bits of sunshine

minnesota rain forest

ben says we live in a rainforest 
the last few days have certainly felt that way 
everything stays wet 
it rains, the dew is heavy, it is humid 
the sky was so heavy and grey today 
my eyes told me to put on a comfy sweater and sit on the porch drinking coffee 
nope 
too warm for that 
but shorts and a t
nope 
too cool for that 
the temperature is unsettling 
it's not really warm enough to need airconditioning 
but when it is off, the house gets so stuffy 
when i turn it on, the house quickly cools down to too cold  

in spite of the miserable weather 
the flowers that maddie and i planted are vibrant 
all four of us are home together 
ben and i stocked up on groceries  
i got to take a nap while the kids played with friends
we made the most tasty chicken fajitas for supper 
the kiddos did the dishes and got to have icecream for a treat 
i have almost all my school work done for the week (everything is due by sunday night) 
ben found a swimming spot that he is taking us to tomorrow (the sun is forecast to shine!) 
and some friends gave us vouchers for tickets to a red hawks game! 
we'll be enjoying baseball on monday afternoon 

i hope that your weekend has some vibrant and tasty and beautiful moments

be wonderful, my friends    ~e

life in a state of wonder

live life
in a constant
state of wonder
every single day
despite
where you are

on sunday we had a wonderful place to be 
all four of us together
in the sunshine
in the sand
in the water
in the breeze
cottonwood leaves clicking
the splosh of the the waves
and the scent of cool water
sunfish glinting
air warm on skin
the scree of cicadas 
laughter and joy
 

we headed home satisfied with one more summer day well spent

live in wonder.  be wonderful.
love, ~e

e writing

8.20

tonight there was the loudest cricket
i was sure you would hear it
through the phone
but you couldn't
tomorrow night we will sit together
if there is a cricket
you will hear it

8.22

humidity lurked outside the door
fogging the glass
seventy-two degrees should feel warm
but humidity trumps temperature
every time
and my arms were all raised goosebumps
and stand-up soft hairs
my legs were all raised goosebumps
wrecking the smooth shave from this morning

 

tonight

 

i get to watch one land and bring my man home with me 
this time was only ten days 
but it was long enough 

 

this old wagon

this red wagon is 33 years old

when it was brand new, on my first birthday, it got to be inside the house and hold a tea party

 

after it moved outside, it spent many, many hours filled with kiddos and water and sticks and toys

i wonder how many miles are on those old wagon wheels

i know my siblings all used this wagon, and my mom probably used it to collect weeds from her gardens
and, apparently, my dad used it for sweet corn

there were probably some years when it was retired to the garage

then, i had babies, and mom and dad brought the wagon to me to use with my kiddos

once again, the wagon was filled with kiddos and toys and sticks

(i thought i had some pictures of my kiddos in or by the wagon, but i'm coming up empty)

i used it for moving rocks and piles of weeds

last summer, maddie filled it with dirt and planted some random little things in it and pulled it off into the woods by her fort  . . . it all got very overgrown and left behind

last monday, i went out to the old fort site, and found my old wagon by memory 
it was so over-grown, i had to just reach in where i thought it should be to find it 

i dumped it out and put it in the backseat of my car for the short ride to it's new home

i gave it a bath, and tried out a bit of an idea

got to work

and this little old wagon is in a happy place again 

 

m + i

they are back home, where they belong 
i know they had a wonderful time 
and i had some days of doing everything quietly, on my own time
but i was so ready to listen to them talking to me and to each other 
and so ready to hug tight, kiss cheek, breathe in, squeeze shoulder and arm and knee 
i love these two so very much

the next best time

we find ourselves in a funny place, ben and i  
we are 34 and we are starting over 
in some ways, this should all be ten years ago 
24 would be a good time to start 
we are only ten years out, though, not twenty or thirty 
we aren't 44 or 54 and starting over

i am reminded of something i read 
the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago 
the next best time is now

the best time to for ben to be really digging in to a career path
and for me to be finishing my BS and starting a masters program
was probably 14 years ago 
the next best time is now

so, now it is

ben is working so very hard at landing a new position 
a permanent, full-time position 
a position that will utilize and fine-tune all his many skills 
and also give him room to grow and and aquire new skills 
a position that will allow him to come home more nights during the summer

i am just about finished signing up for my last three classes 
well, not really the last 
but the last three i need to graduate from USD with a BS in English and an Ed minor 
this is so. very. exciting to me! 
and over the next four months, i will be pursuing a path for a masters program 
which i will start in january 

we are not sure where the next few months or year will find us living 
i made our garden ever-so-very-much prettier yesterday, so i guess it's about time to move 
i have a funny thing about making a garden that i love and then moving away from it 
this time, the majority of the garden is moveable

maybe i am learning a lot of things 
maybe, just maybe, now is the very best time

 

snack and packs

we were recently invted to try nakd bars by natural balance foods - what a treat!  they packed up easily to head to the lake with us, they didn't melt in the sun, and they were tasty and packed with energy!

we do some outdoor adventuring around here, you know.  packs are often a necessity.  and so are tasty snacks. 

in ben's case, when he is on the fireline, what is in his pack could mean the difference between life and death.  enough water.  some high-energy, light-weight foods.  a fire shelter.  some medical supplies.

over the years, we've learned some things about packing.  sometimes the thing we've learned is that we should have taken a pack!  and we are getting much better at packing up and remembering to bring our packs with us.  especially when we go for a jeep ride, or on a bike ride, or to the lake.  everybody needs to bring water, a sweatshirt, sunglasses and a snack.  ben and i both have knives, lighters, a few items for first aid, and wipes of some sort.  we're prepared for just about anything!

and now we'll have nakd bars to add to our snack list (with nuts, clif bars, dried fruit, and homemade cookies).  

my favorite flavors were pecan pie and rhubarb custard.  maddie loved the strawberry crunch and the apple crunch.  isaac's favorite was the banana crunch.  and ben's favorties were the cocoa mint and strawberry crunch. 

if you need a packable, high protein snack (gluten and dairy free! and 100% vegan!), these may become your next go-to snack!

keep packing, snacking, playing and enjoying!  be wonderful!

love, ~e

 

some moments from july

one morning, drinking my coffee outside, i heard a crazy chittering. 
there were three sparrows in the parking lot. 
chase.  chitter.  flutter. 
then toward my car.  two under.  one up and over. 
then around the corner and away.

i doodled my way through election judge training

i have SCOBY eating sugar and growing me good bacteria in a big jar on my counter.  i have little jars filled with kombucha tea, fruit and fruit juice to make my tasty pro-biotic brew. 

my friend beth saves me the starbucks rewards starcodes from all her bags of coffee beans. 
she gave me fifteen of them the other day. 
starbucks.com only allows two starcodes to be entered per day. 
i've been entering two at a time . . .
i'm getting to the end of them . . . and i'm close to earning a gold star!
(and find out what that means, exactly.)

two friends in the past two weeks have told me that they actually picture me with a nose ring
ben would smile about that and say, "see!  you should get one!"

skype is weird
so good to see his face in real time, but made me want to cry
. . . so close, but 1700 miles away . . .
i like talking on the phone and texting better

the kids' room had looked like a total bomb went off in there. 
we spent quite a few hours on it over the course of a couple days.  now, it looks grand!

that was a job well-done - and, so far, they are keeping it that way! 
they've been cleaning up after they play - it's wonderful!

i finished giving myself a haircut at 1:30 am . . . after talking to ben one night

the tree windchime?  i gave myself permission to buy that 
i've had my eye on it since last summer 
there are two little birds at the top, sitting in the tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g

i love fresh air and cool water. 
jumping in, climbing out.  jumping in, climbing out. 
the sandy bottom beneath our toes. 
the moving-right-along of the river.  a clear-glass wind-less night on the lake. 
good friends.  laughter.  the wonderful work of playing and enjoying.

play and enjoy and be wonderful, my friends.

love, ~e