signs of summer

today was steamy and sultry. 

i have little to report, but that it was a beautiful day spent with lovely friends. 

the kids explored the big tree that fell in our yard during the heavy rains. 

we dug troughs and planted potatoes. 

we ate taquitos (tristan likes to call them tuxedos), roasted carrots with garlic, a salad of garden fresh lettuce, and mangos. 

and then the sprinkler and the slip & slide came out. and the water guns.

signs of summer indeed!

music. music. more music.

as summer approaches fridays after five on our downtown mall is in full swing. it's not always a great night at fridays, but this one was. it was nice to run into friends, the weather couldn't have been better, and the music by art wheeler and band was fantastic. 

we ate curry and australian pies, tossed a frisbee, hunkered down on the blanket, 

played cell phone scrabble, and relaxed.

saturday jam thicket played at mud house crozet in a daylong music showcase. they were really good. 

as an aside, earlier in the week, on wednesday, they played at a full moon party on an amazing property in free union. there was fire spinning, hula hooping, good food, a bluegrass trio, dogs, chickens, djs, and cows. an awesome midweek boost, for certain. here is a video from that:

and here are a few pictures i snapped after we stepped out of mudhouse.

our saturday was topped off with a celebration for a very sweet four year old. 

today is a day of laundry, baths, and domestic duties. 

but there is more music tonight: tashi's spring orchestra concert!

here is a throw back photo of her practicing, taken over four years ago.

May. Be.

I glance back at my last entry and see snow. 



As I write now the blossoms are still heralding the spring. There is an intense greening and the rivers are swollen with recent rainfall. Daily I slip into sandals and short sleeves and welcome the dawn.



April was a very full month. It began with a trip to New York City. We walked so much, visited with great friends, spent quality time with my Dad and Shirley, went to parks, museums, restaurants, and hallowed halls full of books. My dad took me to a play. We took Tashi to the Strand. We ate well and wandered through canyons of tall buildings. There are so many photos and you can find them here.

 

I love going to New York. I also love coming home. 



Our yard harbors dense corners of autumn leaves in every season. Tristan had some fun spring-leaf-jumping as I cleared out a corner of our woods and welcomed the moss.

On April 26 Dan had his 50th birthday. Seeing my spouse into this new decade is an honor. My love deepens with each corner that we turn, though sometimes we'll bicker over the color of the sky. Marriage is a journey. It is the ultimate comfort but also the ultimate healing. Sometimes the healing is harder than anything you'll ever go through. But as we climb this tall ladder the views intensify and the possibilities grow.


There was much revelry and rejoicing around Dan's birthday. Family and far flung friends visited. We had big celebrations and a small celebrations. We ate out, we ate in, we had craft beer, and fine wine. There were musical jams and sunsets brought in on sitar. There was deep dark chocolate mocha cake and there was zingy zanzibar cake. We hung out with my mom, with Dan's parents, and the kids got to see their uncles. Tashi went on her orchestra trip and Tristan lived his first full month as a five year old. April was pretty much one big celebration mixed in with a lot of hard work. Might this be balance?

And now it is May. I am learning so much at my job and feeling inspired in my home. Pulling my doula shrug around my shoulders, I enter a new on call period and anticipate the power of labor and delivery and the most incredible miracle of life emerging. I am hula hooping to newly discovered music, entranced by the transformation of the landscape, remembering what it's like to take photos with a camera set to manual, enthralled by spring storms, all the while in awe of my two bright kids, my spouse, and my community.


I have not been very crafty and my sewing machine seems to be frowning at me, but I know the time will come for that rhythmic hum. Right now I am content to stitch together all that is nourishing and positive in a day while the sun's radiance ushers in this season of light.