katiemae_days

friday's post, part two

I can't let this days posts pass without expressing sadness for Michael Jackson's and Farrah Fawcett's passing. On the same day. So strange it seems. Michael was a music icon. Though I have no idea where my Thriller tape is anymore, I remember watching the "Jackson 5" as a kid and dancing many a party away to "ABC" and "Beat it" and "Billie Jean" and so much more. And Farrah, the "it" girl when I was a kid. Longing for feathered hair at twelve even though I knew with my curls blond feathers were not part of my destiny. She fought a long, courageous fight never giving up it seems. Peace to both of these legends.
Here's one of my all-time favorite Jackson Songs:

To see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrPTDU40hO4

six days on the road......

Well not six days actually. We've been away from home about a week so far with an actual three days on the road and the rest of the time we've been hunkered down visiting with my parents in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The Papa took a class this last week down in Carbondale, Colorado at Solar Energy International. This has been a goal of his for years and finally he was able to attend a class specific for science teachers this past week on renewable energy. Being the multi-taskers that we are, we were able to tie in his course with a road trip to see my family.

I brought my laptop and camera and camera cable with grand plans of hooking into my dad's internet connection downloading photos and keeping up with my posts chock full of photos. Well, my old computer cannot access the network and I've no wireless connection. So while I have a plethora of photos taken from the car zooming at 70-plus miles per hour I'm not yet able to post any here. Yet. I think I'll preserve stories from the road for now until I can post a few photos. I am including one photo of my girl on her bike peddling around my parent's driveway before an afternoon storm came in. She moved up a size on her two-wheeler and is feeling mighty proud.

 

Since we've been at my parents, we have taken some good walks and hit the park. We've helped my parents with a few minor chores around the house that needed attention. Big rains here today which for now has postponed a trip to the pool and biking along the big path near town. But that's just fine. We have games and a piano. And my girl has discovered it. She plays away to her own tune singing songs she's writing in the moment or on the side.  I love seeing the thrill on her face when she is making music. Doesn't matter what it sounds like she's pure joy in the moment and she is bringing such joy right to the heart of her Bapa.

We're both having such fun sitting and making music. I am rediscovering my old piano skills and though I have long way to go to get my keyboard fingers back in shape, I love playing again.  As a kid, I took lessons for years right up through high school. Never practiced enough; in fact, I'd cram a week's worth of practicing in the hour after I got home from school and before I had to leave for piano class. I'd shrink as I walked into my lesson hoping my teacher wouldn't notice that I'd not practiced enough but she always did. And she let me know it, which sucked. I cried more than once in shame for not practicing enough. I never let it sink in that when I did practice, I played well and had fun. I played mostly classical and a little jazz and blues. What I loved most was playing boogie style blues and improvising with the notes I knew. I loved making my own sound.  Then and now.

My dad just dug out a book that's perfect for beginners which I consider myself now. I'm studying, relearning notes and finding my way to reach for a chord or two. I have dreams of being able to sit down with friends and jamming.

I'm glad to spend this time with my parents. With my Dad in particular who is nearing eight-five. He is healthy(knocking right now on every piece of wood around here), but his mind is changing. He is hard of hearing in one ear and deaf in the other but thankfully has a decent hearing aid which helps him hear somewhat with one ear. Talk softly into his ear and he can hear you.

My dad always a quiet gentle man is more quiet now. I like to be with him, helping him organize his office, walking, talking some and just being together. He knows his memory is not the same. He knows he needs to practice reading aloud to get words in his mouth. He knows he needs to be practicing the piano and reading complex articles. He know he needs to exercise his mind like with the diligence he exercises the rest of his muscle. He knows his mind is not the same because he tells me so.

When I am not here, we write each other daily telling of our day. I started doing this with my Dad last year when I noticed more change in his writing.  He is open always about how much he loves us his children and grandchildren and of course my mom. Never an hour goes by without him telling us how special we are to him.  My Dad is a brilliant man, a retired professor who taught post-graduate studies in foreign policy. He changed careers in his forties, got his Masters then PhD with at least six of the seven kids in our family at home all while working full-time. And though I was very young, I remember he was there to say goodnight. Yep, I feel grateful for my dad.

I know my Dad's mind is not the same but I also know he is here right now. I know we don't talk in as much detail as we once did but we talk and our connection has not changed. He is well. Aware. Loving. Present. To be here now with him is a gift.

monday visit

I do love summer. I love that my girl is out of school and our time is free for the most part for her to play with her friends or for us to enjoy special time together. Time for the garden and to cook to meet friends at the park to ride bikes, free to hang out and make art.

Yesterday, we drove twenty minutes North to our friend, Auntie J's beautiful acreage and home and if you could see me I'd be drooling...new art/writing studio her partner built for her. This wonderful friend I've known for years. We worked together and used to dream daily of what we'd do if we weren't working a 9-5 job. We'd lost touch once I'd moved and left the college where we worked. But last year in the cracker aisle of our Food Coop, there she was and in an instant we reconnected. We have walked together miles now along the water here and up around her place and talked volumes I'm sure. 

 

Though I always felt close to her then, I do more so now. She has gotten to know my girl quite well and between them is their own sweet connection. That I love. We poked through her gardens admiring beautiful flowers and vegetables on the rise and then lingered for awhile in her magical art studio drinking tea and looking at books on floorcloths. I never knew about floorcloths until yesterday. Our friend Auntie J asked my girl to design a floorcloth for her so that her beautiful wood floors will be protected from wet clay she uses for creating sculptures. I could see in my girls eyes amazement she was asked to design the piece. I could feel her inside thinking "me, you mean me?"  My girl will draw a picture on square piece of paper and Auntie J will copy that and enlarge it and then reproduce the image onto the floorcloth. So excited for the task and opportunity, my girl got started drawing right away.

While at the farm, we also met Auntie J's partner's daughter Darby who designs candle holders made from reclaimed wood. This is the start of a piece:

Please check out "redbarnwoodworks.com" to see a line of finished projects. The site is under construction but you can still get a snapshot of her beautiful works.

Following our visit to the farm, we head to one of our favorite parks by the water to meet some friends for biking. The girls rode free for an hour or so while us mamas visited.

A great summer day this Monday was. We're off now for a couple of weeks to visit my family in Colorado. We're roadripping it there and back and as I am able to plug in I'll post a few short pieces on the journey or whatever else.

I love a roadtrip. I invest a few dollars or more in plenty of books and books on tape and art supplies for our days on the road. We have to drive fairly quickly there so that the Papa can attend a class on renewable energy but I hope for a slower drive back through Montana and Wyoming or wherever else we feel the pull to see.

Here's to the start of Summer!

meandering on a sunday

What you might know about me is that much of the time I like days that unfold without a roadmap or timepiece attached. Unplanned is often my preference. And yet, I plan. I definitely do and much of the time this is how I accomplish a gaggle of to dos on any given day. But my preference is to meander loosely while I accomplish.

Today was a lazy Sunday and whoa mama can lazy do a body good sometimes. I had plans of running an errand or two, weeding, starting to pack for our upcoming road trip but instead opted for much needed laziness and just hung out. After all, when I mentioned running errands to my girl, she the one who loves to write wrote me a note saying "I don't want to go to erins. She did not mean her friend Erin but rather errands of the other kind. I was easily swayed into believing I can run errands tomorrow.

Sometimes after a busy time like this week past, it sure feels good to do a whole lot of nothing. This morning after writing the note about not wanting to go to "erins", my girl asked if we could just stay home all day. Why not....after all, I needed a day hunkering down too.

And since this morning, she's been happily hanging out in her room listening to books on tape and making art. Just now she called me in to show me a few surprises. Tickled with herself for hiding art treasures around her room like face paints, water colors, beads and notes, she couldn't wait to show her mama. As she meanders and flies free through fields of art for while wearing only pajama pants sans shirt by this time of day does this mama heart good. She's beaming positively about having a day to herself too.

Today was the kind of day I would have stayed in my pajamas all day but alas I soaked my "Hello Kitty" pajama bottoms right along with my garden beds. My old t-shirt/pajama shirt stayed dry so thank the goddess of lazy Sundays II'm still wearing that.

Aside from a far from taxing chore or two, I have been tucked away right next door downloading photos, writing, surfing the internet to learn more about twitter and other web media and yes a little cleaning, folding laundry and food making. While not tending to my creative side as much as my girl today, accomplishing in small doses a few essential tasks feels good.

I did venture out to the yard a couple of other times other than the morning watering I already mentioned and then to weed a couple of beds in dire need of some attention and love. I've nearly finished my front bed  redesigns at least phase one and while for much of it I've not had a plan I'm sort of happy with the outcome. I will be happy to see my plants grow bigger, more full and take up more dirt space but I rather enjoy the  experimentation you know gardening stream of consciousness style.

I research enough to know what plants like full sun or part shade and I ask a gardening maven friend of mine for ideas and from there I let my imagination run wild within a budget of course. Putting my hands in dirt as I've written about more than once is healing, energizing and entirely satisfying to me. Seeing seedlings grow into beautiful blooms is still remarkable to me. Vegetable starts that grow into tasty eats is nourishing on a whole other level.

The more gardening I do, the more I learn and the more I'm inspired to do more. My garden is eclectic, abstract perhaps. I plant to take a risk sometimes and see what will grow. A good exercise for daily living I suppose.

And gardening, putting my hands in soil, staying quiet is my meditation. And good exercise for being in the here and now. Today was just that a day in the present, the now, the moment just being not forcing anything.

Thanks to my girl for inspiring us to just be on this Sunday.

what I'm loving....

With the end of the school year comes a wave of super busy days. School auctions, school tours,  kindergarten graduation and end-of-year party, me deciding to re-build and landscape a couple of garden beds in my yard, some very part-time work, playdates and fun in the sun. All good though I've not made much time for writing these days.
Still I know its important to stop and notice what I love.

pure free-flying imagination of two sweet girls at play in the garden

walking by our roses in bloom. the color and scent send me...

poppies..the texture, color, depth ...

and a two truck loads of 5-way planting mix for my garden project and our second raised vegetable bed. Lots of shoveling for this Mama this past weekend and it all felt so good. Once I've planted and designed my reconfigured beds I'll share the photos.

And finally for today, I'm loving...
More hot beautiful days here and we are fortunate to be able to go take a swim with some friends. Time to get off the computer.

the late days of may....

Well, Mercury is on his way back apparently from where he came. Travelling for a couple more weeks. Heading back from his month-long stay in retrograde I'm figuring. Whether it Mercury on the go again or the fact that I had a really wonderful talk with my now six year old girl, my mama cosmic system feels more aligned than the week past. I am thankful for having the mind space to stop and check in with my girl and celebrate her growing in a sweet way just she and I, connecting through conversation. Thankful too for time in my garden. Hands in the soil always nourishing. Quiet meditation while digging. Grounding.

We capped off my gir's birthday week with her friends party this last Saturday. Usually, we've had her parties at home which has always been a lot of fun but this year we headed to one of our great local parks and celebrated there. There's a playground at this park so for nearly two hours kids were moving, running, jumping, swinging with time outs for snacks and stories. My dear friend who is like an Auntie to my girl treated the kids to a story while they snacked. We made an art table in the picnic shelter so kids could draw, color, paint. And I'd packed some face paints and thanks to a dear friend of mine, every one of these sweet children who wanted their face painted left shining with a lovely design of their choice.

This Mama likes to keep things simple when it comes to birthday parties. And that said, as simple as I always aim there's much to do to prepare. All fun though. the baking, snack planning and set up. We made gift bags from lunch bags and tried to keep them useful and fun. We nixed baloons and instead gave everyone a flower.  We opted for no gifts this year for the second year in a row though this year we tagged on a community giving project. We asked our friends to bring books for a kids book drive. This was my girls idea. I'm all for showering her with gifts and she gets plenty from her Papa and me and her grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends-like-family so we thought why not spread the love way outside of home. We collected a bin full of wonderful books thanks to the kind hearts of our many friends. I'm looking forward to taking our box full of books to one of our local agencies next week with my girl.

The rest of the weekend  lots of playtime with our dear neighbor friends. The kids jumped on the trampoline and sat in the kiddie pool and face painted themselves way way outside their faces. I so love watching their free spirits fly. On Sunday, we spent our morning into early afternoon at another local park yesterday where the kids biked round and round. My girl and I met our neighbors there and us mamas got to visit while the kids played. This kind of day, my favorite. organic as it unfolds, slow and free-flowing. Easy.

We played in the garden and added new starts to our raised bed vegetable garden, my girl's favorite: edamame and one of mine, cucumber. We are loving all the new blooms in our garden. Loving the new bursts of color and the magic that marks the near start of summer.

So farewell dear May 2009. Thank you for another beautiful year watching my girl grow. And thank you  for this taste of summer as the sun shines down. On we go, moving foward as we say hello to June.