Dirty Fun

You know you want to join in.

A Strong Young Tree

Check out my 8-year-old singing a family favorite... (With big sis hosting the show.)

click me-----> The Tree Song








My blog post one year ago today...
Smile!

A Summer Day

Taller every day










Goofy Boy









And when did she get so lanky and beautiful?










And one more, because it is just this kind of day:

Butterflies

The kids and I sent of for some caterpillars a few weeks back, and they arrived in a little jar full of food. We watched them for many days, as they ate and pooped and spun silk, and then they crawled up to the top of the jar and wrapped themselves up in their cocoons. You know what happens next.

Fresh Butterflies


Five of the six caterpillars made it to the butterfly stage. We turned them loose at the little pond/lake by our house.



No images of their release, because I wanted to be fully in the moment instead of behind a lens. Marian held up the first, and it lounged around on her hand for awhile, curling its proboscis in and out, and languidly flew away. Leo lifted his up, and it had a mishap during take-off and landed back on his hand, then flew away successfully. Sophie had barely lifted hers up to freedom when it immediately took off, and the two I released did the same. It was really lovely.

From the Front Porch

I moved to a new home at the beginning of April (not the home mentioned in a previous post), and am now mortgage-free! Woot!

Unfortunately, 2 months after moving here, I broke my ankle. It has been challenging and humbling and painful, but I have still managed to snatch some moments of joy. Had I not moved, I'd never have been able to enjoy the beauty from my front porch that I have here. Even staying on my porch chair, broken ankle elevated, I was able to gaze upon all this beauty:

To the East






To the South


To the West


Straight Down


And Back to the SouthEast





How lucky am I? (Broken ankle and all.)

The Science of Tao

"The evolving energies of Tao have been compared to quantum theory in physics. Subatomic energy patterns—the scientific equivalents of chi—are the creative force beneath all existence. This energy is not quite a particle, a predictable, solid form of matter. It’s not quite a wave, an action or process, but a combination of the two."

--The Tao of Inner Peace, Dreher, p. 139

When Life Begins

Wabi Sabi

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There's a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
-- Leonard Cohen

Wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in natural, imperfect simplicity. Wabi-sabi is quiet and modest, a humble beauty waiting to be discovered and appreciated. Wabi-sabi is in thrift stores, not Walmart; aged wood floors, not brand new carpet; wrinkles and blemishes and imperfect teeth, not the American airbrushed media model. Wabi-sabi is evident in the lines on your face that show all the times you have laughed, the stretch marks on your belly from the babies you have carried within, the age spots on your hands that show the years you have spent gaining wisdom. It is the misshapen ceramic pot your six-year-old made, the off-key songs you sang as a child, the marks outside the lines of a coloring page. It’s the cracks in adobe, the rust on metal, the frays on your grandmother’s quilt. It’s the patina of perfect imperfection born from age and wear, in art, in nature, in ourselves. Wabi-sabi is all that is modest, humble, and lovely.



Awesome kids’ book for all ages


What if you could learn to be content with your body, your life, your self exactly as they are today? What if you could see the perfection in all your perceived flaws? How would your outlook change?

Standing on Tiptoe

"He who stands on tiptoe
doesn't stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn't go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can't know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can't empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.

If you want to accord with the Tao,
just do your job, then let go."

--Tao Te Ching 24, Mitchell translation

Wednesday's Good Stuff

Three kids laughing hilariously and simultaneously with delight in their mother's antics.

The initially disappointing wine that tasted lovely when mixed with diet 7-Up.

A chubby-tummed water-baby thrilled with her first professional swimming lesson.

A big brother comforting his little sister.

A cool overcast day that left no droplets on my glasses.

The surprise of my favorite gluten-free cookies on the supermarket shelf.

Financial aid closer on the horizon.

A nine-year-old choosing to do math problems in bed at night.

Cute dogs leaning into under-the-collar scratches.

Stolen moments alone.

Sunday's Good Stuff

The heat wave broke, and my clothes are no longer sticking to my skin.

My little redheads, giggling and running while holding hands.

The laughter of the big girl, and her bright blue eyes.

The smell of flowers on the air.

Eternal familiar cackling.

Comfortable and soothing re-runs.

Growing kittens with fat bellies and bright eyes.

The nap in the embracing recliner.

Communities changing and growing in laughter.

Kids everywhere in everything, learning and laughing and touching and thriving.

Favorite music.

Intelligent adult conversation.

River Sprites

Good Morning, Sunshine

And good morning, Coot.

Adventure in Bigfoot Country

I'm so glad the Bigfoot body was a scam. I don't want anybody to find one EVER. Stay shy, Bigfeet. I'm rootin' for ya.

-----------------

On my last day as a 32-year-old, my dear Suki (sweet little car o' mine) decided she simply couldn't carry us any farther than the 1200+ miles she'd come from Colorado, so she protested by randomly and violently waving her windshield wipers (despite the controls being in the off position), and then losing all forward momentum when I turned off the air conditioner. I let her idle and rest on the side of the road for a bit, in the hopes of raising her spirits a bit, but her tantrum wasn't over. When I coaxed her into going forward again, the windshield wipers flailed in proportion to the weight of my foot on the gas pedal, and she randomly flashed some display lights on her dash. I relented and turned the ignition off, and she lapsed into a coma from which none could wake her.



Thus, the kids and I spent several hours on the side of the road on Snoqualmie Pass, pictured above. It's beautiful, and looks idyllic from a distance, but the roar of the 70mph traffic mere feet away is still in my ears almost 24 hours later. I hauled all our Colorado possessions a hundred feet up the road into a minuscule pull off, where we set up camp. Our Van Gogh car sunshades, giant wicker picnic basket, and rainbow and Buddha canvas bags festooned the side of the rode and passersby gawked as we sweated in our insufficient shade. Once AAA towed the car away, we were on our own, and likely mystified more than one human hurtling through the mountains in their obedient hunks of steel and plastic. We passed the time with songs and silliness, stories and shade-seeking, furtive toileting and Bigfoot-watching. Leo is certain he saw branches mysteriously move as though someone were keeping an eye out for us.

We're now safely ensconced at my parents' house in Tacoma, sans car. Interestingly, the shop where Suki was towed lost power about the time she arrived, and in spite of being a major business (the Toyota dealership, in fact) in a metro area, word says that they won't get power back before Wednesday. Who'd'a thunk it? So, in the meantime, I'm sending healing vibes to Suki and preparing to bid farewell to the laptop who has been dreaming of coming back to Colorado with me. C'est la vie.

Al Gore's Challenge to Repower America

Thoughts?

.

Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!

Take a deep breath and be prepared to concentrate:




Now, relax, and enjoy the 20 second cuteness.

Imbolc 2008

The Imbolc candle.


Imbolc is halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. We think of it as Mother Nature being pregnant with Spring, or the Earth being wrapped in the cocoon of winter, halfway through the waiting to become a butterfly. Check out my little butterflies, in their cocoons and with their wings.

















And the photo of the day:



We also made runes for the first time, and our divination was quite interesting and enlightening. That will remain in the family, but we're happy to share the blessed rune box, sculpted by Marian and decorated with runes.




Today was a lovely day of rituals, blessings, magic, nature, exploration, connections, and more. Happy Imbolc!