dreaming in n0tes

sometimes i just like to 

sit and listen to music.

i like to absorb the melody.

i want to bath in the words.

to be transformed, creating a sort of

visual art in my head,

my heart,

and my inspiration.

thanks music for all you do to make life:

 more.

(and thanks thunderstorms for making me more peaceful and the earth singing and dancing with each drop! Ahh.)

a thousand words

pictures say a thousand words. 

some are evident.

some take time.

some are imagined.

some are like stories from a distant land.

some bring us full circle.

some make new circles and paths for us to follow.

some inspire.

some weep with memories.

some smile so big it makes us want to shout

for what we don't know, out loud.

some stir our souls to breath a little deeper,

a little longer.

some question.

some demand.

some bore.

some want us now.

some make us salivate

and feel and desire.

some motivate.

some are fuzzy.

some need to age for a while until we understand.

some are keepers of dreams

some are unfinished and finished and full of life

some move you to be more

and do more

and live big

some just make you want to roll 

on the floor with tears of joy.

I think I blinked too long

A lot happens in a year.

In my quiet, Mommy moments, I am stunned, in a sad, 

nostalgic way,

at how much they change, Rohan and Max, 

almost daily.

They excite me, wow me, frustrate me to no end,

challenge me, demand of me,

love with no thought to 

conditions and with arms full of

forgiveness, when that is warranted.

I sometimes wonder if my parents had time to have these 

moments. They worked so many hours and 

had many more children.

Are these the luxuries and curses of

the part-time working momma?

I think it is just part of humanity.

Living in the quiet space with our thoughts.

I wish to love more wholly, to breath a little deeper,

to snuggle a little closer,

laugh a little louder,

for there will be another picture next year and 

the ones I see now will be gone.

Carpe Diem.

not exactly how I pictured it

I am not complaining. I have nothing to complain about.

I am a bit disappointed in myself 

and the vision I had of what this summer looked like.

I was sure I would be in the studio everyday working out new 

glazes and trying new clays, earthenware clays.

That has not happened.

Yet.

I get up, go for a run if Jay is not working early,

do some kind of reading, writing, math with the kids

do general cleaning, yard work, errands,

and we are off.... it seems like the day is like a torpedo.

Once we are launched we land at dinner time with tired,

pleasantly tired, bodies and the house all heated up to

a toasty 80 plus. Not conducive to productivity.

I lounge around after dinner and never recuperate.

I have one last thing to repair on the kiln. The sitter tube and rod need to be replaced in order to house the cone properly. It will bend and shut the kiln off too early because the rod is bent and not working properly.

I am planning to get a new one tomorrow and then the only excuses I will have 

will be lame

and 

stories.

It will be me and the clay and thats it.

Well,

we have been busy. 

After running, walking the dog and doing some

errands, we spent the day at the pool with a friend.

Afterwards we picked wine berries at her house,

a lot,

then we came home (5:00) 

and made lemonade berry slushies.

I made dinner, uploaded some photos,

got the boys to bathe (a rare occurrence)

and am now blogging 7:14)

I am hoping for an early bedtime for them.

(I am reading a great new book by Isabella Allende: 

Island Beneath the Sea. 

She is one of my favorite authors and I have been on

the waiting list at the library.

So far I love it.)

I need to make some concrete goals.

I am not a list maker. Never have been.

I am a dreamer though and sometimes my dreams

are wonderful and exciting and enduring.

I am ready to settle into a routine that includes my

basement studio.

Now I just have to do it.

Here are some images of our day.

We have a new diving board expert.

It took some serious bravery on his part but he is

"addicted" now!

How soon 'not now' becomes 'never' 

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

How true and scary and how motivating.

My you overcome a barrier today as I have plans to do myself.

Well, at least I have it in my plans for tomorrow.

Third annual but fourth year there= Carolina Hemlock Camp Ground

Carolina Hemlock is nestled in the crook of the Toe River in Yancey County. 

It is a magical place

that fairies sing about and moss folk long to visit.

You cannot make a reservation. Your desire to be there must be driven by 

faith alone.

Never knowing which site will be open makes for an excitement

reminiscent of childhood dreams.

A good friend invited me to come camping with her and her son,

 four years ago.

Max was almost two and Rohan was five.

The simplicity and beauty stirred something in me.

The children felt free, safe and unbridled.

Since then we have been back every year. I invited another good friend

and she and her son have been part of the camping crew for the last three years.

We have had many other friends and family join us to share in the

magic that is offered.

This year was our biggest group yet and we had a blast. 

Memories are created that will last a lifetime and hopefully be carried on to the next generation.

We met a couple that had been camping there for fifty years and now bring their grandchildren for a week every year.

I hesitate sharing this information and magic.(because I want it all to myself) But I want others to find their own excitement and joy in this natural, water-park, wonderland.

rohan

max a tubing master, now ;o)

Me and Patty enjoying one of the best rapids there!

rohan going down one of the big ones

rohan and the jumping rock... please jump only 

and do not do flips like the crazy teenagers I saw!

Karen doing her big leap! 

So fun to have my sister-in-law there with her boyfriend Peter!

max and karen searching for life below

part of the kid crew, there were two other older boys but they only

stayed one night

(Me, Judy(my camping partner in crime)

 and

 Barbara (one of my closest friends

 and first time camping together!)

my fun, silly, beautiful family

We will be back next year or maybe even next month.

Our slice of heaven.


(thanks to my friend Barbara for a lot of these awesome photos!)

by the moment

Summer is an anomaly.

a·nom·a·ly  (-nm-l)

n. pl. a·nom·a·lies

1. Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule.

2. One that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify: "Both men are anomalies: they have . . . likable personalities but each has made his reputation as a heavy" (David Pauly).

3. Astronomy The angular deviation, as observed from the sun, of a planet from its perihelion.

We are definitely living out of the norm and with no

regard for common order.

Bedtimes are irregular and much, much later then ever before.

(We are generally those parents who have our children in bed by 7:30)

The kids are closing their eyes around 9 or 9:30 every night.

The amount of "treats" being consumed is grotesque. Their seems to

be an occasion for celebrating with food every other day.

Video games (which formally did not exist in the house), have become a daily,

earned, privilege. I guess it is in leu of the t.v. they would normally watch, but still, I feel like 

our house is in another galaxy, an anomaly: one that is

Peculiar,

irregular,

abnormal,

and

definitely

difficult to classify!

Well, that being said, here are some 

moments

of magic, 

that 

happen

Every Day

the boys creating chalk magic

(I left out the one with "i love mom"... i will add it next time) 

added it ;o)

max and his good friend giving baths

to the babies

 dance party

 peach tree harvest

2 trees planted in honor of

my second cousin who left this world at only 12.

She is shining down for sure.

what rohan does while at the pool:

he dives on the bottom to look for treasures.

this is his creation.

 "hey, what are you doing later?"

not exactly what I thought they were 
whispering about but some funny babies.

“There is no happiness; there are only moments of happiness.”

Spanish Proverb quotes                                              This proverb speaks much truth at my house.