Take A Picture, It'll Last Longer

My grandmother sent me a mug that says, "Life is good..." on one side and "Do what you like, like what you do" on the other. It's on of those big heavy, curvy, old-fashioned diner type mugs and I love it. This morning I put my daily cup of mate late tea with chocolate sweetened almond milk in it and as usual reminded myself that no matter what happens today, it is a good day. I remind myself that every day is a good day and it all matters.
I tell myself that hours and days and minutes are false and my awareness of life is true. I tell myself that the good moments, however brief they may be sometimes, are the big moments, the moments that will occupy more time and more space in my mind that any number of hours of pain or trials. I try to think of it like a photo album filled with image after image of smiles, babies, reunions, friends, special moments, surprises, favorite places; the things you take pictures of, the things you want to remember and share. Or maybe a file cabinet, where pain and trouble go in one big fat file, but the whole rest of the cabinet is jammed with good moments that each get their own special file and place in the cabinet. If I make a file for enough good little life nuggets they will over take the cabinet and that single fat file.

Today is a day with some pretty intense nerve pain throughout my left side so My Hero is home to care for us. So today I will be happy for the company of my husband, for the beautiful beautiful Autumn weather, for the green lawn dappled with sunlight through the leaves not yet on the ground and knowing that today has endless opportunities for meaningful moments.
Tonight we will all draw our creations on our pumpkins and SuperHero Daddy will carve them all out for us, in anticipation of Halloween. Yay!

Harvesting Life This Autumn

The days have been so good to me the past two weeks! How extraordinary to once again fold piles of warm laundry and cook hearty meals for my family. What a gift to be able to carry my little Squeak around and wrestle with my sweet Monkey! The pain sneaks in, quietly while I prepare dinner, but I tell it to hush and wait while I delight in the time I'm sharing with my family, no longer on the sidelines. It pokes and waits, but I growl at it and shoo it to the corner to wait, just wait, till I get the babies to bed, and it does. It hunches in the corner, red eyed and growling back, but it waits for me to lie down and accept it's gnawing, which I do with a heart filled with the satisfaction of having been with my family and once again living life. My Superhero lights the candles around the rooms, turns on some sweet music and delivers to me some special treat; a foot rub with some hot cocoa, some honeyed herbal tea and a thick novel, some velvety rich sweetness that is Chocolove with my laptop... Mmm, yes, we are in the business of Living. Of truly living each day.

Autumn is in full swing here. The green grass is full of leaves that crunch underfoot, the temperatures have dropped leaving the air feeling moist and brisk and finding a little warmth in the sun is purely divine, and the pecan harvest at our house is inexhaustible. We have three pecan trees and with little effort have already bagged nearly 8 gallons of pecans. Last night, after yesterday morning's storm, we all went out after dinner and padded, barefoot, through the lawn looking for fresh pecans. Squeak was all snuggly in her fleece sling on Daddy's chest, enjoying the up and down ride of bending and standing with each find. I was toasty in my layers of thermals and hooded sweatshirt, with one sock off for pawing and one on to keep as warm as I could, alternately sipping and breathing the sweet warmness of my Redbush tea with vanilla.
Of course my silly little Monkey was bounding around in shorts and boots singing, "I like the cold, even the snow!" stopping only to give the grass a trim with his safety scissors so we "Won't have to pay the lawn guy anymore, Mama!"
We managed to collect about two and a half gallons on pecans before the sun had set so far below the horizon that we could no longer see the pecans we were feeling.
Oh Autumn! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach...

Home Sweet Home

We took a vacation to Wisconsin this past week.
Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful
Our vacation truly began while we were searching for the Milwaukee Whole Foods and spotted a beach. So, being on vacation and all, we stopped looking for the right street and went to the beach. And how wonderful it was!


It was beautifully sunny with just the right amount of defined, long afternoon shadows, and the air was perfectly fresh and cool. The sand was so soft and warm, but when I dug my feet in or stepped in a shadow it was surprisingly chilled and refreshing. Looking out into the lake was arresting. The water washed up on the sand making the most soothing sound and despite its appearance of endlessness, it was a lake and therefore pleasantly devoid of all things dangerous. It was heaven!
MonkeyBoy played in the sand, jumped from the giant mounds and ran through the icy surf, stopping just long enough to engage and enchant the other beach-goers.
Squeakola decided that though the sand was terrible for eating (via faceplant) it was Great Fun to kick and throw.
The two hour drive that lay ahead couldn't budge us, but eventually our tummies rumbled and our muscles ached and we finally had to give in and move on.

The rest of the trip was just as magical.
Wisconsin in the autumn is so rich, seductive, disarming, magnificent.... It would take a literal thousand words to describe....

Squeak playing in the fall leaves

I felt my soul lifted, my pain eased, my whole being soared.

Me and My Beautiful Sister Ella



It was the best thing ever. What we truly needed.
I returned home a new person.

Our hearts and minds are still lingering in Wisconsin, only our bodies have made it home for now.

Pictures? hopefully tonight....