O'Lantern, that is. Front Tooth Number One finally gave up its hold, and Front Tooth Number Two is hanging on be sheer determination. We think it's rather seasonal.

Hannah's had a pretty good summer. We kicked off the summer at the Big Blue House in Avalon, New Jersey, which combined the allure of the Jersey Shore with a chance to see long-distance family, as well as play with her friend Rebecca Dial. The Shore was followed by four weeks at summer camp at the town pool, which didn't look promising at first but turned out to be a big hit by the end of the sessions. We rounded out camp with extra visits to the pool and Sprout Brook Pond, and finished the summer with half-day Art Camp at the Cortlandt/Croton Center for the Arts, where Hannah made masterpieces in ink, paint, watercolor, clay and tye-dye. Not too shabby.

School is back in session, and we're all looking forward to more of a routine, along with afterschool activities like Girl Scouts. art class and dance class. I imagine I'll be a glorified chauffeur most of the semester.

For those who are following the saga of our destroyed landscaping, the mysterious voices I heard last week out my window turned out to be a work crew, building a new stone wall to replace the one originally supporting the (apparently ineffective) guardrail lining our yard. It looks quite nice, really. Of course, this picture is of the stretch in front of our neighbor's yard--ours is still scary looking, as we have to repair the damage done by a 2-ton convertible to the vegetation. Amazing what it takes to flatten a 60-year-old bush. Our street was once a sleepy one--our neighbors, now 80, tell us that they can remember a time when you could sit out front all day without seeing a car. Now it 's a major artery, taken by endless school buses, heavy trucks, and passenger cars moving much too fast from point A to point B.

I'm Mister Lonely....
Here's a photo of my poor, lonely iSight camera. Installed over a month ago, he hasn't seen any action since. We (I) bought this camera, thinking we'd take the first step in long-distance communication. Once you buy the camera, web chatting is free, right? Since long-distance phone calls are expensive and can be less-than-ideal connection-wise, what a great way to talk to friends oh-so far away. So, please--let us know if you want to talk. I don't think any of us is online enough to just "call" via web chat service, but we can certainly arrange calls by e-mailing ahead of time. We've got the AOL Instant Messenger (It's Free!) ID of shelincm, but I am more than willing to use a site like iVisit.com, just to see familiar faces and say hello. If nothing else, it's a chance to see our kitchen.

An actual finished knitting project.

I haven't had much opportunity to knit this summer, but I did make up the poncho. I bought the yarn at the Get Knitted warehouse Saturday in Bristol, a last-hurrah field trip with the girls of Stitch-n-Bitch. Now on the needles: a purple cotton sweater.