Sunny Weekend, Part 2

We have a really cool town. Remember in January I wrote about ice skating? That was so much fun! Lots of good memories were made that day. I even posted a video.

Well, this town just keeps on thinking of good ideas that way, and this past weekend was another good time. Friday's drumming (see previous post) was part of a celebration of local artists, and Saturday, there was a "chalk on the sidewalk" event. No kidding! How cool is this?? Yes, they actually gave out chalk to anyone who wanted to participate (or you could bring your own) and they let everyone color the sidewalks downtown. It was great!

So, Daughter and I went down and checked out all the artwork that was already there.

There were giraffes, fish, butterflies, a giant gorilla,
and lots of dragons.

There were swirl designs and earth designs,
and slogans about the earth and love
and
other good things.

We saw people working on their creations - grown ups and children alike.

Everyone was having fun.

This is actually the same circle where the ice skating took place this past winter! It looks a lot different now, covered in chalk designs instead of snow and ice!
There was also music, and some people were dancing, jumping up and down to the beat.
And if you wanted, you could but a t-shirt to help with the cost of the chalk, etc. But I couldn't, and they were fine with that. I think they truly just want to let people have fun.

We saw this guy drawing a little blue waterfall that ran down
over the edge of the curb,
and splashed on the sidewalk.
Fun!

We ran into some good friends and talked a while on the sidewalk, and then we got some chalk and colored. What fun!

I liked the colored bricks we'd seen here and there so we colored some too.
I added a few little designs: a leaf, a heart, a sunshine, etc. Sweet girl had found
a really bright orange-gold color that looked good wherever she put it.

Sweetness got into her drawing, and the artist in her took over.
Other cares of the day were forgotten.

And this is my little pink whale. I think he's kind of cute. Silly, but cute.

We really had fun. I also got the girl an ice cream cone, which in my mind had to make it a perfect day. It was great. I appreciate the somebody who comes up with these good ideas in Our Town.

Thanks, unknown people of fun!

Sunny Weekend, Part 1

Today is cool, grey, and wet. Yesterday was, too.

But last week! Oh! Last week, we had four warm, golden, sunny days in a row!! We loved it! We needed it! Everyone felt good, and we all got outdoors and savored the good weather. Our Town had some cool community events happening that weekend, and the timing was perfect to go and enjoy the activities outdoors.

Friday night I drummed downtown with a group, and people gathered on the sidewalks to listen and dance. I love when that happens, when we see people's joy because of our drums. I drummed for three hours, and my hands were slightly swollen and bruised when we were done. I loved it! Drumming is healing. It enriches me. I am thankful to God for giving me the joy of drumming with friends. And I am deeply thankful to those friends for teaching me to drum, and for letting me drum with them at events like this. Drumming deepens who I am; it gives me something I can't put into words. I only know I am somehow a better, stronger, happier person when I have drumming in my life. It is a gift from God to me, and I love it!

I didn't get pics of the drumming, because of course, I was busy. But Amy did, and you can go see them at her site here.

~~~

That was Friday, and Saturday dawned just as sunny and beautiful. In the morning, Daughter and I went to the park with the walking trails and we walked. I hadn't wanted to. I was ready to just sit. But I am so glad we went! We have been at the point in the season where the leaves are not budding and only the grass is green.

Most thing are still bare and brown.
(I find it hard to see the beauty in this.)

Those four days of warmth made a huge difference, though, and now things are starting to wake up.

I love that veil of green that comes when the bushes begin to leaf out, before any of the trees are showing green. It almost looks from a distance like a greenish mist in the woods.


I am so thankful for the five (more or less) senses that we are given. Seriously, they are they means through which I enjoy life, see the beauty, feel the breezes, experience all the other gifts that surround me. Our senses are a magnificent gift from the One who designed us! Thank you, God!! And those senses were soaking up a lot of beauty at the park!

We saw an intriguing log...

We wondered how the tree could have grown to have such a twist in it the length of the whole trunk.

I found a plant that I don't know yet, just budding along the water's edge. Anyone know what this is? (edit: I just learned that this is a marsh marigold. It's kind of nice to have a son who's a biologist.)

We saw skunk cabbage,


little yellow flowers,

strangely shaped trees,


and the sparkling sun reflecting on the water.



I heard invisible birds (I couldn't see them) singing an endless variety of songs in the tops of stark, leafless trees...


...Water laughing it way over rocks in the stream, and the sharp screech of a grass whistle from my sweet daughter.



I smelled the woods, the stream, and the fields. Each has its own scent, something I don't usually notice.

We felt the warm sun, the gentle breeze, the rough bark, the scratchy branches, and the scrootchy mud. If you've stepped in wet mud that sucked at your feet, you know what scrootchy means.



We found a tiny pink blossom, the delicacy of which made me want to just stop and study it. So beautiful!

(edit: Same biologist son tells me this is called a "spring beauty"... appropriately named.)

We walked through wet mud, green grass, and dry sand, over tree roots and boardwalks, past raspberry bushes, strawberry plants, blueberry bushes, apple trees, dead leaves, and horse poop.




Daughter wanted to catch a little garter snake, and I let her go chasing because I was confident she would not catch it.

She surprised me!!

And there followed a difficult conversation about why we could not take it home. Ouch.

But all in all, what a great morning! She was pretty disappointed about not bringing home the snake, and after lunch I decided to take her downtown for another fun event that was happening.

I'll post about that separately. Keep reading.

:-)


(PS - Thanks to my son who knows about plants and their names. He's a great resource! He's also a great person. I like him quite a bit! (-;)

Susan Boyles

If you have not seen this yet, you have to go here and see it. Remember Paul Potts? Well, Britain's done it again!

I do not know how to put youtube videos on my blog, so for now, I have to just give you the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

This video brought Husband and me to tears.

Thanks, Emilie, for telling me about this.

Enjoy!

ps -
Things I'm thankful for today:

105. Beautiful music that moves hearts
106. Crying because it's so beautiful
107. Not judging a book by its cover

At the Gardens

Here in Our Town we have a botanical garden which is full of life and beauty at any time of the year. Going there lifts my spirit in the dead of winter, and breathing the moisture in the Rain Forest room always feels very healing to me.

Right now there are butterflies at The Gardens! Last week, one day when I was feeling the weariness of late winter, I went all by myself to The Gardens to smile at the butterflies and breath in the fragrances of the flowers. The air was warm and humid, far different from the cold, harsh dryness outdoors. It was refreshing, rejuvenating.

Here are a few pictures, because beauty should be shared sometimes.

I don't know the names of these butterflies, any of them.
I just know they are beautiful and fascinating.

They have a lot of different orchids at The Gardens.
Some have no smell, others seem to fill the room with perfume.





It was getting to be late afternoon, and I decided I needed
to get home to fix supper for the family.

So I did, but...

When I got home, just as I began the cooking, I got a phone call from a friend offering me a free ticket to the Symphony that night, where one of my favorite groups was performing, along with the Symphony, and some drumming friends of mine were opening for the concert! I was so incredibly excited, I left the cooking in the capable hands of my offspring, and got dressed, and flew out of the house as fast as I could, looking and feeling good. It was a great gift and a wonderful night. But that is another story.

Maybe later.

Meanwhile, enjoy the flowers and butterflies till spring comes for real.



And for the record, today I am thankful for:

71. The gardens - beauty to savor - with friends or alone, always refreshing

72. The Symphony, and getting to go to a concert - a rare treat

73. Husband's love of music

74. French Horns, clear and pure

75. The deep, mellow sound of the cello

76. The serpentine, which is just a strange, interesting instrument, with a very mellow, even muted sound, because it is made of wood covered with leather. (I like the sound of the horn better, but this thing is very interesting)

77. Bedtime, after a full day

78. Mornings full of promise

79. Blogging (-:

80. Friends

winter blues/SMAES

Yeah, well, winter is starting to get to me. Not because I don't think it's beautiful. (You know I think it is.) But I get feeling like less than me. See, my brain cells run on solar power and without the sun spending its days shining on me, it is hard for me to think! They call it SADDS. I don't like that name, because one of those Ds stands for disorder, and almost everyone I talk to (north of the mason-dixon, where we have real, bone-numbing winters) is affected by this season in similar ways: depression, low energy, suppressed immune system, foggy brain, etc. So if it's universal, it's not a disorder, it's normal. Obviously.

I think a better name might be... SMAES. Yeah. Seasonal Mood And Energy Slump. Now doesn't that fit better? Let's call it that instead. It's just a slump, you'll get over it, sounds way better than a depressive disorder. That right there is enough to send you into a depression by itself!

Still, I don't like feeling depressed, not even if it's just a little bit. And so I got to thinking, either I can just give up and feel miserable for the rest of the winter, or I can at least try to do something to make it better. But what? Well, the truth is I do realize that I am always surrounded by beauty and it is my choice whether to see it or not. When my energy is low, it can be hard to find the beauty. It can be hard to choose thankfulness and joy. So that means it is going to take some extra work. But I can do it. It may be harder, but I can at least try, right? So that's what I am going to do.

I have been working on that today - being thankful, ... and what do you know, I am starting to feel better. I also have been drinking more water and increased my vita D a bit, and went to the chiro today. So, yeah, a multi-pronged approach.

So here is what I am thankful for today, some of the things that bring delight to my days. I am continuing my "Joys and Thank Yous" list from before and starting here where I left off there. (You will recognize some of these favorite things from last Wednesday's post.)

16. Home made cocoa from scratch: You put cocoa powder in a cup and stir in about an equal amount of honey till smooth. (Takes a lot of stirring.) Then add milk (cow or soy) and microwave till hot. Stir and enjoy! Wow! Amazing hot chocolate!

17. Going on a date with Husband! (-: Yeah, he's cool that way. Every Friday.

18. The cool architecture downtown, with the old buildings contrasting the new.

19. The ice skating rink downtown! What a great city!

20. Walking the sidewalks downtown and remembering walks there with my mom when I was little. Especially Mr. Peanut in the store front, and the Christmas windows with moving statues of Santa and his friends.

21. Mocha.

22. Chai, plenty spicy and sweet. So good on a cold day!

23. Taking pictures of anything that piques my interest.

24. Ice sculptures! So incredibly pretty, sparkling in the sun.

25. The warmth of candles flickering on stovetop and table, in a warm home when deep white snow blankets everything outside.

26. Loving the man I married.

27. Having children who love me.

28. Playing games together as a family.



29. Cell phones with games on them.

30. Fresh, clean water to drink. (I appreciate this much more since our pump quit, once in the dead of winter.)

31. Strong, handsome sons.

32. Beautiful daughters.

33. Having children who, as they grow, become the kind of people who I would want to choose for friends even if we weren't related.

34. Holiday times, when the children all come over with their own families and we have a full, happy house!

35. Random twinkle Christmas lights. (Really! I just love them!)

36. Gingerbread people.

37. Baking Christmas cookies with my children.












38. Going out with a daughter - for lunch, movie, shopping, whatever, and just enjoying the time together.

39. Craft nights! Getting together with some great friends who make me a better person. I am so thankful for them.

40. Blizzards - staying inside feeling safe and protected while the winds howl and the snow blows outside.

41. Snow days! Everything canceled and us here together relaxing.

42. Home made soup. Bean soup, potato soup, vegetable soup, whatever. There's something good about home made soup. (Except maybe pumpkin soup. That recipe, while saying something about my resourcefulness in using what we have on hand, did not win kudos from my fans here. Nope, not so much.)

43. Friends who love me no matter what. Wow!

44. That delicious feeling of cool, smooth sheets against my skin when I go to bed at the end of a long day, tired and so ready to rest.

45. The way the very air seems to sparkle on an extremely cold day (close to zero degrees F), but only when the sun is shining brightly and is at a low angle in the sky. (a phenomenon explained here at wonderofcreation.org.) It looks so magical, it's hard to believe, as if the air is filled with invisible glitter. Wow!

Well, that's all for now. Thankfulness rocks! If laughter is the best medicine, thankfulness is a good tonic. Remember tonics? Neither do I. But I guess they were supposed to make you healthy and strong. Mammy Yokum swore by them. Remember Mammy Yokum? OK, never mind.


(pics: Our Downtown; one of my offspring and I decorating Christmas Cookies together.)

Cold!

Today we planned to go ice skating again, after the great fun we had last week. But when we got downtown, the rink was covered in snow and a sign told us we weren't allowed to skate! I guess those who decide such things felt the the record-breaking cold temperatures warranted the closing of the ice rink! Too cold to ice skate? I guess so. Well, I had been warned. When I told friends I planned to go today they informed me of the weather forecast and suggested I might want to go next week instead. Wise friends.

But we did have a good time. Something about getting out in the fresh air, in different surroundings... just feels good. And we did see some ice sculptures that sparkled in the cold air. Pretty!



I told the children who were with me (One son, one daughter this time) that even though we didn't do any skating today, I thought we needed hot chocolate anyway. We did, after all, walk out in the cold. Besides, I hadn't eaten lunch yet and I was hungry. So we got a hot dog for me across the street from the rink, in a place so warm and moist that my camera (and our glasses) fogged up and took forever to clear. Once we warmed up, we went to my friend's coffee place a block down, and got some of his made from scratch hot chocolate with a dash of cayenne. That warmed us up. Another friend stopped in while we were there who I hadn't seen in months! It was great to see her and do some catching up! And I met a photographer there who gave me some helpful tips about my little camera. Very nice!




So we had a good time, us three. When we got home, I needed to fix a supper that warmed and filled us without taking too much of my time or energy to prepare. Lentils! Oh, we had the best supper! Hot lentil soup - simple, quick, hot, economical, and deliciously filling - with slices of whole grain bread spread with real butter! We ate this while watching a movie in front of the fire. What a good evening together!





I sent some of the lentil soup to work with Husband this evening. I hope it fills him there again, and I hope he stays safe on the slippery roads. The strong cold makes the roads much slipperier than they appear. (Is "slipperier" a word? "much more slippery"? You know what I mean.) There were a lot of cars sliding into the median on the expressways today, and even the roads around town were slicker than you'd expect.


Tonight the temperatures are predicted to be below zero, with "dangerous" wind chills. The furnace in the house here is having a hard time keeping up with the need for heat, and the temperature in the house right now is 66 degrees. (Outside is minus 7.) This morning the indoor temperature was 60 degrees. I have been wishing all day for more firewood. We have only enough to last tonight and maybe to start a fire tomorrow, but not enough to last several days through this cold snap, let alone through the rest of the winter. We're using the auxiliary heat strip on the heat pump to keep the house warm. It uses a lot of electricity and we don't like to use it except on the coldest days. It's kind of expensive. But we have it when we do need it, and that's good. I just love the feel of a wood fire heating up the house and am wishing, that's all.

So anyway, we had a really nice day, not ice skating, drinking cocoa with pepper, meeting old and new friends, and being together as a family with warm, wholesome food.

Sigh... good day. Now it's time to close it and rest under warm blankets.

Hope your day is good as well.

(pics: ice sculptures downtown with flowers frozen in them; Son and Daughter sipping their hot chocolate; friend Josh at his coffee house; lentil soup with onions; bread; snow-covered turnaround on one of our slippery roads today)