Continuing to ride the wave of Something Wonderful

Thus ends Willa's first week of Fourth grade.  Sigh......

(She missed the first 8 days of school due to our trip to Florida to visit family and attend the NYL Council meeting.  Doh!)

 I sit here once again at the office-the Middle Way Café- killing the hour before I have to go to work.  The coziness of it's interior, the people decked out in rain coats, down vests and cute hats, and the rain coming down outside slams home the truth....ouch..... and shuts the door on summer.  It's over.  And, I think, it was one of the best summers of my life.

 On this day at the beginning of our summer, I committed to trying my best to do something wonderful every day.  From something as big as a road trip somewhere new, to something as small as painting together outside, or trying out a fun experiment.  I'm proud to say that I was able to hold up this challenge pretty much every day!  I can honestly say each day brought some gem, some impetus to keep us on our toes.  There was almost no movie watching during the week and I kept the lap top OFF waaaaaaay more than I have the past 2 summers.  Granted, the fabulous sunny warm weather we had this summer definitely made it easier, but the desire to achieve something new and different happily overrode the desire to frump around.  Fuck that shit.  And, there was the occasional chill on the cozy-ass couch and rest day, that being something wonderful in itself after being hard earned.  I feel renewed and  accomplished.  Like I showed my kid a FABULOUS summer!  MYSELF as well.  We all agreed this was the best one ever.

I have A LOT of back posting to do!  I've been back posting all summer.  In fact, THIS post was mostly written 2 weeks ago!  Rarely has there been a day where I've been able to find the time to write about what we've done!  I'm usually 2 days to 2 MONTHS behind.  I have to finish up on our Russian River trip, our road trip on the Denali Highway, our 10 day trip to Florida...and everything in between.  But I'll plug away.  Now that school is back in sesh, routine kicks in and making something wonderful happen every day would be quite a tall order.  But there ARE the weekends.....as well as finding those smaller gems to enbrighten even the most mundane weekdays. 

There's absolute TRUTH in these sentiments:

 



Wilson's Warbler

Well, it's certainly not a wonderful thing when a bird smacks into one of our many big windows, but sometimes it offers us a chance to show a dazed feather ball some tenderness and compassion, as well as a close-up view of the exquisite beauty, delicacy, and HARDINESS of these winged creatures.

Yesterday, the rare (at least up here) Wilson's Warbler introduced itself intimately to one of our living room windows.  The familiar "bonk" sound, mostly heard in the winter when we have the bird feeder out, caught Willa's immediate attention.  "Mama, a bird hit!  It's lying in the driveway....it's YELLOW! ".  We threw on our shoes, Willa grabbed the camera, and we ran outside to assess the damage.  Awake, no blood, just a little dazed, and indeed, yellow.  Not a common sight.  I picked it up gently and handed it to Willa.  It's talons clung strongly to her finger, a good sign.  It seemed as amazed by her as she was by it.  She gave the warbler some love for awhile and then set up a branch on a stump with some leaves and fireweed petals-a safe comfy place for him to perch while she kept an eye on him.  He fluffed up and snoozed for awhile-they usually do before waking back up clear headed, realizing they are in the company of humans, and flicking off into the distance at the speed of light! 

After awhile, Willa came back inside reporting that our visitor had alighted into the safety of the trees.  Not knowing what kind of bird that was, we grabbed the birding books and consulted Facebook friends.  Miles, the birder, IDed it as the Wilson's Warbler.

Unexpected feedback

Yesterday while chatting with a client, she paused and said, "You know, I just have to say that I really love hearing what good friends you and your husband are. It gives me hope...". 

And recently from Dylan, this letter as well as another saying, "I've never seen a couple more in love."

 
It makes my heart so glad that friends and family -especially our children- can so easily see and be inspired by the love that Miles and I have for each other. 

What comes so naturally and abundantly within us.  I love inadvertently sharing it with all....It's what ALL of us, the whole WORLD, needs more of.  If I don't say so myself.

Dead or Alive!

Willa and I got to join Miles on his radio show, Dead or Alive tonight!  His partner is out of town, and since this was Willa's last chance to be on the air before school starts, we thought it would be fun to do a family show.   Miles has been doing the show which features live recordings of the Grateful Dead, Phish, Wide Spread Panic, Pink Floyd era stuff, occasional interviews and other jam-bandy music, for almost a year now and has quite a loyal following for a small city.  It's always  fun to go in with him and help pick out the line up of tunes for the show and chat about stuff on the air.

DJing a radio show revolving around great live music has long been a dream of Miles's.  I'm so happy that he's been given this opportunity!  He's a natural and is having so much fun realizing his dream!

 

 

And earlier today...I was able to run 7 miles with no ankle problems!  I AM sore already however....feeling alive, for sure!  hoping it will dissipate by Sunday's half marathon!

 

 

Another deck-worthy evening

An impromptu dinner with dear old friends....a lovely evening out on their deck....fresh baked cookies....good conversation......hard to get up and head home!