Payback

NorthernDaddy must have a faulty memory. He's a little fuzzy on many of the details of his early years, but he remembers being a generally good child. He's sure that there must have been some incidences of coloring on the walls or spilling grape juice on the rug, or something like that....

...apparently, Daddy's memory blocked those destructive behaviors out and, as a punishment for believing he was a perfect child, he's getting payback.

With the slightly warmer temperatures of Spring coming around, LittleNortherner decided that he wanted to play golf. NorthernMommy sent him out in the back yard to do just that (and to get herself some peace and quiet).  A short time later, NorthernDaddy came around the corner of the house to find LittleNortherner using a pitching wedge to launch golf balls straight into the side of the barn....

...Ouch!

(Just for the record, NorthernDaddy would like to inform his parents that there is not enough space in the comments section of this blog for them to expound upon their son's juvenile misdeeds...)

Gallery Work

LittleNortherner is a multi-faceted artist. He doesn't restrict himself to working in just one medium; he's created works in crayon, colored pencil, and paint. (He's also branched out into more obscure material, such as mud, dead insects, and chicken nuggets.)

This most recent work was crafted in paper. Not a lightweight, bleached-white sheet of binder filler, but rather a dense, construction-oriented grade of paper stock. In multiple hues and shades. Archival-quality, of course....

Normally, NorthernDaddy waits a few days and then recycles LittleNortherner's artwork. Sometimes, depending on how much clutter is left around the living room, the art hits the recycling bin in just a few hours. (Think of all of the precious works the world must have lost when the parents of, say, Picasso or Warhol spent a few minutes cleaning up their houses.)

For some reason - maybe the expertise with which it was crafted, or the fact that LittleNortherner depicted one of Daddy's favorite subjects (ducks) - this magnificent work of art has earned a place of honor: the front of NorthernDaddy's refrigerator. (This is noteworthy because there has NEVER been anything clipped to the front of Daddy's refrigerator. No notes, no grocery lists, and most certainly, no artwork!)

Spring?

Twenty-four days ago, the town posted the road across from the house. 

Normally, this is the surest sign of Spring arriving; of Winter loosening its grip on the land. NorthernDaddy has posted on this phenomenon before, and how the event is looked upon as a reason to celebrate.

This year, after a long, cold Winter, it was a shock to see the road posted. There had been no signs of warmer weather, in fact, the ground was still so frozen that the post you see the sign on in the photo below didn't get planted deep enough and fell over the next day. The cold temperatures and frigid wind have stayed in place, and nobody was in the mood to celebrate "Posting Day" in the Northern household.

(The only bright side has been today's 60 degree temperatures - hands have thawed enough to type coherent sentences and finally celebrate the arrival of Spring!) (The weather forecast calls for snow and low temperatures tomorrow.....Winter is stupid...)