Stormy Monday

Is this global warming? We woke up to a blustery, cold Monday. It felt like October, not June! Being the stoic northwesterners we claim to be, I bundled up the kids and went to the Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium today. We arrived about 11:30 a.m. and except for a few unlucky field trips from local schools, there were few other visitors because it was pouring down rain. If it weren't for the frequent showers and gusts of wind that destroyed our umbrella and soaked the playgrounds, we would have enjoyed the nearly private tour of the zoo today. We actually did have a lot of fun despite the weather. There were enough dry moments to get from one shelter to the next and our double stroller had good awnings for the seats to stay dry. It was just a relief to be outside and breathing in the fresh air.

Here is Finley inside the sea anemone at the new, expanded play area. I had to persuade Finley that actually going to see the animal exhibits would be as much fun as playing on the playground. We also rode on the carousel. They had a sleigh that we could sit in all together and that was much more to Finley's liking than trying to hang on while the horses go up and down. I had Evelyn in the sling and she loved it! Unfortunately, I had left my camera with the stroller so I have no pictures of this delightful whirl on the merry-go-round.

Inside the jaws of a Great White Shark! We got to see them feed the fish today in the coral reef exhibit. We also had the rare treat of seeing the polar bears pouncing on their big toy balls and frolicking in the water.

I was trying to take a fun smiling picture, not a bumped head shot!

Evelyn walking from toadstool to toadstool in the big tented play area. This was also the area where we got to feed the goats and sheep. Finley is over his shyness about petting zoos so he used most of our quarters getting goat feed pellets from the vending machine. He wanted to make sure they all got their fair share so he rationed out the pellets to each goat, one at a time.

Finley, the hermit crab! This new play area is really great. They now have a covered sand play area, meercat exhibits, caves and a large, rope spider web to climb, in addition to the other playground.

Climbing, always climbing...

Fun new play structures and exhibits at the zoo, next to the previous play area.

Evelyn was mesmerized by the shark tank. There were huge tuna as well, that swam in schools above us, flashing in the green, filtered light. She protested every time I tried to pick her up. She just wanted to stand there with her hands on the glass, taking it all in.

Sabbath

Today we are taking a real Sabbath and skipping church. Heeheehee. Yesterday was full of a memorial service for a dear woman from my childhood as was last Saturday when I attended the memorial service for a neighbor from our old neighborhood in Seattle. We also attended THRIVE, the garden art show that my sister-in-law, Kim, organized at the Arboretum in Seattle on Saturday. The rain held off but it was cool and grey. I know Kim was disappointed with some aspects of how it turned out but we were very impressed! I am going out today to weed my garden and make some room for artwork in the future. I am inspired!

Here are some pictures from our walk on Saturday around the Arboretum. The rhododendrons were all in spectacular bloom.

We are realizing once again, that our lives have become too full of "going" and not enough of "staying" and addressing the truly important things in our life together as a family; like taking time to get organized, the implementation of strategies to save our sanity and getting rid of clutter as it comes along. Todd and I are too much alike in some ways. We both want to have all the fun and let someone else take care of the boring stuff.

I'm going back to my books on Sabbath. Especially, Wayne Muller's, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives.

Here are some quotes and passages:

"Our willingness to rest depends on what we believe we will find there. At rest, we come face-to-face with the essence of life. If we believe life is fundamentally good, we will seek out rest as a taste of that goodness. If we believe life is fundamentally bad or flawed, we will be reluctant to quiet ourselves, afraid of meeting the darkness that resides in things--or in ourselves."
________________________________
WILL

Three generations back
my family had only

to light a candle
and the world parted.

Today, Friday afternoon,
I disconnect clocks and phones.

When night fills my house
with passages,

I begin saving
my life.

---Marcia Falk

"Sabbath time can be a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, mindless accumulation, and the endless multiplication of desires, responsibilities, and accomplishments. Sabbath is a way of being in time where we remember who we are, remember what we know, and taste the gifts of spirit and eternity."