Otter Delight

Earlier this week, Virginia and Lydia went to Richmond to visit a friend and her daughter. I drove down to join them, and I met them after their lunch. We all went over to the Maymont Nature Center to see the various exhibits inside. It was a perfect activity for the cold winter day we had. Of course, Virginia and I had been here before, but it was Lydia's first time to see all the animals that are housed in the center. The theme is to interpret the local James River through exhibit of animals and information about the watershed. The animals at the center include a number of varieties of fish, turtles, owls, and the main attraction--the river otters. These otters never seem to tire of swimming in the glass enclosed area to the excitement of all the children who visit. Lydia was no exception. She enjoyed their flips and turns through the water. She would say, "Up. Down. Up. Down," as they moved from the top to the bottom of their swimming area. After seeing the otters, she became more interested in the fish which had not made much of an impression when she first saw them. She also saw the owls. Although she loves owls primarily based on a stuffed owl given to her by her grandfather, she was not keen on the owl exhibit. I think it was a little too dark, and the constant owl hooting sound track scared her a bit.

First Snow

We received our first snow today. It was not much in the way of accumulation, perhaps two inches or so, but it was enough to cause major problems on the roads near our new home. We could see cars struggling to get up the hill on the major road visible to us from our home. Because our county does not receive much snow during the winter, not much money is set aside for clearing the roads. As a result, the snow plows generally do not come out until the snow has stopped falling. In the meantime, many drivers not used to snow driving either get caught on the roads or venture out when they should not. The result was a number of cars in the ditch like the ones we saw when we headed out twice during the day. Our first trip out before noon was a bit dicey. The roads were slick, but fortunately everyone was driving cautiously. The second trip out around 5 for a late service was less disconcerting. There were fewer folks on the road and the snow plows had already made one pass over the major road we traveled.

Lydia, of course, was not concerned about the hazards of the road. She was simply excited to see the snow. It is nice to think that she can just enjoy the snow without worry.

Voter Turnout

Our new house is located in the county so we went to a new polling place to vote this year. Lydia was much more of a participant than last year. On the way there as we drove through the cold, rainy night, she would continually ask, "Vote?" To which I would respond, "Yes, we are going to vote." Then she would ask "Mama?", and I would reply that, "Yes, Mama is going to vote." Naturally, she would ask the follow-up of question, "Papa?" And I would assure her with, "Yes, Papa is going to vote." Finally, she would add "You?" which really translates as Lydia's way of saying "I?". I was able to satisfy her interest by replying, "Yes, you can help Mama and Papa to vote." As the picture shows, she was able to cast her ballot.

Welcome to Homeward

Welcome to Homeward. Here you will find our sharing experiences of daily life in the Ward family. We hope you enjoy our posts. Please feel free to add comments.