katiemae_days

of hollyhocks and fairies

Ok so we just got back from one of my favorite places on earth, yes earth I said. I know that sounds dramatic but I feel this way about Mazama, WA. If you've been reading my blog this summer, you know may how I feel about Colorado. Mazama, just outside the North Cascades National Park reminds me of Colorado. The mountains are nothing short of magnificent, rising high, jagged as they meet the sky. Glacial Lakes, look like emeralds among this beautiful landscape. I love this part of Washington and have often dreamed the wanderluster that I am of living in this area someday. I quiet down here perhaps in the simplicity of the surrounds, the basic beauty of what is.

We set off this past Sunday to visit friends who are building a cabin in the magical woods around Mazama. I was proud of myself for packing lighter for this road trip than in any past. But for the love of Pete, I forgot the doggone camera. So do I have pictures of our hike along Windy Pass in the rain? Nope. Or my girl and her pal dressed up like the Ingalls girls playing in the Big Woods of Mazama? Nope. Or my girl feeding our friend's baby boy? Nope....Or hmm how about our needle felting lesson around the picnic table outside the cabin where my girl and her pal and yes me the mama learned to make hair and faces for their new dolls? And that would be a nope...again..So no pictures to share from our weekend in the mountains. I guess this set was solely for my mind's album of snapshots.

For now, I'm sharing pictures taken from my garden today. These hollyhocks well they send me. There's something magical about these big pink blossoms bursting from their tall green stalk. Not hard to wander why Jack wanted to climb his beanstalk. If not in Mazama to find my inner quiet, well there's always my garden. I can wanderlust all day long right here where I am and climb the hollyhock stalk for a little afternoon break-away.

 

 

 

See that rock? Well there's a little slice of Mazama. And though I was hesitant at first to take the rock, I did make sure it was ok for me to snag it, legal and all that and most of all not damaging to the natural order of things up their high in the hills. And this small boulder was from the roadside not the trail and definitely not the National Park so I felt even better about my find. Now there's a little justification for bringing a little slice of wonder right here at home.

There's more of a story attached to this rock than I can share right now. But know this, this rock that now sits in my garden ready for ground cover to crawl all over it is a reminder for how grateful I am to be where I am and for who is in my life.

Bees and butterflies are everywhere. Seems that we've created a wildlife habitat among these wondrous stalks, the lavender and salvia too. My girl snapped this photo of a bumble bee loving his/her way through the butterfly bush.

 

And finally, a glimpse of our afternoon fairy housebuilding under the butterfly bush. We wanted to let the fairies know we were home. Ahhh what magic it is to wander along with my girl right here in our own front yard.

back before berry season ends....

I'm back, my computer is back and I've a few moments to write. I'm sitting in my office in close proximity to a fan. Yes its hot here, mighty hot. Reminds me of summers on the east coast when the temperatures climb high and the air well it feels like it stops moving altogether. But this warmth brings on fun in the form of swimming in one of our nearby lakes or stopping off at one of our spray parks or dangling our feet in our very own kiddie pool. We bought one this year and with the weather as hot as its been this week, I'm glad. The plastic, rainbow colored kiddie sized pool has made for great playdates and good adult cooling off too. I'll have to take a picture later.

Last night, we had a friend over to dinner, my favorite Sushi. After we ate, we set up our camp chairs around the pool and dangled our feet and talked. Loveliness. The air cooled down and so did we. Then we stepped back inside and on upstairs to get ready for bed and oh my did this old house feel like a sauna. Even the floor felt  warm. So my girl and I jumped in a cool shower before bed to try and cool off for the night.  We cranked the fan once again and at least got the summer air moving a bit more.

To recap the last three weeks without a computer: healthy. I noticed really how much time i spend in the evening on this thing. Working on photos, trying to write, catching up with friends on Facebook...admittedly a time suck that enjoy.  While, I do believe i need a computer to do all of the above and more like take an online class(I'll get to that story another time), and build websites  once in awhile, I think it was good to have this reprieve if for nothing else to take stock. I missed writing  the blog. I noticed that I would have stories to write or snippets from the day to share and then with no computer right there, the impulse to say what I wanted faded away. Now, I feel a wee bit rusty but that's just fine.  I'm glad though to have the space and tools again to get back to this blog and keep at this writing which has become a journey for me, a meandering one in which I am trying to let go of any self-judging and fears and just keep on.

So since I resolved long ago that I am going to have a computer in my life, I was looking at buying something new and last I left off on this blog it was going to be a Mac. Turns out, I didn't need to buy a new computer and I'm thrilled. On advice of a friend, I called a local computer repair guy who I think is super talented and honest and incredibly fairly priced and let him at my computer. He put in a new hard-drive in my existing machine because he said what I have though seven years old is solid, fixed a few other things up, made it so my laptop is now wireless and all for a whole lot less then me buying something new.  How refreshing is that? And in these days of recreating some fashion of a career, not spending a lot of money is a very good thing. And now what play money I have saved can go to my DSLR camera fund.

In the meantime, I found a super pocket-size automatic camera for ever  day picture taking at somewhat of a deal and I have to say its been fun to carry something in my pocket for capturing the days of Summer which are ahem flying fast. Be here now I know. Be here now. My mantra. The free-wheelin, flowing, unstructured time of this season is what I love.

I'll find my rhythm for writing again and taking pictures. Not having my computer for awhile changed  that. For now, I'm soon to get outside and check on our tomatoes and cucumbers just beginning to sprout, the zucchini that seemed to double in size in a day and our lettuces and kale. Then, maybe a little dip up to my ankles in the pool.

Here's to your Summer Days....

about a friday....

Well...bless her 40MB soul, seems my old computer has reached her breaking point. I'm up at the university tech center borrowing a computer and testing my external hard drive while the Papa is prepping for a camp he's running and my girl is being a trooper hanging out until we head to the library and to buy some knitting needles just her size. I'd post a brief note while I have access to the technological ether.

I've photos to post, notes to write, a banner to update, and a website or two to build. I've been excited to write a bit on our wonderful travels and days in the garden since being home but alas without a computer I'm holding off a few more days.

And on the subject of old and tired, our camera bit it too. Fortunately, I've been saving for a DSLR and am researching my choices and interviewing peeps who love their Nikon and/or Canon before I buy that fine piece of equipment. This will just be an expensive month but that's life. But the computer, the camera are both integral to my personal toolkit. So I guess I'll do my part to stimulate the economy.

So for now...stay tuned. More to come on a new computer..a mac or pc, my inner jury is still deliberating. Price, durability matter and aesthetics play a part in my decision. I love a Mac. Always have. I've had my PC for 7 years not bad in the life of a PC. I ran her hard with Photoshop, Illustrator and she kept on going..even coming back from a hard drive failure a few months ago...Time to say goodnight Irene to this sweet machine. And yes I realize I may sound a little nutty talking about my computer as though she is a peep...I'll chalk it up to a late night of backing up to my server and talking my inner self into calm-dom.

And while I have a moment to write....

Though I can't post a photo just yet, I do have to say I'm entirely grateful to come home to my garden. Huge thanks to our dear friends who watered and watched over everything so beautifully while we were away. The new beds I created are coming together..with all sorts of plants loving the earth below them growing and spreading their roots, blooming.I love that I let myself be guided by intuition and experimentation in redesigning my garden beds without worry for what would be. As much fun as I had reshaping these beds and getting rid of a little bit more grass, I'm excited for the next stages of yard redesign over the next year. I'd like to get rid of more lawn though I'll leave a patch for the kids to play and hula hoop, cartwheel and dance. I'm envisioning a parking strip rid of lawn and full of succulents, ornamental grasses and ground covers. All in good time.

Our veggie beds are going bonkers. Purple potatoes, Edamame, cauliflower, kale all on the rise. Lettuce ready everyday. I love summer and all the shades of green and variations of other color in our yard. I love the sunshine streaming full in the yard and in dappled light through our living room windows.

So since I'd saved the draft of this post, I've learned my external hard-drive is hosed though hopefully recoverable. I've learned about another great back-up tool called "dropbox"which I'm definitely getting once I have a new computer.  I'm 99.9% sure I'm going Mac and am getting excited for Mac versions of Dreamweaver/Photoshop/Illustrator and well I'm feeling ok.

I'm feeling darn grateful for all that is bloomin despite a couple of pieces of hardware that may have seen better days.

Definitely writing from my consciousness streaming live. Random thoughts put out there while I had a moment to write.  Stay tuned for more soon....

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!

all in a weekend......

Papa and our girl went on her first backpack trip Friday afternoon up to a local mountain lake. They hiked in 2 miles and set up camp. My girl tells me they scouted for wood, made a fire and cooked their feast: turkey hotdogs, vegetable soup and of course roasted marhsmallows--her favorite camping dessert! And Mama she said "I was so hungry Papa let me roast a marshmallow before dinner." And while my two adventurers were out in the wilds, I had a night to myself, visiting with a friend over some tasty wine and doing laundry and vacuuming. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night and oh yeah I snuck in a little trip to the mall after work--a place I rarely visit anymore. I must admit it was fun to meander and do a few errands without a rush.

A busy Saturday led into a slower Sunday. The Papa in this house has often been called "Calendar Man" this is because he knows "what's happening" just about any day and time in our town and beyond. And..in the 14 years I've known him, I have come to know well if he could be in more than one place at one time well he would. Believe me, he's tried. And on what I perceived would be a very slow Sunday morning, he asked  "wanna go to a "Pancake Breakfast at the local Grange."  Truthfully, "yes" may not have been my first choice in answers because I really wanted a quiet Sunday morning at home. But I said....well...ok.   And let's face it, I'd never been to a community "Pancake Breakfast" before nor had our girl. I'm glad we went. Friendly locals worked together to cook up and serve a tasty spread and on top of that make everyone feel right at home. This Papa definitely finds the fun in all sorts of places.

and later....an afternoon among the faeries. sweet girls playing games and "dress-up", singing and performing their rendition of the "Wizard of Oz"....

and just before we go inside to call it a day, sweet smiles wrap up this adventure-filled weekend....

a little bit of summer.........

I've been feeling like summer came to such an abrupt halt. Maybe its all the scheduling and organizing that I seem to be doing whatever it is I just don't think I am quite ready for the more easygoing schedules in our home to end.  But I came home from work today and found my girl and her Papa playing Yahtzee in the yard in a tent. Scratch that. Her tent. A friend of ours had accidentally bought herself a kids tent and found when she went to stretch out she was a wee bit too long for it so passed it on to our girl. There's something that hits me deep when I see a tent set up in a yard. Its got summer written all over it. Freedom too and well I think it reminds me of my kid-hood and sleeping in a tent in my friend's back yard during a girl scouts' camp-out. I grabbed my camera to capture this time and to remind myself we can always sprinkle a little bit of summer fun into our days one way or another.

My girl and her Papa spent some of their day before the Yahtzee tent party planting our winter/fall veggie garden and various other plants we'd yet to put in the ground. And me, well I got busy pulling weeds...again...see summer never ends.

And then, my girl surprised me with this fresh picked bouquet. Now there's a little summer in a jar.

And to Fall. I do love you. You are one of my favorite seasons. I felt you say hello tonight with a little chill in the air and yes that feels good.

by the sea....

I love the sea. Though I grew up by the water, I forget sometimes until I'm very near how much it is a part of me. The water a magical elixer of calm and peace, joy and freedom.

On this day, we find the magic that the tide brings.....

Digging

Exploring, touching, studying...

Running free across the sand

This weekend was girls weekend and whether I knew it or not at the start its just what I needed. I am grateful for this special time this weekend with my girl. Uninterrupted. Some of it unplanned. Feeling so strongly the bond between us. Appreciating the magic.

With the magic of the rising tide there is newness to explore;  as it ebbs there is a letting go. As I sit by the sea, I remind myself be fluid. Be the sea, the waves. Let the water wash over me as I feel the magic that is.

"See the Sky About to Rain": Adventures in Camping Part 2

For those who know me well, they know that Neil Young is one of my music heroes.  His songs are beautiful the lyrics, the music. I'm one who isn't so adept at remembering words of songs. Usually, its the music of a particular song that gets me....As I sat by the lake on our last morning at Mahood Lake, I could hear Neil singing "See the Sky About to Rain". Though I didn't know all the words that morning, I could hear him sing....

See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowing
through my brain.
Signals curling on an open plain,
rolling down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.

Some are bound for happiness,
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?

See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin'
through my brain.
Signals curlin' on an open plain,
rollin' down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.

I was down in Dixie Land,
played a silver fiddle
Played it loud and then the man
broke it down the middle.
See the sky about to rain.

Leaving is often a little hard for me. Though our vacation was not yet over, I knew it soon would be. Maybe part of my morning melancholy can be attributed to the fact that I'd not yet made coffee or maybe it just was the fact I didn't want vacation to end. I had to get a hold of myself before I rejoined my family posse who were feeling rather chipper, at this point on this cloudy morning. Vacation was not over. One more full day to explore and another night to go. Be in the moment. Be here Be now is what I said as I looked at the sky about to rain. I sank into my seat by the lake for another few moments and listened to the song in my head and in my heart.

We hit the road and though it was time to go to see more of the Park, this was not the first choice of my girl. She was not ready to move on and let it be known loudly I might add. Her Papa and I let her be, let her wind through whatever it was she needed to work out. We listened to one of my all-time favorite Cds, Greg Brown's Further In and kept on going up the road. She ended up falling asleep. Rest and great music soothed our souls and proved to be the best fix for the rough start in the car this particular morning. Our girl woke up refreshed and happy and now ready for the day ahead. We stopped in a little town called Little Fort and found a playground. The kind that reminded her Papa and me of playgrounds from our day. Metal slides, steel monkey bars. See-saws with wooden seats and swings, one for each of us. We played for awhile the three of us and then picked up the litter around this area. We figured it was our thank you to this little Park for being there just when we needed a break from the car.

Just a short while more and we hit the Clearwater area of British Columbia to explore another side of the Wells Gray Provincial Park. Magnificent waterfalls abound. The rains came for sure but that didn't stop us from short walks to Dawson and Helmcken Falls.

I snapped photo after photo trying to capture the grandeur of these Falls. Not easy. The sound was incredible. Loud and constant but all the while peaceful. The roar of the water washing down. Cascading into pools and flowing onward. Swift and powerful.

After awhile we meandered on to the end of the road to see Clearwater Lake. We saw a Black Bear crossing the road, our second viewing of the day. Excited and grateful we were to have a chance see this creature make his/her way safely back to the woods.

This rainy day would turn into a rainy night and this Mama decided a wet tent may not be quite so fun after such a long day so we splurged for a motel at the campground in town. Luxury. Dry. Comfy beds, a warm shower, and yes cable to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics, and a pool for my girl to swim in the morning. Worth every penny on this chilly, wet night. We fell asleep I know with smiles on our faces.

Homeward bound after four fantastic days. I felt grateful that even though this vacation was coming to a close we were returning to a our home, our neighborhood, our town where we feel happy.

I cannot deny though there is wanderlust inside me. And it ignites just about every time we travel from home. I dream of what it would be like to live here or there. I picture it, even feel it. Winding along these gorgeous roadways through such vast landscape makes me want to try at some point a more rural lifestyle. I can see living on more land, creating a big garden, building a studio to do what--I guess explore, and centering more of our life around home. Keeping it simple. Creating what we can from what we have. I know we are working to do this more and more right where we are. But I think outside of this and beyond. Maybe I'll keep wandering in this dream for awhile and all the while working to ground down and be right where I am, we are.

For this sweet time together in such magnificent beauty, I am grateful.

Adventures in Camping Part 1....

We are just back from a wonderful 4 days of our little  summer getaway. For 4 days and nights we camped and played in this magnificent Park in British Columbia. We left home last Thursday and drove for nearly 6 hours (with stops) to Mahood Lake. By the time we arrived, we were ready to get out of the car. The weather had called for thunderstorms but as we approached we were greeted by clear skies and this,,,a sign that we just missed the rain.....Talk about grateful....

We were lucky enough to find a site with a lake view and after setting up camp, my girl and I walked down to the shore to see what we could see....

I love so much waking up and having no plan. No rush for a morning shower. No heading to work. Just quiet. On our first morning, we set up our chairs and wrote in our journal, painted and in my great hope I'd hoped to knit but I ended up untangling a huge knotted mess in a hat I'd planned to work on. Oh well, there is something about untangling that was very relaxing and for nothing else a good exercise in patience.

We spent our days taking short hikes to spectacular waterfalls inside the Park. My girl was proud and feeling strong for hiking just over 2 miles this first day. I loved seeing her hike up the trail. She imagined also sorts of adventures as part of the very one we were on. A magician she was for a time, changing this forest into a zoo and off we were to see the Giraffe or up ahead the lions and tigers. We walked in the lush green forest and saw all sorts of beauty.

We hung out.  Chilled out. On a little outing on our second day, we found an organic vegetable garden and brought back fresh beets, potatoes, onions and greens and made a hearty stew.

We played with our camera and found all sorts of knew settings to change color, replace color, remove color....oh my that was addictive. Thank goodness for digital cameras, no film to waste.

We hit the playground and made all sorts of new friends from all over British Columbia.

Together my girl and I knit a scarf for her friend. I held the needles she wrapped the yarn and took of the stitches.

These days were quiet, slow and relaxing. I love this slow-down, the time together for the three of us. The freedom. The time in nature and away from distractions.

I take some time by myself our last morning in Mahood Lake to think about how to bring a little more of what we feel and create here home.

Now its time to break away as I have to get ready for work. I'll take these images with me and the memories of our sweet time away and know I can keep working on creating this calm and slowdown at home. I will soon post more photos and bits from the rest of our trip as we head our last day or so into the Clearwater region of Wells Gray. Be back soon....