Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Running through Summer

I'm deep in the throws of marathon training, past the halfway point and not looking back.  
That means lots of running, the bulk off which happens at 5:00 a.m. before the kids are up.  
That means by the time bedtime rolls around (theirs) I'm ready for sleep myself, or close to it.  That means I haven't felt the desire or capacity to sit down at a computer and craft some intelligent, possibly witty, or endearing, (could I maybe hope for even inspiring?) thoughts on our family happenings and the challenges and wonders of my life these summer days.  Its been nearly a month since my last post, but everyone in my house is in bed already (I won't mention how embarrassingly/wonderfully early it is) and I'm not long behind, so a very quick note on our days.

It finally got hot here and we've launched into summer proper with camping, family reunions, beach days, lake days, pond days, and too hot to do anything but close up the house and read on the couch days.  Ice cream has become a staple here, including my sister's amazing Sheep's Milk Gelato from Toddy Pond Farm (I don't know how to make a link on this mobile device so you'll have to look it up--it's worth your time).

Wylie has been researching our family history and putting together a family tree.  He's approaching it as he does all projects: with the voracity (voraciousness?) of a hungry bear cub devouring a meal; all gangly and never still, but focusing all attention to the task of the moment. Before this it was Ham Radio and I sense that we're fast moving onto music publication and song rights.  We're not bored much.  Exhausted comes to mind.  I often wonder how much pressure I should put on him to complete these endeavors.  But often his goals are so high that completion is highly unlikely if not damn near impossible (ie. mapping a family tree that will demonstrate that we all--you, me, all of us, have some similar ancestor from nomadic times) so it seems best just to encourage his hard work until a new passion emerges.  It's the process right?  

He and Juniper, along with their two good friends Belle and Ezra, make movies of their own creation every chance they get.  Last week they learned that one of their films won first place in the Maine Student Film Awards, pre-teen division!  We are obviously psyched, and proud.  This weekend will be the public film release, being show as part of the International Film Festival in Waterville, Maine.  

Juniper and Kale spend almost all of their time side by side in the throws of some fantasy game, and are ridiculously cute about it.  Juniper is strong and leads well, and is as savvy as a politition when it comes to getting her way in a game.  She can sweet talk her idea into Kale's head without him realizing it's not his own.  Kale has taken to talking like a teenager, announcing at the dinner table this evening, "I am so done with this soup", and using the word "like"  as often as a 12 year old girl.  

We've been running from one weekend activity to the next, Acadia National Park, NH, summer camp, Grandparent visits, craft fairs, cousins, BBQ's, pool parties etc.  Summer is like a race the way we try to cram it all in before the weather shifts.  But, it's also like a long early morning run.  There's space between the steps to let ourselves sink into the rhythm of it all.  To let our minds wander, to listen to bird calls, and admire the morning haze before the sun burns it off for the day.  We may be hot, sweaty, and exhausted, but hey, this is fun!  And in the end we get to jump in the lake.  

A few camping snaps curtesy of Rob's iPhone:







Good night y'all.  

1 comment:

  1. Totally impressed with the marathon training. Wish I could still run (back injuries). Camping in your neck of the woods looks so fun and different from ours!

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you!