Learner's permit, soccer, thunderstorms, Homecoming dance

Dio and I went to the BMV first thing this morning to take his learner's permit exam. He passed! He can officially drive a car with an adult in the front passer seat supervising. I then dropped him off at a soccer scrimmage at the high school.

Eric took Inga and I took Ivy to soccer games today. Inga's was a home game (lost 2-1). Ivy's was in Indianapolis (won 3-2). Inga's team played first, followed by JV. The JV team got hit by a thunderstorm, and the game was cut short due to lightning. About an hour later, we were hit by the same storm. We got poured on for about 15 minutes, and then the lightening horn sounded. It was good because we were up 3-2 and about 5 minutes away from the end of the game.

I caught the last goal on camera. Ivy did several beautiful assists and cross kicks during this game.

I stopped by a Habitat for Humanity ReStore on the way home. We are renovating one of our rental apartments; the tenant left it in such bad shape that we have to completely redo the entire apartment: complete paint job on walls, windows, and trim; new flooring; new appliances; new toilet; new lights. It will cost well over a year's rent just to get everything done, and that's if we do it all ourselves. Gah. As if I didn't have enough to do already.

Inga left mid afternoon to get ready for the homecoming dance. Apparently it takes 5 hours to "get ready." Dio left right at 8--no fuss required. Apparently he asked a girl after turning down 4 other girls. We had no idea until after the dance, when we were asking him how it was! Inga is still out with friends getting something to eat.

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Zari and I both ended up making a Thai curry tonight! I coached her through it--not really very hard, just lots of vegetables to chop, then add coconut milk and curry paste and some meat if you want.

Inga and Dio are gone to the homecoming football game. Ivy had a game as part of a weekend-long tournament, tied 1-1. I'll be taking her to her game tomorrow in Indianapolis while Eric goes to Inga's game. And...Dio is going to take his learner's permit test tomorrow morning! We may have a driver by tomorrow.

I was awoken in the middle of the night with a few waves of vertigo. So weird! I wasn't even moving or anything. Even with my eyes closed in the dark, the room was doing that weird jerking/spinning thing. Fortunately it was gone by morning, although I certainly had a hard time sleeping through both the vertigo and the mild nausea!

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Soccer Success!

All 3 kids had games today. Dio's won 2-0 with Dio scoring 1 goal. Inga's won 6-0 with Inga scoring 5. Ivy's won 8-0 and she's sleeping and I can't ask how many she scored!

I watched Dio's game, while Eric was coaching Ivy's.

I had several meetings today and got lots of things checked off on my to-do list. I've started using Trello and love it. With the nonprofit discount via Atlassian Foundation/Goodstack, the premium version is super affordable.

I slept well last night, which was such a relief after several weeks of disturbed sleep.

Fence panels are arriving tomorrow. Posts are all set and concrete is curing. By the end of next week, it might be all done--brick patio, sidewalk, fence installed and stained!

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ER

Well, an Emergency Room visit certainly wasn't on my "to do" list today! But I found myself there at 8 am. I'll omit the details but I went in today after visiting a walk-in clinic the day previously regarding a few weeks of persistent symptoms that had the potential to be Something Bad even though it was very unlikely. Fortunately there is nothing at all wrong with me, except the persisting symptoms for which the doctor had no explanation.

In fact, I got a lovely complement from the ER doctor: "You have the blood pressure of an Olympian athlete." Awww, thanks, I'm blushing. In fact, I can't donate blood because my blood pressure is too low.

I was dismissed by 9:30 am and back to normal life. Now I fearfully await the hospital bills which will probably be more than our car. Maybe more than a small house. Yay US healthcare.

No one had soccer games--amazing! We were able to eat dinner together, including Zari via WhatsApp. Eric make poke bowls with salmon, avocado, mango, and edamame.

Ivy's school is doing a class trip to Europe in June 2027. She wanted to join them, since she'll already be over there, but it's super expensive. We are thinking of doing an "alternate" school trip in Nice and Italy for students who can't afford the official one.

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I was tired last night and forgot to write. Caught yet another possum today, this one at least an adolescent if not an adult. All 3 kids had away games today. Dio's still not back. Inga's team won by a landslide, while Ivy's team lost 6-1. Ouch!

Our brick patio and sidewalk are almost all done, and our fence posts are going up. Finally after 14 years in this house we will have a nice back yard area!

I've been feeling unwell, mostly due to ongoing sleep disturbances. I've been waking up between 3-5 am most mornings and can't get back to sleep. Today was particularly hard and I skipped my walking group.

Behold my raccoon-proof garage! I put pieces of plywood between each joist, secured with 2 screws. It's not pretty but it does the job. These will stay until we get the carriage house apartment finished and the bead board ceiling put back up.

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Freezes v Raccoons

The Freezes v. The Raccoons competition is not going very well. We caught possum #3 (another baby) last night. No raccoons!

I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon stapling pet-proof screening over every possible access point with staples every 2".

This morning? I came to the carriage house and the raccoon had pulled off the screening. Granted, my staple gun wasn't embedding the staples as deep as I would like. But still! It felt secure when I tugged on it.

Now I am going to pull out the Big Guns, aka pieces of plywood custom cut and fit into each opening (there are about 12). I WILL keep the raccoons out of the carriage house!

The kids were very sad when we drove out into the country to release the baby possum. "Can't we keep it and take care of it until it's bigger?" they pleaded. Nope, sorry, I'm not taking on a pet possum!

I put the trap upstairs in the carriage house, meaning that only the most adventurous raccoons will have access to the delicious bowl of vanilla ice cream inside the live trap. I hope it will keep the possums away because they aren't the ones who have been climbing up my carriage house wall and into the floor joists.

We had our normal Sunday morning pancake breakfast (except me, because I fast every day until mid-afternoon...). Eric and Ivy were at a soccer game mid-day; they won 1-0 to a team that was supposedly much stronger. So that was good.

I read outside in the sun this afternoon...cooked white bean, garlic, bacon, & rosemary soup...did a bit of video editing...watched an episode of Quantum Leap (not the best show but a fun way to do something together as a family).

Zari has been out most of the day so we probably won't hear from her until tomorrow. She was going to some of the islands on Lake Ontario and then going to Eric's cousin's house for dinner.

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Baby possum

Still no raccoons this morning, but we did catch a baby possum. It's relocated to a park. Tonight I am trying ice cream, upon recommendation of a raccoon hunter acquaintance.

I also raccoon-proofed the carriage house, stapling pet-resistant screening across every possible entry point up in the rafters. Then Eric did a disgusting task of cleaning up the piles of raccoon poop on the upper floor of the carriage house. Eww.

What else? Eric and I went to Ivy's game this morning. Her team lost 0-1 and missed two penalty kicks. Ivy did a lovely header. On the way down from the jump, her head collided with another player's. She had some moments where she couldn't breathe and had to come off the field.

There was a "Celebration of Unity" festival downtown this evening. Ivy and Inga were there for several hours, playing with friends. Eric and I made a brief appearance.

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Last night a sneaky animal--probably a raccoon--triggered the trap, shoved it over a few feet, and managed to upset the food tray so that it could fit its sneaky paws inside and grab the food.

So this time our trap is weighted down and access is blocked from the back and sides. We are going to be counter-sneaky until we catch this animal. Probably animals.

I've been waking up most mornings around 4 or 5 am and can't get back to sleep, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes not at all. It's annoying! It happened again last night so I didn't go exercise in the morning. I also had to drive Inga to her 6 am soccer practice, and it's good that I was already awake lying in bed for hours because 5:45 rolled around and she still hadn't come in to get me. It turns out she forgot to set her alarm because she was up so late doing homework last night!

Most of my day was video editing, with a late lunch break to meet a dear friend who I haven't seen in 17 years since we moved from Illinois! We had babies together (her 2nd, my first). I attended her birth with 5-week-old Zari in a sling. The hospital wasn't entirely sure what to make of it when I showed up with my sidekick :)

We've got a busy soccer weekend. I'm going to do some extra sneaky things and block off all possible entry points into the carriage house with hardware cloth and/or pieces of plywood.

Zari called for more cooking advice. Tonight is tilapia fillets and sauteed green beans, and she's prepping 12 bean soup for tomorrow. Next weekend will be a Thai curry.

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Wrong animal!

We have a pesky raccoon that's been making a mess in the attic of our carriage house, climbing up on the carriage house doors, grappling on the walls, and wedging itself inside the floor joists to get up there.

We set a live trap out and got an opossum this morning! Not quite what we wanted but the kids enjoyed looking at it. It was opening its mouth and baring its teeth to me but it still looked cute and a bit pathetic.

It's now off in a nearby forest and we hope to get that sneaky raccoon.

My day: walking group, several zoom meetings, tons of video editing, and a tiny bit of gardening in the early evening.

Everyone else was gone until 8 pm or later (soccer...of course).

Early wakeup for Inga's 6 am soccer practice. I'm taking pity on her and driving her instead of making her ride her bike several miles in the dark.

Zari did all sorts of adult things today: got her Ontario health insurance card, library card, and public transit card. She and I planned a big meal to make this weekend, with the plan to freeze at least 8 dinner's worth (12 bean soup). Each weekend I'll help her think of another big meal to make and freeze. After a while, she should have a nice rotation of freezer meals. She also went to a board game club and played Exploding Kittens.

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12 hours alone

Besides Eric coming home from teaching to change into his soccer clothes, I was alone in the house for 12 hours! These long quiet days are so strange. Even our busy days in France have people home at several points--lunch, between classes, after school.

I went to my morning walking group and then worked most of the day. So at least this quiet time was productive!

Zari got her resume done and cover letter written. She has one more document to prepare tomorrow and then will apply for the urban gardening job. Then she needs to apply for lots more jobs in the hopes that she'll get one of them!

Dio had an away game tonight, losing 2-3. He was disappointed because he felt his team was much stronger overall, but the defense made some errors and let a few goals by that they should have stopped.

I'm feeling very uninspired for what to cook. Part of the challenge is the lack of ingredients that I can easily and inexpensively in France. We do eat a lot more Mexican food here since we have 2 Mexican grocery stores. Today was a staple recipe: creamy herbed pork chops, served with all of the random leftover vegetables in our fridge and sourdough flat bread. (I discovered sourdough starter in our deep freeze and am reviving it!)

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We've had a laid-back weekend, although Eric still had to work today. It's not a holiday at his private university.

We had the sleepover girls here until lunch. We made apple crumble mid-morning and baked pizza for lunch. Inga was gone most of the afternoon dress shopping with her friends for an upcoming school dance. Ivy is recovered, finally.

Dio got a haircut this evening, courtesy of our in-house barber (me!).

Zari is finishing her resume and will be applying for work-study programs. She has her eye set on an urban gardening position. It sounds super interesting and I hope she gets the job! She would be doing direct gardening work (planting, harvesting) as well as planning, testing, and quality control.

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After a morning trip with Eric to Home Depot, I spent much of the day doing yardwork: weeding, planting, transplanting, stoking the fire with more yard waste.

No one had a soccer game today--a miracle! We had time to watch two episodes of a show this evening. Eric and I also went on an evening walk.

Ivy is still stick. She stayed in my bed all day. I've been making her garlic bread with ciabatta buns and English muffins--basically any type of bread my mom bought while she was here last weekend. Then Inga wanted some too, as if it were some huge amazing dish. But it's bread, butter, and garlic powder!

It's been cool here for late August, which has been lovely for working outside.

Zari had an excursion to a park and zoo. Tomorrow she's going on a food tour.

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No news is good news?

Every night Zari has called and talked with us for a long time...until tonight! I heard from her earlier in the day that she was having lots of fun. She played in several sports events and went to the Trinity College club fair, where she listed several she wanted to join: 2 board game clubs, a pool table club, sustainability club, outdoor club, running club, Trinity newspaper, Trinity publications, historical society, athletics...

I finally got back into my normal routine of going to the gym in the morning. I do about 35 minutes of cardio (usually the elliptical so I can read at the same time!) and then lift weights. My shoulder is still bothering me so I just did legs today.

We went to a Wabash soccer game in the late afternoon/early evening. I went for the first half and then came back home once Eric arrived because Ivy wasn't feeling well.

Inga had two friends over until late tonight. We're going to have a sleepover on Sunday, since Monday is a holiday.

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Back to work

Eric started teaching today. We're back to our normal rhythm, minus one member of the family. It's mainly School + Soccer.

Zari has had tons of orientation activities, so much that she has left early each evening. They go from 10 am until 10 pm! Today she visited an art museum with her orientation group, had "quadvising," attended a mandatory session on consent, and went to a Trinity "block party" complete with bouncy houses and free food.

She sent me this babywearing picture when she was at the Art Gallery of Ontarior. I looked it up and it's from this painting: Master of the Kress Epiphany, The Expulsion of the Money-Changers, c. 1480–1500

We're putting in a privacy fence and brick patio in our back yard...finally after 14 years of living here! Better yet, I have a brick mason who I'm paying to do it. I've installed fences several times before, but his prices cannot be beat and he has all the heavy equipment.

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Goodbyes

Yesterday we explored downtown Toronto: walked through Kensington Market, ate Indian food for lunch, and walked through Chinatown towards the CN Tower. And yes, we went up to the top of the tower! It was our first time ever visiting Toronto so we splurged.

The CN Tower is 346 meters (1,136 feet) high. There is another viewing platform 30 stories higher but this one was good enough for us. We were so high that we could see to other side of Lake Ontario and even a few of the tallest skyscrapers in Buffalo, NY, 60 miles away! Zari's favorite thing was standing on the glass floor and looking down 336 meters to the ground.

The one photo of Zari shows downtown (right behind her), campus (center middle of the photo), and her neighborhood (the green area just left of campus).

We also walked down to the harbor front. There was a musician doing a soundcheck. We sat on some benches and listened to a girl telling her friend all about her love life in a very loud voice.

We made quick stop to look at the exterior of Casa Loma, which looks like it was plucked out of the Loire Valley and dropped on a hill overlooking Toronto. Amazing what multimillionaire oligarchs have done with their money! (not my picture) 

We had dinner at Eric's cousin's house, and then we drove Zari back to her apartment. Then came time to say goodbye. There were lots of tears, lots of hugs. Zari didn't let go for several minutes--which for someone who normally doesn't like long hugs was quite amazing. We had All The Feels as we said goodbye and went into our car and drove away.

This is a child who we've taken care of for 18 years and now we are saying goodbye and just...leaving her, in a big city, in another country. It's so weird!

Intellectually I knew Zari was going off to university but it really hit all of us last night. I've been tearing up multiple times today when I think about her being off on her own. It's great and exciting but also sad because here is this amazing person you've helped cultivate and get to know, and you really like being with them, and then they leave!

Today we had an early start and uneventful drive home, getting back in the evening. I have lots of catch up on tomorrow, between work and household stuff.

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Big changes, big city life

The past 24 hours have brought more changes to our lives than the past 11 years! It's on par with having a baby, to be honest, maybe even more in terms of life disruptions (in a good way).

We couldn't check Zari in until noon, so we first did some necessary errands: charging the car, getting her a sim card for her phone (the cheapest plan we could find!), and buying her a cart full of groceries. Then we headed downtown to see her house.

It was perfect! A professor lives on the top 2 floors with a lovely, friendly dog. She has two children, the youngest who just left for university. The main floor and basement is a separate apartment with 2 shared bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Zari will be all by herself this week (freshman orientation) and then 2 housemates from Trinidad Tobago join her next week. She still doesn't have a roommate in her bedroom yet; it depends if her landlady finds someone else to rent.

It's on a quiet residential street with old townhomes. Out back there's a garden and patio and place to store a bike, once she gets one.

Eric looked for months on the off-campus housing listings and we couldn't be happier with this one! She's just a 10 minute walk from Trinity College on the U of T campus, and within a few blocks either way of her house there are loads of restaurants and shops.

Once we got her groceries unpacked, it was time for lunch! We ate at a nearby Lebanese restaurant and had enough leftovers for dinner. Next stop: setting up a bank account. While that was in process, Eric went to the university bookstore and bought himself a sweatshirt.

With the essential errands finished, we finally walked over to campus. While there are some ugly 1970s era buildings, many of them date to the early 1900s or earlier and are gorgeous. Zari's main building at Trinity College looks like something out of Hogwarts.

We walked all around campus and then headed to the downtown Ikea (just a few km walk away) to get everything else she needed (towels, bedding, a few kitchen items). On our way out, we saw a person in climbing gear securing two ropes attached to the top of a huge skyscraper. We thought he was going to start climbing up, but it turns out he's a window washer and was finishing his day. His last task was to secure the two ropes--probably getting ready for the next day's work. People were asking him questions while he was pulling the ropes tight and tying them to the railing. Very interesting!

We came home, ate our leftovers, and then headed out again to a nearby thrift store. Zari needed a small purse or over-the-shoulder bag and found something perfect, plus two lovely scarves to keep her neck warm in the cold weather.

We finished the day watching an episode of Mr. Robot.

It's been a fantastic day. I'm so excited for her. I wish I could start university again! She's going to have such an amazing experience in Toronto.

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Canada bound

Today is a momentous day: driving Zari up to start university at the U of Toronto! Adding in charging the car and crossing the border, it took us 11 hours. My parents are watching the other kids, so they all said goodbye--with some tears, especially from Ivy--before we left this morning.

The drive went by quickly. It's fun to have a captive audience in the car. We did a lot of talking about her upcoming year and Big Important Life Things.

We're staying with Eric's cousin, who lives about 20 minutes east of downtown. Zari's apartment will be ready tomorrow at noon. We have lots of things on our to-do list: get a SIM card, open a bank account, move Zari in, stock her kitchen with groceries, and move her in. Then we'll spend some time exploring the campus and the surrounding city.

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Rough transition

It's been difficult adjusting to US time. We arrived late Monday night after 28 hours of traveling. I figured I'd sleep well because I hadn't really slept at all during the long flights. But no! And last night was the same issue. Anyway it will eventually get better, right?

Zari has 1 more day at home with everyone, and then we drive her up to university on Friday! We went to dinner together tonight because my some miracle, no one had soccer games or evening soccer practice. We were also hoping to play games or watch a movie, but the kids all had homework.

Zari is mostly packed: 1 big suitcase, 1 small suitcase, and 1 backpack. Her housing got finalized this week; she's sharing an apartment with 3 other girls just a few blocks from campus. The owner is a professor who lives upstairs. I have the feeling that I wrote this is an earlier post. If I did, blame it on jet lag!

We went to the big box store for some final supplies (sock, underwear, toiletries). Now it's a matter of remembering all the little miscellaneous items. But it's not like she's going to a remote undeveloped country! She'll be in an enormous city (Toronto) and will have shops galore.

I put 2 new patches on my apron. Can you spy them?

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Home, finally!

Zari and I made it home without any issues, other than some stress-inducing turbulence over the Pacific. We've been up for 30+ hours now and I'm not going to last much longer. Life continues at a fast pace for the other kids. Ivy and Inga had soccer games this evening and Dio is working on an English essay about "My Name Is Asher Lev." I'm hoping for a good night's sleep and then back to work tomorrow.

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Conference done!

I gave my presentation late this morning. I'm so used to public speaking that I was surprised to feel a bit nervous. It's not that the audience was scary--they're midwives!

I didn't take a single picture, other than pictures of other presenters' slides, but someone took a photo with me and sent it to me. I had my breech earrings on because why not!

I met with Betty-Anne Daviss after the conference to go over our video analysis paper. Then Zari and I headed out for a walk to the grocery store. Dinner was sandwiches, salad, and strawberries. We bought lots of goodies for the family back home: chocolate and Tim Tams. She also has a bag of flavored mealworms. Yum? She ate some but I just couldn't.

We head home early tomorrow morning, flying with the sun so we'll have a super long day and get home in the evening local time.

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Conferencing day 1

After 3 days of teaching, attending a conference is like a relaxing spa retreat! All I have to do is sit and listen and eat delicious food! (To be fair, I also multitasked and got some breech work done.)

I loved the Cloak of Righteous Anger, a "craftivism" project about obstetric violence and protecting and nurturing laboring women. It is totally the kind of thing I'd love to help create! I took a picture of the slide and I hope to get pictures of the actual cloak tomorrow.

https://www.instagram.com/cloak_of_righteous_anger/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DA_EElSy-GU/

I give my presentation tomorrow morning! Super excited. I hope I can finish on time.

Zari visited the Australian National Maritime Museum and loved it. She spent 4 or 5 hours there.

We had a gala dinner tonight and I had so much fun laughing at midwife humor and swapping stories.

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3 days of teaching

I just got done with 3 days of teaching in a row: 2 days at Birth Time doing our usual vaginal breech training, and then 1 day of breech skills & drills as part of the Convergence of Rebellious Midwives. I could barely grip the baby by the end of today's training!

Because I'm speaking at the conference, Zari and I transferred over to the conference hotel last night and felt very awestruck. This hotel is super posh and we don't feel fancy enough! We woke up to a gorgeous rainbow from our room on the 27th floor.

Tomorrow will be relaxed for me: I'm just listening to conference speakers. On Sunday I give my presentation in the morning.

Zari and I had a few hours this morning before I taught. We did touristy things and visited the zoo and the aquarium in Darling Harbour, right near where we're staying. She got a multi-pass ticket and went to the wax museum and the observation tower in the afternoon.

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In Sydney

We drove back to Sydney this morning, arriving at noon at the airbnb. We dropped our bags, ate lunch, and then caught a bus to downtown Sydney. I had business cards to pick up, and since we were there, we walked through the botanical gardens to the opera house. Then we wandered back through the skyscrapers, browsing in some stores and enjoying the big city energy.

We had dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant with a few of the other instructors. Lots of midwife talk, which Zari endured patiently.

We discovered finger limes at my friend's house yesterday. Amazing! They are dark purple, about as long as my thumb, and filled with little round crunch lime-flavored bits. They are native to Australia and I've never seen then anywhere before.

3 big teaching days coming up, then speaking at the conference. Phew!

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Grand Canyon Track bushwalk

I love the term for hiking here: bushwalking. We did the Grand Canyon Track today, and it was amazing. We overprepared for it with tons of water and snacks, many layers of clothes (which we greatly appreciated given that it was just 7C when we started), and a snakebite kit. Our friends insisted we bring it, even though this time of year it's not very likely to encounter snakes.

I'm happy to report that we emerged snake-free.

The hike was listed as a 3-4 hour hike, but we finished it in just over 2 hours, including a lunch break. It was about 6.5 km with a LOT of elevation change. From the top, the Grand Canyon looks like big uniform hills. But as soon as you start to descend, you realize that the area is riddled with deep canyons, sometimes just 5 feet wide but hundreds of feet deep. It's astounding.

There was so much water that the huge stepping stones across the creeks were submerged in a few places. No big deal--it felt great to take our shoes off and wade across! We were muddy by the end of the hike because it's been raining in this area for the last week or more. Today was just a light drizzle towards the end of the hike, plus lots of falling water from the cliffs.

We had some down time after we got home. Zari read a book (Cloud Atlas) and I did several hours of video editing. My friend brought us on a lovely drive through the western Blue Mountains, showing us her previous house (straw bale house, off-grid). We saw many kangaroos and wallabies, although the emus weren't visible tonight.

We ate kangaroo for dinner. Yum!

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Scenic World

My friend treated us to a visit to Scenic World. It's not really a theme park...more like a touristy nature park with gondolas, cable cars, walkways, and the world's steepest railway. We had rain and fog, but miraculously as soon as we started descending into the valley the cloud cover dissipated enough for us to see everything!

We're going to hike in the national park tomorrow--so excited. The rain is supposed let up, finally.

I had some breech meetings and tasks today. One fun one was watching a live session together with my host/friend! Lots of interesting conversation about her work here as a private midwife in Australia.

I made another chocolate tart, this time with some white chocolate decorations (done by her 12-year-old).

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Palm Beach & lighthouse, Curl Curl beach, drive to the Blue Mountains

Forgot to write last night. Yesterday started early with an excursion to Palm Beach. Our host had a golfing appointment and we tagged along. Zari and I hiked along the peninsula and up to the lighthouse while she golfed. We ended at a restaurant, where Zari had brunch.

We stopped by the grocery store again for dinner supplies. I think we were otherwise at home in the afternoon, me working and taking breaks to watch Murderbot.

I gave a test run of my conference presentation--70 minutes. About 10 minute too long. We also got a simulator all set up and converted to an right position and then worked on the simulator for a while.

Today we wanted to get out in the morning, but there was a lot of rain. It let up late morning, and we took a walk south along the cliffs over to Curl Curl beach. We wanted to take the coastal path, but it was far too muddy.

We got packed up and on the road by 2:45 pm. It was my first time ever driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Not too bad, but I kept turning the windshield wipers on when I was meaning to use the turn signals! My brain knew it was on the opposite side, but my muscle memory kept overriding. We made it by 5:15 to my friend's house in the Blue Mountains. The last part was super foggy--quite eerie to drive in.

 

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