Back To Reality.
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Miscellany
We're back from our palms to pines vacation and glad to be home, although the weather in Newport Beach is distressingly damp, grey and chilly in contrast to the sun and heat of Palm Desert and the crisp alpine air of Idyllwild.

Science nerds that we are at heart, our favorite parts of the vacation were exploring the local plant and animal life, Southern California being a place of amazing climactic contrasts. The desert climate of the Coachella Valley (where daytime temperatures were in the 90s) is less than an hour's drive from the high elevations and pine forests of the San Jacinto Mountains (where Sam and Matt played in snow for the first time ever). In between are, I believe, seven or so microclimates, each with its own mix of plant and animal life. From chollas to firs, from roadrunners to robins. Blew our minds.

I'll spare you a detailed account of the journey, because let's face it: Everyone's vacation is far more interesting to themselves than it is to anyone else. Ben tells of a friend who, upon returning from a trip through Asia, actually held a narrated slideshow for family and friends. He did that? I asked Ben. To his friends? There aren't enough cocktails or hors d'ouevres on earth to make that kind of boredom worthwhile. Me, I much prefer handing my friends a pile of snapshots, to be glanced at or ignored as they please. Here are some verbal snapshots from this trip:

The Indian Canyons of Palm Springs are unbelievably cool, packed with wildflowers and groves of California fan palms, which is California's only native species of palm. That was our favorite side trip.

Matt gave us all a scare. Our cabin in Idyllwild, which appeared to have been built in the '40s, harbored an insane heating system featuring a radiator under a grate in the living room floor. On Saturday morning, Matt tripped and fell, burning his hands and cheek on the grate. Fortunately he was not badly injured, but he cried for a full hour, in obvious confusion and pain. I sobbed right along with him. Especially when he buried his face in my shoulder and sobbed, "I'll be nice" -- thinking he was being punished. And then my heart broke into a thousand pieces, until he mended it completely by smiling through the afternoon, telling me his hands felt better, and remarking over dinner, "I had fun today."

We drove to the Salton Sea, which is a fascinating piece of California natural (I should say unnatural; check out the link if you are curious) history. Like a 40-year-old stripper, it can be very beautiful from a distance but is most disillusioning on close inspection. Pollution is to blame for a lot of that. Furthermore, it smells awful.

Sam had a blast paddling around the pool in Palm Desert and repeatedly scaling a miniature rock climbing wall in a park in the mountains. Our little athlete. We suddenly realized that his legs are about four inches longer than they were when I bought his fall clothes. Furthermore, he has developed a fraternal, protective attitude toward his younger brother that just slays me. "Come here, Matt," I heard him say. "I will share my cookie with you."

Pregnancy Update: The fetus has been identified as a girl, to wit Julia Rose Kathleen Crumpacker. She has no Down's markers or visible deformities on ultrasound. I have gained no weight in the past two weeks despite a close vacation kinship with Ben and Jerry. I have, however, started to waddle. Furthermore, we have seen the advent of the Famous Second Trimester Return (With a Vengeance) of the Sex Drive. Of this, I will say only (a) I wish the boys would sleep more often and (b) good thing I can't get pregnant.

Erika and Joel, who were ostensibly watching the house in our absence, did a lousy job and furthermore left my kitchen and laundry area an utter mess. Next time, we will lock the joint up and take the gecko and tarantulas with us. Despite all this, we are glad to be home.