Grapes of Wrath

#1 – I woke up and finished reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I haven’t read a “classic” in a long time and this is one that came to mind when I was at the library. Certainly different than what I usually read, I was impressed again and again by the stories on its pages. Powerful, poetic, tough and inspiring.

#2 – I was curious what type of ending Mr. Steinbeck would put on the story as the ending to many stories in the depression wasn’t a happy one. I expected him to pull a surprising punch of some sort, and he most definitely did.

#3 – I was going to ask my sister-in-law to send me a photo she took of my nephew and I on a day when our wardrobe just happened to match. Today she gave me a print of the picture without my asking.

#4 – Dancing to the music with my nephew on my lap in the kitchen, every once in a while he’d lean his head back and look up at me with a big smile.

#5 – Making my 5th recipe I’ve enjoyed from Weeknight Vegetarian, a book I have from the library. I had dinner ready for me before soccer tonight and leftovers for tomorrow.

Beach Ball

#1 - The beach ball floating away from the swimming area. Though nobody seemed to be concerned or care, it gave me something to rescue. Could I get there before it blew too far away? Would the weeds become too much? Would the wind pick up?

#2 - The sweet man and I had a few writing prompts we'd written in the winter that I asked him to bring to the beach. We pulled a couple to write on and he said, "We should do this more often. Make a jar where we put prompts."

#3 - I almost gave in and decided to work the farmer's market on a weekend we had a tentative camping trip planned, but luckily I'd sent an email earlier to the board director and she already had me as unavailable on her calendar.

#4 - All the sweet little touches I got at the beach - a kiss on the shoulder, a finger on my thigh, a hand on my belly.

#5 - Seeing a turtle laying eggs, from a distance, burrowing in the sand, burying. And the young woman who almost ran over her on her bike, but didn't.

Bonus discovery - I looked up a video for treading water techniques after discussing it at the beach and discovered that at least part of the reason I can swim longer than the man I'm dating is NOT because I'm in better shape, but rather, because he uses the most exhausting method for treading water.

Art Gallery

#1 - Was it the beautiful morning, being outside my usual neighborhood, or the fact that for the first morning in a week I wasn't responsible for a 4 & 6 year old? I'm not sure, but I was thrilled to have the impulse to go for a jog first thing this AM.

#2 - Going to an "art gallery" in the sweet man's living room discussed and presented by the artists themselves (his children).

#3 - Hearing about the oldest's end of the year school camping trip.

#4 - After the exhibit, putting the artwork on permanent display in the "Peace Corner" room.

#5 - Reading The Wretched Stone (highly recommended picture book) by Chris Van Allsburg and Nothing to Do by Douglas Wood to the sweet man and the girls before bed in the newly space.

Be a Good Steward

Eating a dinner of egg salad on homemade bread, carrots, berries and a homemade strawberry rhubarb bar (all made by my friend) on a bench next to the rose gardens, while people played lawn games nearby, and I ruminated over the piece I'd just heard on the radio. A woman described being 13 years old when the nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and her recollections of that day kept me spellbound in my seat long after I turned off the car.

The woman admired Obama for being the first U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since that day, but also condemned his commitment to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal which she said would lead to another arms race with Russia and China.

The radio commentator said that Obama had made clear he would not be issuing an apology. I on the other hand think we should apologize for everything - the basic normal insanity of the human race.

***********************************************************************************

Earlier in the day, at a playground with my niece, nephew and friend's child, my nephew and I happened to be dressing in matching color schemes, we made a handsome pair.

My niece jumped right into a game I was playing with my friend's child. I was a troll under the slide that bangs on it when you go down and demands payment. She also made the sweetest funny face when we played the "fun police" where smiles are not allowed, trying to suppress her happiness into a scowl.

*************************************************************************************

Getting up from this, cause something told me to, to catch the brilliant orange of the setting sun.

****************************************************************************************

Jane Kenyon said: “Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.”

Photos from Buffalo River State Park

#1 - Laughing during Ira Glass's opening song on last week's This American Life

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/259/promised-land

#2 - Having leftovers for quick, easy meals today. I made broccoli cheese soup yesterday for the first time and it was quite yummi.

#3 - The amazing things I get to listen to because I do simple work. Today this included a Soul Series conversation between Oprah and Iyanla Vanzant, This American Life and "The Joy of Being" CD's from the library with Eckhart Tolle.

#4 - I steeped myself in the To Bless the Space Between Us : a Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue last weekend. It must have filled me up because today I wrote my own.

#5 - Trying to get this done so I could turn off the computer, kind of wrestling with it. Then letting go and deciding to eat dinner first. Everything in life can become another task to complete it seems, even being grateful. I actually fell asleep briefly outside in a camping chair after eating dinner. It was the reset I needed to come back to this with anew, to practice being grateful again.

Murphy Lake at Murphy Hanrehan Park
Courtesy of Michael

#1 - The owner where I take yoga thanked me for coming to laughter yoga last week and said Michael and I make a "beautiful couple".

#2 - My friend sent me this diverse books for middle school readers list a little over a year ago.

http://www.massliteracy.org/diverse-books-middle-school-readers/

I finally got around to adding these books to my library request list.

#3 - Which made me read the rest of that email chain which was about the first time Michael and his kids got together with my brother's family, a friend's child and I, and how well it went. I wrote, "I had wondered about bringing all these kids camping - whether they would play together ages 3, 5, 6 and 10 but they got along great. It felt so natural and easy."

That camping trip didn't happen last year, but it is planned for this summer.

#4 - I led an informal yoga session at one of the cross-country ski weekends last winter in the outdoor group where I met Michael. This group also has a weekly meeting and the guy who schedules them emailed me to ask if I knew someone, or would be the someone, to lead yoga at one because the person he had lined up to do it cancelled. I replied asking about payment saying I could probably find a teacher where I do yoga, or I could do something informal for free, but I'm not a yoga teacher.

He said they don't pay for presentations and that if I wanted to do it that would work. The original write up said, "Ever wondered how you can be less sore after a hard day of climbing, hiking, biking or paddling? Sheila ____, founder and owner of ____ Yoga Studio, will show us the best yoga poses and stretches to do before and after vigorous exercise. Bring a mat or blanket."

Well this description stressed me out a little because I don't know the "best poses or stretches". I offered a couple alternative descriptions and this is what came out.

"Yoga is a great way to take a break and get energized for the next leg of a long hike, bike ride or paddle. It can be done in the outdoors without any equipment - a mat is truly optional. You probably know that yoga increases balance, flexibility, and strength, but did you also know it protects the spine, cartilage and joints so we can continue to pursue an active lifestyle?

Tammy will lead us in some yoga poses and stretches."


#5 - And going back to #1. The reason we were at laughter yoga in the first place was because we were having a rough time, so the fact that we had a good hike together on Friday will not be taken for granted.

Breaking Free

#1 – I answered the phone during work and couldn't place who it was at first because it didn't fit that time of day. The man I'm dating said he wanted to hear my voice, though there ended up being mostly silence on the line. He and I had a tough past few days.

#2 – Taking time during work to receive that 15 minute phone call, and also to stop and write two long poems – because I can.

#3 – We might all go to laughter yoga tomorrow. I’ve wanted to go with him and his kids for a year or so but haven’t gotten around to it. It is once a month, but I wasn’t going to mention it this time because I thought there was enough going on already. But considering the past few days I thought some intentional laughter would be good for us, and he agreed.

#4 - "I would like to see you this weekend and hope that we can spend some time together before our May schedules get busy. No pressure, I'll understand if you are not up for it yet."

#5 - Walking over to my community education exercise class an hour early so I could lay in the grass and sun and write.