Eclipse

The eclipse was a big deal in our house.  Although we were not in a path of totality we eagerly made eclipse viewing boxes with the kids. We all talked about the eclipse.  I was at work on the day of the event and our maintenance super brought up a welding mask so we could all look.  It was cool. I am looking forward to the next one in 7 years which will have a path to a state near us and where we could potentially see totality.

After having myriad conversations with the kids about not looking directly at the eclipse, why we don't look at the eclipse etc etc, you can imagine my shock when I watched our current president squint up directly at the eclipse while aides shouted to "put on the glasses."

In the grand scheme of things, if he chooses to damage his vision, it is not my concern.  What concerned me was what appeared to such oppositional behavior.  I have been to the oppositional rodeo a few times as a parent and it is not fun!  But for a leader with such huge responsibilities to exhibit such behavior is terrifying.

Farewell to Summer

Fiona came to visit today.  We had a lot of fun. We went to the library and the kids picked their books.  We picked up lunch at Subway and brought that home for lunch. (yay for $5.00 footlongs for this month!) Then we went apple picking at our local city orchard.  Years ago, this lovely orchard was up for sale and plans were in the works for it to be sold for housing development.  A massive effort and many donations and fundraisers allowed our city to purchase it and preserve the beautiful space.  It is a working, thriving orchard with over 5000 apple trees and 40 different varieties.  This is also the site where we typically have a community garden plot yearly.

We had a blast picking apples, and taking a wagon ride through the orchard, soaking up the history of the area. Then we went to the house of a person K cleans for.  They were away for the weekend and we are dog sitting their sweet baby.  We took Jersey for a walk, and she soaked up all the love and adoration all the kids lavished on her. She clearly is missing her family and her own little girl.

On the way home we stopped and chose pumpkins. The kids had a blast doing this and the front and back porch look ready for the new season now.  Then here at home they played in the back yard, helped with laundry, played Wii and had supper. Rob helped me make rigatoni, K made garlic bread, Rob and I made butterscotch graham cookies for dessert. It was a lovely day and though I hate to see summer go, it was nice to bid farewell with all of us together.

Blessed Solstice Night

We had a wonderful Solstice supper tonight.  The kids and I had bought three packs of glow sticks on one of our many visits to the big box party store. We got deep blue, yellow and red.  While I was at work they arranged them in vases and clear dishes down the center of the dining room table. The table is long so you have a lot of room to play with.  Our tree was on the table too, as well as regular candles and some battery operated tea lights. 

Our glow stick colors had meanings.  Blue to represent the deep quiet peace of winter, yellow for the return of the light and red for the light of love we carry within us. 

Supper is always in near dark, lit only by the lights we dress the table with.  There are two important jobs before we sit down. There is the person who brings the darkness by turning off the chandelier. And post meal, there is the light bringer, who turns them up gradually (we have a dimmer) till they are full strength.  This year, KC brought the dark and Lissa brought the light.

Afterwards the kids took all the glow sticks into the living room and placed them in containers they made from toys as "lanterns" and pretended they were camping.  Well the light will return bit by bit; camping can't be too far away!

Sunday Service

Not being like "regular" church going folks, my church officially closes for the summer. (I am a UU pagan).  However we have a large and thriving community and summer services, all lay led ,continue all summer long.  I usually take in a couple of these and today was one such.  I am still sort of tired from yesterday's trip to the Big City and my migraine ,but my friend Raven who is a shaman was leading the service.  He has an amazing choir from his own church that he brings.  And Raven and I have been friends since Chet was in 6th grade and we began homeschooling.  Back in the dinosaur days of the internet when all I used was the computer to chat with other homeschooling families (there being not a single, non secular homeschool group in our region), I "met" Raven.  In one of those odd twists of fate he and his family lived not far from us and we used to buy eggs from he and his wife on our way to and from an Audubon sanctuary where we spend a lot of time.

Raven's daughter is long grown and Chet's homeschool years have passed,but the friendship remains.  It fascinates me how the warp and weft of our life threads evolve. But this is a long way of saying i went to church to see my friend!  And as usual, came away with so much more.  It was special to me also because my middle son has declared he is an athiest--which I remember doing around that age so I am not overly concerned--BUT what excited me was that he chose to come to service with me.  The little kids had all ready chosen to remain home so it would have been no big deal, but both Rob and Chet chose to come .On the way home we stopped at our community garden plot and harvested another 30 or so pounds of tomatos so we are now getting ready to can up some salsa.  I do love having food put by!  And it was so unexpectedly appropriate since our service focussed on Lammas and harvest time.  I have a rich and bountiful life in so many ways and I am so very grateful.

Whale watch pictures!

I wanted to put up a couple of the pictures that Rob took on the whale watch.  Getting shots was tricky for him.  There were lots of people and after the whales dove, they didn't necessarily come back up where you thought they would!  :-)

This is a picture of the blow from a whale coming up to breathe.  I love this shot!

And they all had a whale of a time!

Today was our long awaited whale watch!  The weather was lovely--chilly but lovely.  Seas were mostly calm. Dramamine also works well!  LOL  Actually no one seemed to have any ill effects so I don't know if we even needed the medical aid but I figured I wasn't going to get half way into a 5 hour boat trip and find out we should have done it.

K graciously drove us the hour and 45 minutes to the boat launch and planned quiet things to do until our return.  She brought her kindle and read by the ocean, took a walk,had a nap,  found a nice restaurant for a leisurely lunch.  She enjoyed it.

But back to the real thing--the whale watch!  Did we ever luck out!  We saw fin back whales and hump backed whales.  They didn't just swim around for us.  They breached their heads out of the water.  The banged their flippers on the water (which is amazingly loud incidently!) They breached their tails and one did a full body jump thing.  Absolutely amazing. 

It was neat to watch the kids experience this.  The two younger kids are pretty fearless around water.  Rob has always been less happy with water.  He can swim but only because it is my personal family rule that all people must learn to swim.  I could tell that when we got far enough out that there was no land in sight, that he was not in a comfortable place.  He just sat in his seat, while we got up to go to the rails and look out.  I would invite him, but he would decline.  That was okay with me.  I just wanted him to know I would love to have him with us if he could do it.  I also put him in charge of the camera, figuring that would take his mind off thinking about the Titanic, or whatever other gloomy castastrophe was running through his head. 

It worked. Gradually he began to take pictures and by the time the whales were breaching, he too was at the rails. I am glad that he could ultimately relax into the experience.  He thanked me tonight at bed for bringing him and said he would like to go again some day so it was not just a great day for whale watching, but for Rob's development as well.

A long day though, as we left the house at 9 a.m. and didn't get home till 7:30 this evening.  Tired children have been showered and I am chugging down hot tea with the desperation borne of many hours without tea or coffee.  Because both littles were in my arms or on my lap or otherwise draped across my body all day, I had no safe way to injest hot beverages.  So I am seriously glugging tea right now.  But it was an amazing, magical day and  I am so glad we had this to share together.

Spring Approaches

On 3-2-10 (note numerical symmetry!) K and the kids clipped some forsythia branches from the yard and brought them inside to force.  It has been fun for the kids to watch the gradual changes in the plant.  The subtle color changes, the buds swelling, it was all very magical.  And that magic is the essence of spring to me.  The leap that mother earth takes from bare and barren to lush and fertile.  Despite my allergies it is a much anticipated time for me.

Sunday there was a guest choir at church.  When I saw my friend Raven and his fellow singers enter the church I was both excited and morose in equal measure. It was great to see him--we have been friends via a homeschool list since Chet was young. We used to see each other regularly but his daughter is grown now and our homeschooling of the younger kids has led in other directions somewhat.   I was obligated to work in KC's classroom and knew I wouldn't hear their beautiful music.  I snuck in and listened to bits of the rehearsal but couldn't really stay and focus on the magic (yup, there's that word again) of the music.  Part of my mind was on class and what we would be doing with the children.  I am not all that good about staying in the moment.

After church I was washing paintbrushes when my Chet came to me all excited.  Raven wanted me to come into the sanctuary.  My fellow teacher came with me and the rest of my own kids.  And I was gifted with the most beautiful equinox song I have ever heard.  Sound and praise and beauty and joy swelled around us.  Truly I was honored  to receive the gift of music.  For a few moments I watched my kids faces as the songs strains began to transport them and then I gave myself up to the music and just let it fill me.  It, and our forsythia, were the most beautiful welcomes to the coming spring that I could imagine.

It is really fall!

We went to the park tonight and if I didn't know from the calendar that it was the first of October, I would have known by just looking around me. The first clue is the thick fat bellied clouds, gray schooners in the sky. The angle of the sun slanting through them was different, despite the fact that we were there at the same time. The sun shone but the wind was chill, making our hands numb after only about 30 minutes of play.

Our evening bouquet of flowers for our kitchen altar consisted of only a few brave asters. The goldenrod has all browned and blown, the time of buttercups and brown eyed susans is past.

And we were practically the only people at the park. We are there almost always alone in the early spring too, but then "park friends" seem to trickle in. In fall, they disappear more abruptly, probably loathe to leave warm houses for the cold evening air. We played our odd version of soccer, running for the joy of it and the warmth it gave us. KC and I actually held our own against Rob which is a pretty good achievement. KC is getting some skills at goalie as Rob is a strong kicker and pretty sharp at angling the ball to where we are not! LOL

Lissa noticed the cold first and so before 6 p.m. we were back home, having snacks and getting ready for settling down. There is no denying it. True autumn is really here. Drat!

Look closely at this picture of our front garden. That is our light post, wrapped artfully in fall colors and artificial fall garland. And then look at the flower blooming in front of it. Yup, that is an IRIS????? What is up with my iris blooming now? Is it demented? Is this proof that global warming has totally messed with Mother Nature's mind???

November musings

It amazes me that some seasons blend almost seamlessly into one another, at least at the beginning. I don't for instance, see a big difference between the end of June and the early days of July. Or the end of July and the beginning of August. But some are sharply different here in New England. May is usually a lot different from April. April is usually wet and raw and yucky. May heralds in more sunshine and better days. Likewise the difference between October and November is another sharp demarcation to me. There is a difference in the sky in November, even in the first few days. Suddenly there are less blue skies and lots of clouds, sometimes filled with wind, some with rain. But big billowy clouds none the less.

Even when there is still foliage on the trees the colors are different. October is full of bright color. November is those somber hues that I associate with the garments worn by maiden aunts 30 or 40 years ago. Colors like "ashes of roses" and deep russets. Rich browns and oranges that have been browned down. Nothing showy but yet pretty in an understated sort of way. But not an October look--no , that is strictly November.

I don't really love late fall and I have a hard time embracing winter as well. I hate the physical feeling of being cold, something that I am most of the time from now till mid April or so. I wear layers and layers of clothing but the reality is, I am usually still cold. I have Reynauds syndrome and it is to be expected. Especially as i live in a drafty old victorian house in New England.

I have learned to mask my deep dislike for the colder months and find moments of joy to share in the winter with the kids. I don't want my feelings to color their perceptions, so we play in the snow, we hike, we build snowmen. We laugh. . . and i dream about crocus and snow drops lying in wait for the first warmth of spring.

Nearly mid October

Wow, today is the 10th of October and it seems impossible. Maybe because the past several days have brought a return of warm summer temps, I have managed to push the prospect of colder days to the back of my mind. My only reminders were the diminished daylight and earlier return times when we have to head home from the park. Still I am looking forward to this weekend. It is Columbus Day weekend and that means an extra "family day" as KC puts it. Time to re-connect for all of us, time to maybe hike or apple pick or laze around playing board games. Well okay no lazing around--we don't really know how to do that. LOL But definately time. And time is such a rare and precious gift. I am ever grateful for the time I have with my family. They are so special to me.