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During the years I was away in California, my niece grew from a crazy-about-animals kid into an accomplished young horsewoman. Last week we had the chance to meet her beloved horse, Tarbaby. Erin was responsible for feeding all the horses that night, and Eli was happy to stay right by her side, helping all he could.
It was a lovely evening. The clouds floated across the pastures and the horses flicked their tales lazily. Everything smelled of yellow bitterweed, hay, and sunshine. My niece was responsible and knowledgeable, but also patient and kind to animals and toddlers alike. Eli was eager to be of service but also brave and gentle around those huge horses. It was one of those times that makes a mama and an aunt feel loving pride down to her toes.
I never realized how much of my blogging took place driving down the road, standing around the edge of the playground, or washing dishes. But the truth is that blog posts begin with a lot of mulling.
We've been in Georgia almost a month now. Our home looks pretty good in most places, yet there are still whole sections that need a lot of work. My brain is always busy planning what to tackle next or mulling over storage solutions. I'm longing for more complex thought and more creativity, yet I know we're almost there. One more week and we should be in pretty good shape.
In the meantime, I'm savoring the here and now...
This weekend we went apple picking.
Tot bowling.
No, no. It's not like dwarf bowling. It's letting the kiddos roll the ball.
Eli recently went bowling with his buddies Wyatt and Kody. With bumpers covering up the ball gutters and a ramp to roll the ball down, they all had a grand time. The bowling alley computer kept track of which players were kids, so the grownups could bowl on the same lane and the bumpers would automatically go down when it was their turn. Spiffy!
Put some muscle into it!
Kody takes a turn... (I'm sure sticking the tongue out helps!)
Wyatt (left) and Kody with their mom, Kristine...
Eli is already asking when we can go again.
September 2012
Our house is coming along nicely now. The garage and master bedroom are the only box-crammed spots, although there are many areas that need better organizing. Now that the main living areas are clear, though, we can go a little slower. (I'm looking forward to more blogging!)
Last weekend while Brian got some things done around the house, Eli and I slipped out to the Athens Water Festival. It is a fairly new educational event and designed for kids in elementary school and younger. Eli had a ball!
I am so used to the high cost of living in California that I was a little shocked that the festival and bouncy house were free...
The county brought out vehicles for the kids to see from a firetruck to the equipment used to keep the water system running effectively. Eli was in seventh heaven that he got to climb inside.
This is a robotic camera on wheels that can move up and down water pipes. A bright light and relayed images helps the water crew find cracks or problem spots before digging major holes.
Many of the water lines run through rural and wooded areas, so there is also a vehicle designed to take a robotic camera to such locations.
There were many volunteer-run educational activities. Rubber balls bouncing atop this parachute represented water with two small red balls glued to blue ones to represent H2O molecules.
Venturing "underwater"!
A relay race filling buckets with sponges...
Eli got a little wet doing that last one...
Eli got to try picking up "lake litter"...
And perhaps the most popular activity was poo tossing! To drive home the idea that the toilet is not a trash can, the kids had to pick the right object to throw through the hoop into the potty. (Don't worry. It was plastic poo.) What did the kids get if they got the poop into the potty? Sigh. A Tootsie Roll! Yes, it was a little crass, but the kids loved it and Eli still remembers the moral.
Making a recycled object boat...
And racing the boat on the lake too! (Eli's went very fast and was ahead, but then a gust of wind boomeranged it right back to shore. He was so happy to see it zipping along that he didn't care.)
Eli loved making and racing his boat. It was so simple that we can easily do it again with a bottle (with lid), two skewers or sticks, tape, a thick rubber band, and a small square of flat plastic. (The latter could be a small piece of wood or foam meat tray.) Twisting the plastic square wound the band so that when you let go, it spun and provided paddleboat power.
Stringing beads to represent the water cycle...
By collecting checkmarks at various stations, Eli earned a tee shirt.
We had a great time and hope to return next year. Click HERE for the festival webpage.
Uhhhh. I was already behind on sleep before Eli got his bad cold. I'm still making progress unpacking, but sometimes it feels like I'm working at the speed of a dozing slug.
Despite sleeping great all night in his own bed the first night we were here, Eli soon decided that it was fine to fall asleep in his bed but impossible to stay there all night. Trying to stay sane, Brian and I started taking turns in the guest room. The parent left in our king-sized bed should have plenty of room for a tot guest, but...
The photo above was taken in the middle of the night with the help of a camera flash. Eli woke me up by poking my cheek with his toes. His beloved Pat the Bunny was lost (between his knees), so he was cuddling up to the soft blue bed blanket, grabbing up ever-larger handfuls of it. No covers for you, Mama!
Today I worked for hours yet only managed to tidy up the laundry room, my closet, and a hall closet. Progress feels painfully slow, yet I know moving here is so worth it. Case in point -- a family cookout on Labor Day weekend.
I often cooked with my nieces and nephews while they were growing up, and now I got to sit back and watch them teach my son the ways of apple pie...
Then gathering outside on the deck...
Bouncing on the trampoline while the burgers cooked...
For a sweet treat, Oma made Brian a banana cake from scratch to celebrate the birthday that passed not long before we headed to Georgia.
And then there were those wonderful, nutmeg-fragrant pies...
Being here is worth every mile, every cardboard box, every hour unpacking.
This house has no garbage disposal for the kitchen sink. Grump. Thus the last step of washing dishes is to carry out the little enamelware pail, tossing that grotesque blend of strawberry hulls, brown eggshells, and bell pepper seeds into the woods behind the house. Where are my garden clogs anyway? And is it still raining? Sigh.
But I only took a step out of the door before the color of the light stopped me in my tracks.
Oh.
In my four years away from the South, I forgot about how a sunset can be diffused by mist rising from hot pavement and the very humidity of the air. In this part of the world, on a rare summer evening when the rain clouds start to break up just as the sun sinks, steamy colors swirl their own hallelujah...
So thankful I was without a garbage disposal tonight.
Decades ago, psychologist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross documented the stages of grief -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Today as I was slicing through the packing tape on yet another of our 200+ cardboard boxes, I found myself wondering if there are predictable stages to a move...
It starts with the glorious freedom and promise of a brand new space. (This one was filled with balloons as a gift to Eli from Uncle Eric and Cousin Margaret.)
Then the truck arrives and floods the new space with furniture and boxes. There's the relief that the truck actually came, that everything seems in good shape. You're happily reunited with your belongings.
There are some easy decisions at first. Slide those "no-brainer" pieces of furniture into place and open the boxes of necessities. How funny to see your familiar things in a new setting, but you're clicking along!
JourneyLeaf is a tool to help me appreciate, preserve, and share those raggedy yet shining moments in everyday life. Joy requires practice. (To read more, click above on the word "ABOUT.")
The original words, images, and concepts on this blog are copyrighted. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you!
P H O T O G R A P H Y
I N F O R M A T I O N
My primary camera is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T5 with a Sigma DC 18-200mm lens (1:3.5-6.3) or Canon EFS 18-55mm lens. On occasion I also use my iPhone 6. For crisper images (when I'm not in a hurry to grab the shot), I use a Dolica Proline B100 tripod. I often tweak my images using Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.