Friday (happy) freak outs
I’m freaking out a little with happiness right now. Mostly this is due to the fact that sometimes in the afternoon, I leave the house without a jacket. But really, I think it’s more about sensing that winter’s in its very last act. It struts half-heartedly around the stage blotting out a full flush of apricot blossoms here and there, but spring is crouched predatorily behind the stage curtain, ready to pounce.
More things I’m freaking out, happily, about:
:: Greenhouse greens.
Bok choi, beheaded.
The daily bowl.
:: My parents are visiting and we keep having the same conversation. It goes like this:
Me: thank you so much for taking the kids, they love being with you.
My parents: Oh no, thank you! We love being with them.
Me: They’re so lucky to have you.
My parents: Oh, we’re so lucky to have them.
This is called the stalemate of appreciation.
Playing Monkey in the Middle, with a balloon. Really. The kids are so lucky to have them.
:: The fact that the chickens, in addition to providing (future) manure and eggs, are the source of endless entertainment:
(I forgot that yesterday Col and Rose’s friend Kiva was scheduled to come over at 7am. Col and Rose, having had a sleepover the night before with Baba and Nana, weren’t here, so Kiva grabbed a chicken, swaddled her in a designated chicken towel and proceeded to sit quietly on the couch with her chicken for the next hour while Dan and I ate breakfast. Not kidding).
Chicken in a basket, which sounds like some suspect fast food meal.
:: Hops stitching up through the wilderness of our yard.
I’m always so grateful when perennials actually come back, despite that being their very definition.
:: If you happen to study the Oregon Trail ever, which happens to read like a fascinating kids chapter book (minus the Donner Party), your little people may enjoy making slates (like Laura and Mary used in school in the Little House Series). Take cardboard, cover with acrylic black paint. Let dry. Write on them with chalk, erase with moist towel. The kids loved these.
Lying on the hard, tile floor makes it even more authentically Pioneer-like.
:: Today, Col’s homeschool co-op is performing a play they wrote called, The Magic Tree. All participants get a tree to plant at their school. Col and his peeps are representing the Fertile Ground Life Learners School. Col is the drummer and his costume is a dashiki which belongs to a 6-foot tall man, so you can imagine I’m going to be dying a little from the cuteness.
What are you happily freaking out about this spring?
xo,
Rachel
ps: There has been some interest in garden consultations in Montezuma County. If you are interested in a consultation and live in Cortez/Dolores/Mancos, I will wave the travel fee if I can schedule them all on the same day. Contact me.
pps: Dalcroze is coming back in Durango the first week of June!
happily freaking out about:
The almost blossom on the trees
The lighter mornings and evenings
gardening!!!!!!
xxx
Our chickens are a great source of entertainment, eggs and manure. I can’t remember what we did for fun before them.
Last weekend, we literally watched the lilies of the valley bed pop up. I love spring.
Happily freaking out about the prospect of summer break, and about a tool in Microsoft Excel which counts things automatically. Also, I cannot help but be a little bit secretly happily freaked out about my daughter’s more extensive forays into representational drawing, and more liberal use of multiple colors in drawings and paintings. And the microgreens under a grow light in the dining room, and the sprouting herbs in the windows. And occasionally being able to leave the door wide open.
Happy things here:
winter clothes are packed away
things are sprouting in the garden
I’m eating from the garden (okay, its just chives, but its a start)
Happy Things here:
Sunshine and four healthy kids
The glorious walk through the Blake Gardens to and from school
I’m happy for you and your wonderful parents.
I loved that conversation with your parents; it’s exactly like the one I have with my in-laws whenever they stay with our kids! We are going to Vancouver (just Leeor and me and one other couple!!) in July, and when I told Avi that Saba and Savta would be staying with them, he countered, “why can’t we go to their house?” and when I responded, “well of course you can! they’ll be thrilled!” he fist pumped and said (not quite under his breath), “yes!!!” There is nothing better than witnessing grandparent/kid love!! Such gratitude!
I am freaking out about how delicious this pregnancy is (someone pinch me!), your post about gardening bc we are finally planting seeds in our raised backyard bed and it turns out I don’t have to “do much” to the soil (thank you!), writing again, encouraging universal trust in my family (I am also native Californian so I get to say that), and just the glory of the leaves and flowers sprouting and blooming all around us. Oh, and Avi at his new soccer practice at Cedar-Rose park Saturday mornings. Holy holy, I don’t know if I’ve ever known such happiness watching him run around with a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds and their exuberant coach.
Nice to reflect on goodness after a heavy NPR news morning drive–thank you! xoxo
Happy to be in Durango and “all that loving”
Love hearing about everyone’s happiness.
Most Precious and Gifted RT,
had a mOMent with Rose and her Grandparents in the parking lot outside Kroegers the other day. OMG, how stinkin’ sweet can stinkin’ sweet be?! Thou art Blessed.
“Stalemate of Appreciation,”…God you are good! thank you for choosing to be you…and persevering in being you! keep writing like the mofo writer you are!
your #1 fan
I caught the debut of The Magic Tree…happy to see they could laugh at themselves when mishaps occurred. The chicken feet were very clever!
those greens look AMAZING! we are planning on building a greenhouse this year, I think it will make all the difference in extending the season.
I am happily freaking out about the yummy kale, garlic scape and sunflower pesto we made for Earth day yesterday (half the ingredients were from the garden).
Building a giant pallet container to grow potatoes in a couple of days ago.
My beautiful girls.. I can’t believe how much they make me happily freak out all the time!