MountainMornings

My Sundays always start out with a Zoom call to my two siblings. We check in on each other, we hear about our plans for the future, sometimes there’s a medical consult with Bob, and we reminisce. But yesterday just kept getting better and better. Bob wanted to take me out for lunch, and we decided to try something new in East Nashville.

So there we were, sitting on the patio of the Grilled Cheeserie Food Truck’s actual restaurant, enjoying a TN bacon and bourbon melted cheese confection, when in strolls not one, but TWO Welsh Corgis! Naturally we had to visit and things felt ‘almost normal’ talking mask-less to a perfect stranger – who happened to be a Veterinarian. She told me that so called “Cowboy Corgis,” the name of a breeder here in TN, are really a hybrid mix of Corgi with Blue Heelers, which they’d be happy to sell for $3,000!

Is it just me, or are these boutique blended breeds just a flash in the pan? Most mixed-breed dogs are blended with a Retriever or a Poodle – like the Goldendoodle. Although I looove the Cavachon – a mix of Cavalier King Charles with a Bichon. They look like tiny Ewoks!

With Ms Bean turning 13, we’ve been talking about another dog, but I’m on the fence. Dogs don’t just supply endless, unconditional love, they also make you get up off the couch to walk them. Affordable exercise and lubrication for your rusty joints! The big problem is that chunk they take out of our hearts when they die. And when we start traveling again, it may not be fair to leave a puppy at home. Anyway, for now I get to enjoy the Bride’s Frenchie pup!

Soon we were on our way to meet the Bride and Groom’s family at Cheekwood, our local botanical garden and museum. If you love animals and happen to have kids who love Legos, you cannot miss this exhibit, “Sean Kenney’s Nature POP!”

From acclaimed artist Sean Kenney and produced by Imagine Exhibitions, this exhibition features 38 sculptures made from more than 800,000 LEGO® Bricks. Inspired by the Pop art movement, Kenney’s work blurs the boundaries between austere and the everyday, drawing from a belief that everything is interconnected. Sean Kenney’s Nature POP! Made with LEGO® Bricks explores the beauty of nature through highly stylized, colorful displays….

https://cheekwood.org/calendar/nature-pop/

The exhibit will run through September 5th, but yesterday the weather was ideal for animal-sculpture-spotting; overcast and high 70s with a hint of the humidity to come. Walking through the beautiful gardens, passing other mask-less families, and suddenly seeing a Pileated Woodpecker made up of thousands of neon colored Legos; or rounding a corner of hostas to see a bright blue Polar Bear with her cubs was breathtaking. The L’il Pumpkin wanted to know just how they were designed to make overlapping feathers, and the Love Bug immediately put together a small black dog with Legos when we returned to their house.

Sunday dinner was delivered by a yummy local eatery. My daughter showed us her latest painting (yes she is a spectacular multi-media artist in her spare time) and we laughed and tried to decide where we might put a tiny house if we were to make a bid in the auction to benefit Cheekwood.

Those tony tiny houses are cute, but I’d be feeling a tad cramped after awhile. You?

Seeing all those faces, smiling and talking, in the open air felt surreal and just a little frightening. Bob said we’re basically at herd immunity in this country, if you count all the people who were infected with everyone who’s been vaccinated. But what about India and all those variants around the world? What about the Bug and the Pumpkin, when will they be vaccinated?

We promised the Grands a trip to Harry Potter World in California, so a visit to the Rocker and Aunt KiKi to celebrate their very first new home is in order this summer. I’m so delighted for my Left Coast family… as Great Grandma Ada would say, “Pooh, Pooh, Pooh!” She would have loved to see our collective unmasking.