right now

The Boy. He doesn't sleep. The world is too amazing to close his eyes on for one minute. Oh, my coffee pot for a little cynicism!

peek

Hey, look, it's my favorite people!

Classic Birdie Boy.

Classic Smootch.

Love the way these two are together.

And this guy is amazing.

Back with more pics soon!

check in

Hi,

Just a quick check in. We are all good but the computer sorta blew up a wee bit. Got the laptop going but it's resources is a little thin compared to what we are used to.

But, we plug along. Another showing tonight of the house (or, as I see, another opportunity to take the kids someplace different with the car). Another week of school for Smootch (counting down, only 1 month left, and who knows when - or if - she'll grace the walls of a school house again...)

We've confirmed our plans to go to north country fair. So damn excited!

And I'm still combing out dreads. I have about a 1/2 dozen left. Really, they only take about 5-10 minutes to comb out a dread, but I never seem to have that little bit of time. Or if I do, there are 100 other things more important I should be doing, which take higher priority than my silly hair. That, my friends, is the reason why I decided to take them out in the first place. No time for grooming. Not during this blessed but busy part of my life. *this is what acceptance feels like*

And that's all the time for now, folks, but hopefully I'll be back with pics soon.

boredom: my gift to her

A tin can pilfered from the recycle bin, a spoon, a water barrel, and an unplanted garden. A magician's toolkit. Ta-Da!

and the craisin ride

Birdie eating dried cranberries yesterday. He's pop one in his mouth and then all these wild, tormented expressions would flicker across his face. Like this:



And this:


And this one too:

And here's another:

And my favorite:

And just when I think he's just going to burst into tears, Birdie would swallow the little cranberry, smile wide, and say 'yum!'

And then pop another in his mouth. And the fun would begin again.

mornings

We've begun a new ritual here in the mornings. After breakfast the children and I have been getting on our jackets and shoes, with Smootch in whatever takes her fancy at that moment and Birdie boy in his touque and felted wool footie pants to keep the morning dew off his legs, and tromping out to our little patch of neighborhood green.



I've written odes to this little patch of nature before. We actually walk past it to take Smootch to school, it's been the scene of many a playdate, and we've gone on numerous journeys through the trees to watch the seasons change. You'd think I'd get tired of it. Yet visiting it every morning for just half an hour or so has deepened my love for it.



The thing about nature is that the more you look the more interesting it becomes. It's gratifying to be able to share this wisdom with my children even here in the middle of the city. Sometimes there is a sense in our public discussion that the only real nature is that which is pristine wilderness. Sometimes that wilderness is deemed valuable because of it's beauty and knowledge that it can teach, and, frighteningly often, it's because it's seen as an raw resource waiting exploitation or a challenging environment to rip up with an ATV or SUV. We often discount our tame bits of nature in urban and suburban places and the positive impact it has on our mental and physical health. We see the mountain tops and seasides as sites of healing and communion with our sacred selves. Yet to find this sense of transcendence you really do not need to take a long physical journey, just open your eyes to the possibilities right where you are. If you live by a small stand of trees, overgrown garden, or a bit of untended grassland in the city you know what a bit of magic that can be, especially if you are lucky enough to visit it with children.

For us, right now, our nature getaway happens every morning just as the sun is above the rooftops.

enslaved by bias tape