saturday

last night i rode my bike in copenhagen-- a first!  i bought it (the bike) a ticket, and took it on the train  with me (another first).  i met nancy, the editor/translator i had lunch with a couple weeks ago, to go to an english (language) book club she's had with friends for the last ten or twelve years.  biking in copenhagen was fun because there wasn't so much traffic at night that i got run over, but enough traffic that i got a feel for what riding with a lot of other bicyclists was like.  and, it was also fun because she did all the navigating, so all i had to do was follow and look around at the city.  and as something of an eavesdropper on a group of four close friends, it was fascinating to learn, through their conversations, about how they'd redone educations, reinvented careers, become bilingual, created families who know only denmark as home.  basically become completely integrated, yet still seem completely a part of their pre-denmark history.  one chapter, completely unaffected, unknowing about the next.  the next, completely affected and knowing about the former.  i guess that's true about all of us, it's just that for some people, the chapter breaks are more well-defined than for others.  

today one of william's classmates and friends had his fifth birthday party.  we went to the farmer's market in the morning and william wanted to ride his bike, but a bike ride to town and back is a bit far for a novice with short legs, so instead, he rode to his friend's house in the afternoon.  the invitation said to bring outdoor clothing, which in denmark means rain boots, rain pants, rain coat, and probably a sweater.  so i packed his and my rain pants (because i didn't know how willing he'd be to have me leave).  just as we were about to walk out the door the rain began pouring down.  out from the backpack came the rain pants and we rode out in a downpour.  by the time we were halfway there though, it had stopped.  william was not the only child who wanted a parent to stay close, but of those children, he was the only one (almost) ignoring and not clinging to his parent.  so eventually i said goodbye and william attended his second danish classmate's birthday party (and his first birthday party ever... i think) without one of his parents.  

growing up...

still little... 

 farmer's market...

indoor toys outside... and what to do with those hostas?  anything?

w. with his new hand-me-down scooter from a moving neighbor... thank you moving neighbor!

dinnertime...

bedtime.  goodnight!