Sagetribe- Adventures From Our Village

Summer's Start

It's only been a week or so since I've been here and yet maybe a year or two has passed. Between a finished literary magazine, prom, field day, graduation (or Mrs. Sage loses her cool and cries like a loon), two trips to literally put our weeist one back together (a post of its own), and a big guy on to new adventures for the summer, it feels like years.

Oh and we've had

which also deserves a post all of its own- a bittersweet end and beginning for sure. 

Good things, but I can't say this is my favorite time of year. I'm not good with endings. 

Spring was good to us- so many beautiful days to sit and watch soccer games, 

be back at the farmer's market, hike, and "be" while wild people ran quite...well...wild.

Thankfully with this ending, a new start begins. A new summer with "104 days of summer vacation" (or really just 86) to fill our days with...whatever we want! This part I do love. No schedules, no really have to. 

And I know, even though we'll be missing each other a lot, transitioning into heat, which is so upon us, and figuring out how to "be" so differently, it's a good beginning

and adventures, good adventures, await for all of us. 

We've Been

finding little critters in our compost bin,

watching these beauties open and close, while trying to count the frog and toad eyes that peer up at us timidly through the water,

thankful for foam bats,

and Mother's Day walks on yet another new wooded trail,

campfire sitting time (with s'mores of course!),

hanging out, OUT, a lot, which with the amazing weather has been hard not to do. 

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

 

A Good Day for a Pinata

Cinco de Mayo came early for us thanks to Clark's Spanish teacher and a brown paper bag pinata filled with candy. 

There is just something about hitting a swinging object with all ones MIGHT

over and over, and waiting for that moment when candy explodes across the floor...I even found myself snatching up a jelly bean that flew by my foot and stuffing it in my mouth, only to moments later remember that I actually don't like jelly beans, 

but for the wee people, it is blissful. Maybe not as blissful to the girl as those blue nails I have to keep repainting, but pretty close!

It's been a long day; a day where I could have really used some good pinata swings and sent some candy flying, but family snuggle time while reading Phineas and Ferb, a wine date with a friend I miss seeing daily, a camp out in the backyard (maybe this weekend) and our CSA starting on Saturday, makes long days OK, maybe even better than OK. 

Happy Early Cinco de Mayo and Friday to you!

Spring Rain

 

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me 

by Mary Oliver

 

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying, 
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud, 
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth! 

That’s what it said
as it dropped, 
smelling of iron, 
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.

Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.

The tree was a tree
with happy leaves, 
and I was myself, 
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –

imagine! 

imagine! 

 the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

Breathing

Breathing in woodsy air

with critters scattering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at the sound of my children's questions

and squeals

and "look what I've found!"

while moving slowly,

sometimes so slowly,

makes breathing indoor air with its to dos 

that much easier to take in and exhale. 

Happy Weekend, Family Time, and Breathing in Good Things to YOU!

We've Been...

Expanding...(see right)

There had been talk here and there, many nights on Mother Earth News' website and garden planner, and a many a seed packet finding its way into our home...

Then I left for Montana, and apparently the plans got bigger...

for we now have a garden fortress.

All sorts of things are sprouting up. Our compost is lovely and rich, our water barrel is full, and soon, with the addition of a rope added to the fencing, we'll have to have flying deer to reduce our peppers and tomatoes to stubs again.

Sadly, fences and ropes do not keep out slugs, but thanks to the wonderful farmers at the market (which opened today! YIPEE!), our slugs will soon be too drunk to eat our broccoli. Oh and speaking of our market, it is our most favorite place to be April through November. The months without it are quite depressing, really.Today we wandered, ate kettle corn, wandered, ate bbq, chatted, and ran around with friends for three hours, all while filling our bags with rainbow chard, sweet potatoes, eggs, maple syrup, hamburger, and bacon.  

There is just something about a town that comes together weekly for breakfast and lunch while buying dinner- it really doesn't get much more local or fresh or better. 

And in other news, we've also been completing our first gymnastics class. A true athlete this girl is, with no fear, and a love of being upside down.

The big kid started soccer again last week, the mama is finishing up her writing workshop and whole food class (which will be starting up again soon- YEAH!), and the Big Guy, when he's not getting slugs intoxicated, is getting ready... 

Big things are approaching- school years to finish, trips to plan, and a lot of days lying in the hammock thinking about... not much... all while trying not to kill the fortress! Fingers crossed- we'll see.

Loving...

:: old bean mosics 

:: lots of glue time and marker time

:: a broken dryer (OK- this is not a love)

:: a mama using a clothesline for the first time (This is a new love)

:: a mama using a grill for the first time (love!)

:: all things green coming up in the garden

:: five large frogs calling the pond home again for another year (I hope)

:: a hammock back where it belongs

:: all the recipes from Whole Food Kitchen class (see sidebar) 

:: the girl who now EATS veggies and meat (thank you, Heather!)

:: Build Your Own Mashed Potato Bowls

:: There are almost NO boxes of food in our house (or bags)

:: Summer will be here in 8 weeks (This one the most!)

 

 

Back Again

Sunday we headed back to a trail we'd hiked just six weeks earlier. Decked out in winter gear we'd spotted eagles and a couple early shoots of green, but mainly we saw leftover winter. 

This week, however, winter (oddly enough) seems to be behind us. Sunday started out rainy with bolts of lightning flashing through the sky. We watched the radar saying a silent "Please let up." At nine o'clock we decided eleven would be  better.

The sky was still dark when cars started pulling up in our driveway, but we decided to brave the chance of more gray clouds. This has become a necessary weekly breath for many of us. 

Some kids were decked out in rain gear. Not ours- ours had trash bags stuffed in the pack just in case, because apparently raincoats are not something we think to buy. Nor are rainboots, so snow boots were adorned, coffee cups filled, and cold homemade pizza passed to backseat passengers.

Spring welcomed us with drops of rain, large puddles perfect for leaping over or into, and a sun who began to peak through clouds. 

The more we walked, the more the heated rays began to scoot the grayness out of their way. They dried the slippery boardwalk beneath our feet and encouraged the life we knew was hiding just under the marsh to emerge. And OH did they emerge.

 As the animals found their way into the sun, so did our children, who quickly shed their layers to embrace the warmth.

Sundays have become my favorite day of the week because I'm not sure there really is anything much better. 

Spring has sprung

through damp leaf piles of mucky muck. And while perhaps these lovely green things are up before their time, how can we blame them!

The sun is just so LOVELY!

The critters, too, are outbeing found by little ones who squeal in delight, and must touch and hold and chase about the brother who is not squealing in delight. And of course we, too, are out with new friends just sewn,hiking buddies, and a camera that is failing but makes for some interesting shots. We're thankful for time when we have no choice but to walk slow, jackets found just where they dropped way down the trail, a wet dog keeping us all in line, cool breezes fanning us as we walk up hills, kid on hip or back, or as we sit later, on the deck- truly the perfect place to have to do work. Spring has sprung, quite strangely, but we don't mind at all.