A rundown of whatall is happening in this year’s photo grid, plus some links and good pictures that didn’t fit into the envelope:

L to R, row 1: Jeremiah snowshoeing on the ice-shiny layer of snow we had last February * my 43rd birthday party — postponed by several rounds of the aforementioned ice & snow * Eliot dipping himself another mug of hot half-concentrated sap from the boiler at our friends’ annual sugaring party* a bobcat (!) who was just hanging out in the jackhammer garden one day after a buddy and I came back from a long walk through the woods — I think she followed us home, then had kittens (!!) in the safe overhang across the driveway by a little creek. Now we spot them from time to time sprinting through the trees * double rainbow after a big spring thunderstorm * first leaves of trout lily

https://gazettenet.com/2025/06/02/amherst-middle-school-ultimate-wins-state-championship-61546419/

L to R, row 2: Eliot holding some violet petals and a red-backed salamander * the first trial wall I scraped and sanded and primed and painted Spirited Yellow – I asked for the necessary supplies and unbothered hours to do it for Mothers Day because our dark grey house has been peeling like crazy and the idea of repainting it a bright color seized me around this time last year and wouldn’t let go * Eliot turning 11 (!) * two of the three (!!!) black bears who just sauntered through the yard last spring like hey how’s it going * tulip I’d forgotten I planted popping up * Jordan’s detail painting of the window over the sink

L to R, row 3: Fitzgerald Lake * Jordan’s painting of the front room (where you have stayed or can stay, when you come see us!) * Virginia springbeauty (claytonia virginica, also called, delightfully, fairy spud) found exploring in the Goochland wilds with VA and UK cousins * me all the way stuck into painting the house in June * J and E at the kitchen counter * dinosaur-looking snapping turtle who dug several holes in the front yard to lay eggs and then plopped into Eliot’s garden pond to float and lurk for a couple of days

L to R, row 4: Blueberry picking in the secret patch of hundreds of bushes a few minutes north of us, owned and revealed to us by the same neighbor-friend who loaned me the ladders I needed to paint the house and the jackhammer I needed to create the jackhammer garden. And stepped in to sort us out when our water heater broke messily in August – really the best I Know a Guy type guy imaginable * Eliot at the Connecticut river, releasing a great big bass he caught * walking the fields at dusk in late summer * grey tree frog who had somehow come right in and settled on the chair beside me without my noticing as I was sitting in the garage-lounge looking out at the garden on the third anniversary of my dear friend Kate‘s death They are well-camouflaged and nocturnal and hang out mostly, as the name suggests, on trees, so the visit was unusual and I had to get E to come confirm this guy’s identity * cake I made for a summertime birthday * Jordan and Jeremiah on the rail trail

L to R, row 5: Melty sunset from the upstairs window * J & E in the waves at the Jersey shore (just out of frame, one million cousins) * aerial view (sticking my head out the bathroom window) of the jackhammer garden in July * close up asters going bonkers in August * Eliot amid the ginger on the farm behind our house. I feel like this is giving the impression that we’re somewhere very rural and remote, if you’ve never been here. To clarify: we live in a super (5x) college town, across the street from an apartment complex and a longish walk or very short drive from good music or noodles or coffee. It’s also a charming spot in a beautiful river valley though and we do see a lot of cool animals * campfire

L to R, row 6: Jeremiah and Eliot with me on a Bare Mountain hike that’s become our back to school tradition, right before the first day of 6th (!!) and 9th (!!!)  grade * ratatouille * Jeremiah running cross country for Amherst High(!!!!) he had an incredible season and his team is such a great community of guys. I continue to be amazed and grateful that the sports my kids participate in are the only two I can care about as a spectator * blazing leaves reflected in a pond, daytime moon in early November * walking the farm fields just as leaf season turns to stick season * Jordan’s painting of the Amherst/Hadley town line, first snow *

L to R, row 7: Christmas tree *J and E making the monster trek back up the sledding hill * one of the two gift-amaryllises in our kitchen that for whatever reason went off this December. Two rounds of blooming each and a ton of flowers. * House in the two feet of snow we caught this January, still on the ground as I write this. The big stripe of white in the foreground is the snow-cliff cut by the plow * Jordan’s close-up painting of the stovetop * morning appearance of the Snow Moon through the trees *