heard that sound usually reserved for the spring: the snow on the roof let go and slid down the corrugated tin roof with a dramatic “whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssh!” And so this morning I had to move the leg into the freezer before it went bad.

We drove in to town today for some four-day-weekend town time. This was the first time we’ve driven to town as a family in months. We’ve both been down the road a couple of times but for whatever reasons, not together. With the warm weather, the roads were quite slick, but we did fine.

One thing about this trip, however: We’ve never seen so many moose. You really would have thought there was a moose around every bend in the road – around every tree! Dozens. Scores, I tell you.

Well, I didn’t actually see any of these. They were all spotted by my eagle-eyed boy in the backseat.

About ten minutes into the drive, Jacob shouted, “Moose!” as he looked intently out the window. I didn’t really react, but I wondered. Stephanie said what I was thinking: “Do you think he really saw one?” I said I wasn’t sure. It was possible, but I wasn’t gonna double back for it. Twenty seconds later, “Moose!” And then they followed about one every three seconds for miles. “Ohhp. There’s a moose. There’s a moose. Ohhp, there’s ‘nother moose.” Come to think of it, he may not be the most reliable witness. We also saw quite a few whales and sharks back in the trees.   

Stephanie has been downloading Sesame Street podcasts for Jacob, and each five minute segment focuses on a single word. These are called, “The Word on the Street.” Some recent examples include “squid,” “disappear,” “newspaper,” and most recently, “frustrated.” Jacob loves these, watches them endlessly, and uses the words throughout the day.

Tonight, I am sitting and writing this in the hallway of the Marriot hotel, just outside our room. Stephanie and Jamiee are out shopping, and Jacob and Toby are in the room going to sleep. I can hear Jacob talking to himself through the door as he does every night. “That’s a moose, that’s a moose. Frustrated. Frustrated. Frust-rated. Frust-raaaated. FRUSTRAAAATEED!” And now – just that fast – I think he’s asleep.
I believe in the full twenty-four hour day. Due on the 23rd? That means I’ve got all the way ‘til midnight. And so here’s my post. Like slipping a term paper under a professor’s door at two minutes ‘til tomorrow.