Yellow the Bracken, Golden the Sheaves...

Autumn

Yellow the bracken

Golden the sheaves

Rosy the apples,

Crimson the leaves:

Mist on the hillside,

Clouds grey and white.

Autumn, good morning!

Summer, good night!

--Florence Hoatson

Children playing outside with neighbor kids on a beautiful fall day. October 1st and they are still in shorts and t-shirts. A  lemon garlic chicken is roasting in the oven. Doors are open to the late afternoon sun. The dining room table is covered with stacks of photographs, organized by year. Stacks of memorabilia, wedding announcements, memorial service programs, movie and concert ticket stubs, postcards from friends and family from Hong Kong, Austria, Ireland and Massachusetts. Pictures of Todd and me, in shorts with tan, fit arms and legs and pants in much smaller sizes. :)

 My oldest friend's mom passed away yesterday, September 30th, after long years of suffering with Alzheimer's.  Perhaps this heightens my awareness of what is laid out before me. I hold each photo and program and postcard tenderly as I place it in the file box. I've organized things by year, by event, by vacation, as though I could ever untangle their colorful threads that hold my life together now.

Waves of gratitude to all my loved ones make me sit down with the box of tissue. Sweet sentiments on anniversary cards from Todd, birthday cards with such wonderful words a daughter could ever hope to hear from parents. There are letters from grandparents living in nursing facilities, or retirement centers. A stack of sympathy cards for Todd when his mother passed away in 1998. Christmas letters from cousins, aunts and uncles, birth announcements from college friends, graduation photos of nephews and nieces, these photos of backpacking and igloo building. It is all so amazing and wonderful and it is my life. 

First Day of School!

Finley's first day of 3rd grade and Evelyn's first day of Kindergarten! I can't believe the day is finally here. I've thought of it many times on rainy afternoons when the kids were driving me crazy. Now, I'm alone in a quiet house, wondering what to do with a day to myself... (Don't worry. I won't have any problem filling it up!)

Last Day of Swim Lessons (for now!)

After many months of having it on our "want" list, I signed the kids up for swim lessons and they have loved it! We had four weeks straight of swim lessons every morning. The frequency of the lessons and the great instructors have really made a difference. Finley went from being totally afraid of putting his face in the water and bugged by water in his ears, to doing hand stands in the water and swimming with his face in the water. On the last two days of class they used goggles and they had fun seeing underwater and oohing and ahhing over how far down the pool dropped off in the deep end. Great fun to watch their progress and the process of how human beings overcome their fears and try new things in a positive environment. Great fun to watch. I'm reminded of what a happy priviledge it is being a parent!

Teacher Jen and Finley and Evelyn on the last day of their first session of swim lessons.

A Year's Sabbatical

Evelyn's birthday seems to be a tipping point in my year. My last entry was for her birthday last year and here we are again, just past her 5th birthday in August. I've been deeply moved by so many experiences that I have hesitated to share them or try to present an appropriately public version of these events for my blog. An exhausting and yet exhilerating year. Conflict, challenges, mistakes and remorse in relationships and self-care, with equal parts joy, fun times and spiritual renewal.