Sagetribe- Adventures From Our Village

Recharging

- a new spot to discover

-friends who happened to be there too

-a couple more weeks to hike with my love

-thinking about how I will hike with two, alone...

-thankful good friends won't let me be truly alone

-frogs not scared by squeals (or maybe too scared)

-snack breaks with cheddar bunnies and dried seaweed

-poison ivy keeping the wee one in her carrier (b/c when Mama says NO, it's fun to do the opposite)

-snake skin found and taken for treasure table

-a quiet reminder to say a quiet "thank you"

-Mama's 25 year old Cabbage Patch loved again 

-a weekly recharge: ready for due dates, meetings, teenagers, and the unexpected. 

-a chance to slow down

 

Be a Mountain

A tradition has started- one I'm wanting to break with this trip- with someone from our tribe throwing up on the day we arrive to our vacation spot. This someone- this time- was me- and if you haven't flown on two quite bumpy planes, quite sick, perhaps you really haven't lived...

Perhaps...

It's taken me three days to feel "me" again, and as I sit here, letting the sister sleep off her own exhaustion from trying to re-create a new life in five days, the snow and sun are playing tag in this quiet, sweet town where everyone seems to know each others names and people wave when we turn the wrong way down a one way street instead of flipping us some nasty gesture.

There are peace signs on hills and a rod iron man holding a sign that says "Be Nice", and it seems that these reminders do in fact work here, because everyone we've met seems quite unlike so many of the strangers one can encounter so many other places in this country- really- so many seem...sadly... just not nice, making it hard to be nice in return, and so on an so on... 

Here- humanity seems to remember how to be human. In three days we have witnessed many acts of kindness- not necessary- but, YES, necessary- rent dropped because it was needed, change given when purchases were just a tad more than they had, coffee brought out steaming before "Joe" could even sit down, his regular order already placed. 

Being here I can't help but think about our years in Virginia's mountains- where kindness was important, and people remembered to hold doors and be patient when the light turned green. They said, "Good Morning," and "Thank you" and smiled at people, even if they'd never seen them before, and especially when they had. 

Maybe it's the mountains...

Maybe the size of something so great right at one's doorstep is a good reminder for how very small we are in this circle, but how combined- together- we can be quite a force, and how very small things- while not to be dwelled on- are actually what can make things quite big. How saying hello or smiling or handing over a dime, is small, but BIG.

Maybe handling waters alone are just too treacherous, and maybe we need community to remind us to be nice and take care of one another. 

Maybe we don't need to be near mountains to be remember to be something beautiful in someone else's backyard. 

Slowing Down Summer

The last two weeks without a 1/4 of our whole have truly flown by. While we miss him greatly, we've worked hard to keep our slow summer rhythm. We've enjoyed our space- the space we don't get enough of once the school year starts.

We've been watching our new orange friends a lot.

It is so easy to get lost in the tranquility of their flits back and forth. I am wandering out back a lot more often these days just to see what they are up to. 

I've also been watching this girl grow so fast- jabbers becoming words and phrases, baby legs becoming more steady, and independence more desired. 

And I've been watching this boy continue to grow into his own,

and whose special Mama time has been learning how to sew.

We've been discovering how to pick flowers (or anything the grows),

and appreciate the little things- like how each pea tastes after shelling them ourselves.

We've been taking care of Dad's garden, knowing how proud he'll be when he sees how tall the things he recently planted have grown. 

And we've been taking care of each other, even when it hasn't been asked, because this Mama only has two hands, and we've come to learn that that is OK.

In the midst of all our joys, I've been thinking about a dear old friend who lost someone who should have a lifetime ahead of him, and of all the strong women I know and love who are putting their lives on hold to take care of others.

I've been thinking about how easy things can get hard, and how little things are not worth making harder than they are. I've been trying to breathe more when my temper gets short, remember to unplug at night because every morning is early, and count my blessings- which are so, so good.

Here is hoping July goes a little slower- life's joys are easily appreciated- and the hard times are blanketed by peace and love.

 

Filling Stomach and Soul

 

After four loaves, I'm totally sold!

My house has that just want to lounge around and drink coffee and eat bread with honey and cheese and jam or just plain bread smell.

There is flour everywhere, but it is becoming a therapy of sorts. And no one questions my need for time alone to make bread...which really isn't a lot of time. It's practically no time at all- except for waiting time, which is instilling in us a sense of patience until it's done and then we might just forget about said patience and eat the entire loaf!

Nevertheless, go to this woman's amazing recipe and see for yourself.

http://family.go.com/blog/catherinewman/fantastic-fearless-five-minute-bread-889536/

 

Counting My Chickens

The last 9 months I anxiously prepared- surfing websites, emailing, traveling, interviewing, applying, you name it; I exerted all of me to make the unknown happen before we knew whether it would in fact happen-

and then the door just didn't open...

it didn't open like we thought, we KNEW it would

and it was suddenly time to start over again,

start over in the same place we were.

 

I have learned many lessons in my 32 years, but this is perhaps one of the most valuable.

Our plan didn't hatch...

because it wasn't time to go.

 

It's time to be right HERE, right where things are good.

 

I spent so many hours preparing to be right where I am.

 

Perhaps it's time to be more appreciative...

 

Lesson learned.

You Know That...

part in Mary Poppins where everyone is blissfully flying kites...

 

Today as I sat in the coming back to life grass, with this one who was too amazed with the wind and kites to want to do much of anything but giggle and watch,

and maybe nurse or poke me in the eye,

and I watched these two, while others also flew kites, or danced with hula hoops, or played with their kids, or just basked in the lovelyness that is a warm Spring day, 
I thought, I know how those Mary Poppins folks felt.

A Glimse of My Peace

There is something so magical about the first day back at the park. The slides and swings look new again. Parents are breathing big relieved sighs. Kids are eagerly climbing every ladder, because even though they may have done it a thousand times, it's new. Really, Spring should be our new year.

This year we have a new little person who is discovering parks for the first time.

and we have a big person who is climbing with less supervision and pumping his legs back and forth and back and forth.

 
There is something about these little things, like my "baby" being able to swing all by himself that makes me just want to stay put and watch them all day long. There is also something about the fact that my "baby" is reading the words I'm typing that makes me know the times when we're not at the park, he's in good hands.

These days I'm a grateful for board games made by five year olds, that don't really end and where the rules change quite frequently.

For sunny days and rainy days.

For time, even if it's not enough, spent with my peace.

 

Winter has blown by a little too quickly, much like our days. Like always, we've been busy, making this mama think a lot about simplicity and how to get it back. In the meantime or until I figure out just how to achieve said simplicity- things have been

rather silly as our hunk of love, chubby cheeks, and determination grows into her own.

They've also been filled
 the number five, a very important number for this one, who is now in fact FIVE.

This mama has been traveling a lot, writing some (not here, sadly) and figuring out some pretty big things.

This mama's been just a little overwhelmed, which is perhaps why this

was so needed...

But sunshine is right around the corner, which means playing outside, walks, and vacation are too.

So...some days we feel like

but we are thankful and persevere with chins and fists up because

things are good and more good things just might be coming our way.

Hello Spring!

A Year

One...in hindsight, it's not a lot, but the older I get the quicker a year passes, and perhaps that is why this particular year passing was so hard for me to accept. I'd like to say it's because I want this baby

to stay a baby, but it's not true. I'm in love with this child

just the way she is, and I'm looking forward to her growing up years, to chats and crafting, to all the things I picture doing with a daughter.

I think, this year passing was hard because it is the end of a chapter in my life. It is the end of new baby smell and nursing all night. The end of bassinets by my bed and little pants, wiggles and coos. 

Of course it's the beginning of so much...I know this...I'm mostly a glass half full, but for a moment, for a couple days, I needed to be a glass half empty. It felt horrible, and I'm glad to be back to my old self. It was needed though, I suppose, to mourn the page that turned in our lives.

And I could have more, but the inevitable would happen, and the end of baby years would eventually be upon me again.

So instead, I will remember these years

as some of the best chapters in my life and work on being more present with the current one being written.

 

Christmas Home For Christmas

There is something so magical about little white lights and globes of glass, small bundled children in layers and knitted hats, and small footprints in the snow. There is something comforting in the smell of chocolate simmering on the stove ready for pretzel sticks to be dunked and sprinkled with what else- sprinkles (except the ones that were dumped on the floor and into the silverware drawer-ahem...)

I love bringing up the huge green plastic bins full of pasts Christmases and seeing our home transformed into our own holiday oasis. I love Clark's ahhs and ooos at things he's NEVER SEEN BEFORE MAMA and remembering the times before when we received this or created that.

This year will be Clark's and my first Christmas with just us. While we love spending the holidays with family, there is something extra special about waking up in our own home and celebrating the early morning amongst the memories we've been building.

Each ornament on our tree represents somewhere we've traveled or was made by or given by someone we love.

Each knick knack

 or creature

given by someone special- marking the years (going on 12) we've spent Christmas together.

While it's hard not being with family- both for us and for them- we are joyful this year.

Joyful about new adventures.

Joyful about the addition to our row of stockings hung on the banister with care

Joyful about snow,

about BIG girls walking! and of course SANTA!

We're also joyful about TWO weeks starting in one day of family time. Two weeks with very little plans and lots of snowman building and balloon chasing.

As I sit here, enjoying the last moments of my quiet snow day before the tromping and MaMas enter, I am nothing but joyful and thankful.

Here's to hoping you too are surrounded by joy this holiday season!