Monday, May 21, 2012
When I think about the mixed-up bag of emotions surrounding our move further into the wilderness, I find it funny that I ever have thought I knew what the future held. I thought I was rooted. I did.
Living here fulfills so many lifelong dreams. We actively sought this solitude, this woodsy hideaway. I dreamed of a place with year-round creeks, woods, pastures, a big weathered barn. My son climbs to the top of his own personal mountain and throws rocks. My daughters fence-sit in the best possible way: on ranch fencing overlooking their ponies' fields. So you can see, even I can see, why my sadness (grief) in the course of this move has surprised me.
Transplant shock.That's all it is.We spent our weekend in the creek and in the woods and in the garden. Spreading new roots.
Friday, May 11, 2012
On the other side of that leaf
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| Gently down the stream. |
Our life is quiet now, audibly hush-hush, as we go about our gardening and our school days and our dance afternoons.
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| Those curls! And my boy nearly two. What's a mom to do? |
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| In case we must replace our current dilapidated/charming/beatrixpotter fence, I take pictures of others. |
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| My five at Sarah's flute recital. The personalities! |
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| Our own private recital in the apple trees. |
I drove past our old home this week and remembered that I did love it there. I loved it in spite of selling our previous, larger, adored Dutch Colonial home. My realization? I don't miss the 1898 converted church (even when the construction projects here are on hold. Again.). I miss the sense of neighborliness. I miss the buzz of the grange hall activities and the Thursday senior luncheons at the lodge across the road. I miss our neighbors who don't live there anymore, and whose leaving I mourned before we decided to buy this wonderful acreage.
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| The swallows (?) finding a birdhouse left behind by previous owners. Glad I didn't move it. |
But it might bring new adventures and that elusive perspective.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Oh baby
Remember your babies' milk-drunk nap-time stupor?
Jane has that too.
Not sure what I'll do when she outgrows it. With each of my babies I used to watch them while they slept, little mouths working away at a dream snack, contentment and peace in a bundle. Now the lamb fills that spot, next prolly a purse dog.
Don't tell my husband.
Jane has that too.
Not sure what I'll do when she outgrows it. With each of my babies I used to watch them while they slept, little mouths working away at a dream snack, contentment and peace in a bundle. Now the lamb fills that spot, next prolly a purse dog.
Don't tell my husband.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Pacemaker
Last week I started a little couch-to-5k project.
I hesitate to mention it, you know, since I'm much nearer the "couch" than the "5k."
All my life I've been a dancer, a writer, a horsewoman, a thinker.
And although I play well with others I am not exactly a team sports kinda girl.
So it was with great surprise that I realized I love both the field and track portions of a track-and-field event.
I think I really love the solitude of running... even in my current walk-run-walk-run stage.
And it's not just because my early partners,
my sweet husband and my super-fit oldest child,
outran me within 90 seconds of our inaugural workout.
Come to find out, I just (big surprise) like being alone for 20 or 40 minutes.
One can think on a run.
Whodathunk?
(Molly is behind bars because we have a new bottle baby, a lamb,
and the dogs are not to be trusted with small bouncy creatures.)
Anywhat I have new running shoes and a new attitude.
I run for mental health.
I like the running better in the woods,
where the fir needles and moss cushion paths
and my thoughts are rambling
but loud enough to hear over
my breathing.
As a horsewoman
it feels a little like that moment when you transition
from walk to trot to
canter.
It's breathless and slightly uncomfortable, hard to catch your balance, and then rhythm takes over.
So I go into the woods without my camera.
And I come out not a faster person but a person with a better pace.
I run when Salvador's asleep and the girls are
deep into history or language arts -- my favorite subjects and theirs --
deep into history or language arts -- my favorite subjects and theirs --
and I can't believe I look forward to this exercise.
Do you run?
Do you stretch yourself in some other unexpected way?
(Do you illustrate your blog, your life, with seemingly unrelated photos? Me too.)
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