Big Sky Days

perhaps

Perhaps another post of gratefulness is in order.

There are certainly worse ideas for posts.   In fact, what really could be better?

Today I am back from a terrific trip where I learned, explored, and relaxed with just my husband.  I am grateful.  

I am incredibly grateful to my parents for making this possible for us.  I am grateful for the smiles and love and kisses from my kids upon our return.  

Kauai is a glorious place that is to be shared,  

ingested,

and adored.

Nature fills me up in way that nothing else can.  It is so heavenly, so Godly, so big and bold.  It is outdoors that I feel the balance of the world and the purpose.  It is outdoors I feel clarity and perspective.  And the words, "whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should" sing in my ear and resonate in each cell of my body.  

Perhaps that hike (or feeling) doesn't last forever but it is something to take with me.  It is something to call upon when I need it.  

 

 

 

right now

Right now we are:

getting in a quick play date with my son's best friend from first grade

finding out that my son's 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. Ely (same as his first-grade best friend, yahoo)

making banana bread

thinking about making zucchini bread

getting excited to make this yum-ola salad

recovering from a grocery shop with 2 kids who would rather have been somewhere else and showed it

anxiously awaiting dinner at the cousin's house tonight (note to self: don't forget the meat!)

packing, packing, packing

google mapping how to get from Bozeman to Joseph Creek, Oregon

cleaning the house so the house/dog/chicken sitter does not think we are disgusting people

looking out our clean windows, thank you Zen Window Washers!

wondering when my son will get out of the car we drove into the driveway 20, no 30! minutes ago

loving him loving Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, finally.  (I read up to book 4 with him a few years back and it got too scary that he couldn't go anywhere near it...until now!)

wondering what to get my husband for our 11th wedding anniversary this friday - no clue

hoping to remember to bring all the books-on-CD we got from the library

organizing and charging all the various electronic equipment needed for the road trip: ipods, CD player, camera, cords, ear phones, lap tops

packing, packing, packing

realizing that writing this isn't actually the same as packing

thinking about how not to go crazy

and 

doing 

this

one 

last  

time

for 

general

cleanliness

purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this moment

Summer Trips

by Jonathan Greene

As a child sequestered in
the back seat on a long journey,
exiled in one's own world,
a refuge. Deep sleep naps.
Ice-cream stand oases after
a long stretch of highway.

In the front seat: the troubles
of the world, treaties with
foreign nations, domestic squabbles
with aunts and uncles, at times
at a whisper, classified
information.

A whole year of work 
brings us this week at the beach.
The Devil's bargain parents made,
a contract that renews every time,
weary after the nine-to-fives,
they unlock the front door.

 

 

fort william henry

a surprise, here and there

It was a bit of a surprise when we walked out the door this morning.

Lots and lots of snow!  I knew the snow was forecasted but somehow I didn't believe it.  I mean, spring was in the AIR yesterday!  It was nearly 50 degrees out!  Plus, we had just returned from a trip to New Mexico where the weather was nothing but glorious.  Seventies, nearly Eighty.  At one point, I was comfortably sitting with friends at an outside table after dinner enjoying the moonglow.  (I know New Mexico weather has nothing to do with Montana weather but it still somehow seemed significant enough to mention.)  And I guess it really isn't a surprise that it snows in spring.  

Next we checked in on the chickens.

Now here, I am actually going to admit some surprise over their growth.  These little ladies are big! Hmpf.  Um.  Not sure how we are going to keep them in this same spot till JUNE, as originally planned...I will have to think on this one.  

We returned inside to review and download all the photos from our recent trip.  Near the end of our trip, we got to go to the Santa Fe Children's Museum.  Although it was not the first time for both of the kids, it was a new place for me.  By this point in the trip, the kids needed a bit of exploratory play.  And that is just what they got.

Which was a nice surprise.



 

 

 

Dreaming of a hot spot

As much as I like to be present in the moment, enjoy where I am living, and love the snow...blah, blah, blah.  I think a little dream about a warm, sunny locale this time of year isn't so bad, right?  Right.  Although, it is my first winter in Montana and I have been told to be tough since it will last till June, I think a nice beachy dream would suit me just fine.  Part of my dream began when I wrote my love letter post to my husband.  The photo in that post was taken in Dominica, a magical island in the Caribbean.  That trip was a (way) belated honeymoon - about 3 years after our wedding.  In fact, I was pregnant with my little boy.  And although I was not partaking in the island rum or Caribbean beer, I was in my second trimester and feeling really good.  

How does collecting seashells sound right about now?

We haven't had the luxury of too many island vacations in our lives, but we also went to the tres chic Caribbean island of St. Barths when my son was about 18 months old.  Here he is perfecting his french pout.  Oh la la!

And I forgot about his "let-it-all-hang-out" layed back vibe when we were down in Mexico about a year later. (Not an island but just as warm and delicious.)

Looks like we have been lucky.  But it has been some years and I think this will (again) not be our year to feel the tropical breeze, drink the Caribbean rum, and pick up some seashells.  Instead I will reminisce with photos and think about how he and we (adding our girl) have changed.   All the while dreaming of our next hot spot and enjoying what we have right here.