Sacrifice + Bliss

Today was the opening day for the new exhibit at Franklin Park Conservatory: Sacrifice + Bliss. The artist, Aurora Robson, works with recycled materials, a lot of which she salvaged from rivers and streams (some from our very own Olentangy). Instead of polluting the environment, and ending up in landfill, Robson turned some 70,000 plastic bottles into beautiful unique pieces of art.









It's an impressive exhibit, with a great message echoing from the beautiful artwork that will catch your attention at first sight.

I brought the children along to one of the hands-on workshops for kids given by artist Eric Marlow. We started out with one single water bottle, and ended up with several unique creative items at the end.





As usual, Franklin Park Conservatory did not disappoint. We left with more knowledge and creativity and a regained sense of responsibility for the environment, children and grown-ups alike.

Stratford Ecologial Center

It's the season of fall festivals. For the most part, our family avoid them... mostly because we are not the best at fighting crowds, wait in line, and spend a lot on really rather bad-for-you foods.



But I think that we just found the perfect festival for ourselves, and sadly, you all will have to wait until next year to experience it, too (unless, of course, you went there today!).



Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware holds an annual Harvest Festival. The place itself is worth a visit regardless of what is happening there (a working farm, animals, greenhouse, children's garden), but with the festivity, our family was impressed by the low-key, informative and fun afternoon we spent at the center.



The center's main mission is to educate young people about the food system, how food is grown, and how to respect the earth with organic practices. They have vegetables and well as livestock on site, plus a good flock of chickens and roosters in the orchard.



Today, families and children were treated to several activities, art booths, wool spinning, felting, sauerkraut making. Even the turtle lady was there (a very popular lady today, I've got to say).



Some got to ride horses, meet donkeys, and learn the differences between the two. Farm kitties appeared out of nowhere for children to follow.



There were goats, sheep, pigs, and cows munching on the just rained-on green grass being lit up by the much appreciated afternoon sun.



Secret gardens and hiking paths to the sugar shack were also good distractions into the wonder of nature.



Musicians entertained throughout the festivities. Folk singers, and bands took stage and sang nature songs. We had to remind ourselves that we were still in Ohio, and not back in Northern California!



After all, it does not really matter where we are, does it? The right spirit was there, shared by all the people attended. Together, we celebrated the earth, the harvest, and this day at the Ecological Center where its vision was, clearly, being realized.

Caesar Creek State Park

Parents beware. This park may become a favorite one for your young children, forever!

We were on our way home from Cincinnati, driving the most direct way to get home: Hwy 71 North. But we had a stop in mind: Caesar Creek State Park. The kids' first grade teacher told them about this place months ago, and how it is a place where one could collect fossils, real million-year-old fossils, to take home.



Dubious, but hopeful, we found our way to the park as the rain stopped, the sky parted and the sun came out. It was perfect fossil-hunting weather.



To hunt for these fossils legally, one must go first to the visitor's center of the park to obtain a free permit. I am pretty impressed that they still let visitors collect as many (smaller) fossils to one's heart's content! But if you go yourself, you will see why.  This place is COVERED with fossils!! From trilopods, to brachiopods, to corals and shells of all kinds... we were basically standing in the bottom of the 125 million year old ocean bottom and collecting the fossilized shells!

Intrigued? You can do it, too! It's about 1.5 hour drive southwest of Columbus on I-71. Follow signs to Caesar Creek State Park Visitor's center, and you won't be disappointed.

Thoreau lake at Blendon Woods

Our family has a soft spot for Henry D. Thoreau, the New England author whose books have inspired the love of nature in many of us.

Walden Pond in Massachusetts, as I am sure most of you are familiar with (at least as a title of a book), is a special place to our family. Both my husband and I went to schools not too far from this infamous pond. Because of that, we have many fond memories of swimming across the pond with dear friends, visiting it during all the four seasons, taking our children there to make their own memories.

Best of all, both of our children learned how to swim at Walden, in the sandy, shallow end of the pond. How cool is that?



And so when we saw that there is a pond named after our beloved author who spent a whole lot of time by one of our favorite places, we had to check it out (and I am naively assuming that the pond was named after the author...I could be wrong!). It sits in the middle of Walden Waterfowl Refuge at Blendon Woods Metro Park.

Yesterday's spring like weather was perfect for a little outing. The sun was out, the temperature hovered around 60 degrees, birds were chirping wildly.



Thoreau's lake is only 0.3 miles from the nature center at Blendon Woods - an easy walk on a paved path that leads visitors to two separate viewing areas. These hide-outs allow us to watch the wildlife in and around the pond. There were several kinds of birds there yesterday: ducks, geese, even a white swan.

I can only imagine how lovely Thoreau's lake will be in the spring time with vegetation bursting out of dormancy. It's not far away now... I think we can all feel it in the air.

BLENDON WOODS
4265 E. Dublin-Granville Road
Westerville, OH 43081

Columbus Zoo

It was not the most ideal day to go to the zoo, I admit. The temperature was hovering freezing, and getting colder. The rain was steady, and starting to change to wintry mix (my favorite term, but not my favorite kind of weather). But the kids were out of school, and we had talked about going to the zoo on this very day for two reasons. One, we had not gone there yet. Two, it's free-admission day (who can say no to that?). And as long as it was not a blizzard out there, we were going to the zoo.

The main attraction, of course, was the polar bear. The zoo made it easy for us to find the bears with large white paw prints on the ground leading us to them from the entrance. These arctic beasts were fun to watch, but I did wonder how they felt living in a place with virtually no snow, or ice. And with a lot of crazy people watching and taking pictures of them. But that's another story.

We also wanted to visit the Asian elephants whose original home-land, I am quite certain, is the same as mine. Sadly, they had just lost one of the adult elephants, Coco, a few days ago, so the zoo is down to four elephants. The youngest, Bodhi is barely two years old. He's adorable, and lovely to watch. He is one of the few male elephants in this country (one of about 20, I was told). Most elephants in the US are females, or so I learned today.

We wandered around a bit more, knowing that we had to return for a more complete visit. But we will save that for a warmer and dryer day! Plus we had a date that we could not miss.

Aside from this President's Day freebie, the zoo admission fee is half-price through the end of February. Parking is $5 regardless of when you go, however.

I have my reservations about zoos in general, but the Columbus zoo seems to be as good as one could get. And with children who are always hungry to see and learn about animals, you just can't go wrong making a trip to this worthwhile place.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
4850 West Powell Road
Powell, Ohio 43065
P.O. Box 400

The West Side Market of Cleveland

Clearly, I could not have gone to Cleveland without paying a visit to the West Side Market. Everyone in Columbus who knew anything about food told me that I had to check it out, on my first ever trip to the city by the lake.



So on Saturday morning, my daughter and I said goodbye to the other half of the family who were heading to the R&R Hall of fame. Instead, we took a cab a few miles from downtown Cleveland to what I was told was a North Market-like place, but better.



I didn't know what to expect, really. It was only after we got there that I learned that there are TWO buildings to this market: one is devoted solely to fruits and vegetables while the other houses everything else.



I had to take it all in slowly. Now that I have gotten used to our North Market where the vendors don't bother you, and where you pretty much know where to get your stuff (one or two options for each kind of food). At the West Side Market, there were many options, for everything.



Take MEAT, for example. They must love their meat in Cleveland. There are several vendors selling beef, pork, bison, chicken, among others. I saw a few seafood stalls, several dairy product vendors, coffee roasters, and even a crepe place!



There were also a few bakeries to choose from, but I was told to get my baguette from Christopher's to go with the cheese and salami that we had bought for our lunch-picnic by the lake.



I was tempted to purchase produce in the other building where vendors tried to lure you to buy their good-value products (from oranges to star-fruit)...reminding me of my days at the North End market in Boston.



Without our own transportation, and a kitchen that was a couple of days away, I did not feel like I could partake in all the buying fun. But do I wish that I could have bought everything there? YES, of course!



We did enjoy our picnic later with some goods bought from the market. And we did treat ourselves to a hot crepe filled with lemon curd and mascarpone cheese.

When we finally found another taxi to take us to our next destination (can't flag a taxi there either, I learned), the cab driver informed me, with his middle-eastern accent, that:

"You know, we have another market like this, on the East side of town!"

"Really?" I said, then jokingly asked "Is it called the East Side Market?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" replied the driver, with an impish grin.


I didn't know, in fact. And I am a bit dubious since my food people from Columbus didn't say anything about this East Side place. But I am happy to learn that there are still many more places to discover in Cleveland, should I return there hungry.

Sledding at Sharon Woods

I can (sort of) deal with the cold, if the sun is shining. I think a lot of you would agree! And with the perfect kind and amount of snow on the ground, what else would a family with children do on a sunny Sunday...but go sledding!



We live in Bexley, where there is apparently a sledding hill in someone's back yard (Miller's Hill).

Not quite ready to intrude (but I am sure we will venture there sometime soon), and tired of the mound we made ourselves in the yard, we headed to Sharon Woods Metro Park in Westerville today for some good sledding, on a real hill!



In fact, there were two sections of the same hill, one just for children ages 10 and under. This section is narrower, but as steep and safe (with hay bales as cushions) as the bigger hill just a few trees and shrubs over.



The kids (and grown-ups) had so much fun that we all forgot about how cold it actually was. Knowing that the snow is not going to melt any time soon...we know we will be back again soon.

Note: Do not enter at the main entrance on Cleveland Ave...instead, go just a little north, and take a left onto the street with a small sign that says "Sledding Hill" and proceed to the parking lot area. The sledding hills will be just to your left.

SHARON WOODS
6911 Cleveland Avenue
Westerville, OH 43081
(northern Franklin County)

Tropical Columbus

Just about the time that I am missing our tropical days in Thailand, Franklin Park Conservatory reveals its new exhibit of orchids from different tropical places in the world. I can't be more thankful.



We went there at 11am today, just in time for the Hula Dancing performance in the Palm Room. The Hawaiian music, together with the genteel, beautiful Polynesian dance, put the winter blues away (almost completely!).



Afterwards, the kids had fun with the craft activities offered in the family fun room in the lower level. There are many activities planned around this wonderful exhibition throughout the month and beyond. With our membership, we are free to go as often as we wish... lucky for us!



Here is more information about the exhibition. Columbus is lucky to have such a wonderful conservatory, especially for a mid-winter escape like this one.

Wood-fired Pizza at Franklin Park

It's mid-November right?

Right?

I want to brag about the outdoor, wood-fired pizza experience we had yesterday at Franklin Park Community Garden.

Jim Budros, the man behind the outdoor kitchen theatre at the garden, put together a wonderful gathering and cooking on a sunny mild November afternoon.

We don't live too far from Franklin Park, so when we heard that there was pizza being made out of my dream pizza oven (I learned of this from my previous visit to the garden), I told my family to jump on our bikes pronto.

We got there just in time for the last pizza of the day (Jim said he made twenty!). The fire was still going strong both in the pizza oven and in the fireplace (where Jim was grilling skewers of pork tenderloin). We watched the 'show' and ate our pizza on a bench, drenched in mid November sun.

Amish Country, Part II

How do they do it? How do they keep living their simple life when all around them exists the fast-paced, hyper-technology, materialistic, media-crazed world?


There is a little part me that wishes to live such a lifestyle. I know it is a lot more than that -- one can't just decide one day to give it all up, and go join the crowd (plus I would look out-of-place with my tan skin and dark hair). So the next best thing to do is to take a trip up to Holmes County and be inspired by the simple way of life, the bucolic landscapes. I do find myself feeling refreshed and re-inspired after each visit.



Last time we went for a day trip from Columbus to Holmes County, we only scratched the surface of the Ohio Amish country. For one, we picked the wrong day to go (Sunday - their sabbath!). We also thought Millersburg would be the center of it all (that's how it looks on the map), where in fact, Berlin and Walnut Creek are more centers of the Amish country.

We still did not make it to the latter two towns (saved for the next trip!). From Columbus, we took I-71 north to Hwy 39 which took us through Millersburg. Before we hit Berlin as we had planned, we got side-tracked and found ourselves heading south for Charm, Ohio. Yes, how can one say no to such an elegant name of a town? It was charming, indeed, and we had lunch at an Amish-style restaurant complete with creamed chicken and biscuits.

We also found ourselves, later on, driving on Ohio's First State Road which is a gravel road winding along the hilly landscape peppered with farm houses, beautiful old barns, horses and cows. We would occasionally pass by an Amish buggy containing well-clothed passengers (it was COLD!) who would wave to us from their small window.


Last but not least, we saw our first snow of the season! Yes, this is true. Some hills were actually covered with the powdery white stuff. Can you imagine the children's plea to stop to have a snowball fight? We reassured them that this would not be their only snowy opportunity.

All in all, it was another pleasant trip to the Amish country. We feel lucky to be close enough for a day-trip for a bit of rejuvenation, and a little reminder that indeed, less is more. Always.