So I think it’s clear how envious I am that you 1. are going into summer and 2. get to take these fun outings to fabulous markets and festivals and try amazing food at all of them and 3. eat perfect avocados. I guess I could manage that last one, but still. Not fair.

It’s been glorious here for months–literally the driest since the turn of the last century–but this weekend the rain began. Oh, the West Coast rain.

But there was a break in the weather, so little e and I went across the street and checked out the trees in the park.

What resulted was a kind of small photo essay about conkers. Did you ever play conkers as a kid? I’m not an expert or anything, but I know it involves a lot of violent smashing of horse-chestnuts into one another. Okay, maybe not exactly violent. Smashing, yes.

But there’s something so satisfying about holding conkers in your hand–the shiny, brown roundness. And they do make a nice knocking sound when you have three in your palm. DH tells me they can be used to scare  away spiders from basements (not that we are afraid of spiders–in fact, I worry they will have nowhere to live if not in our basement). I don’t think it’s an actual fear-the-conker thing, but maybe a to-us-undetectible odour that drives them away?

Little e and I brought a few conkers home and played with them in the studio, where she tried enthusiastically to jam them all in her mouth at once, which I did not allow. Can you imagine if we all still explored the world with our mouths? There must be a Saturday Night Live skit about that somewhere…

What games are you introducing B1 to that you played as a child?

XO

Ria