Meditations on Life and Parenting
“I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.”-Voltaire
Budding wildlife photographers starting with a suitable subject – the slug in winter.
It appears that I’m raising some tree huggers as shown on our latest hike. Well, not exactly tree huggers, but at least processed wood post huggers.
Awe inspiring mornings.
Heart of the week – rock found by Miss O on our hike.
“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” – Roger Miller
It was the second week of January and we didn’t have much going except National Puddle Jumping Day on January 13th.
We prepared by wearing our rain gear even when sunny.
And wearing rain gear when cooking.
And rain gear when playing the piano.
When the day came, the weather (in Seattle!) didn’t cooperate so we had to fill up our favorite puddle ourselves. And our favorite uncle came and helped Miss O empty it out…
There was one member of the household not excited about National Puddle Jumping Day.
In light of all this, perhaps it’s fitting that my heart of the week is… a puddle!
“Everything we hear is an Opinion, not a Fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the Truth.” – Marcus Aurelius
Last weekend, Mr. D and the 5-year-old twins down the street were riding around the block with their cameras. It was like an impromptu meeting of the camera club.
After they were done, I took a look at the pictures on his camera that he’s taken over the last year. I deleted all the ones of my butt (you can thank me later) but I found the others to be a fascinating look at what the world looks like when you are 3’2″. It’s a lot of people bending down to put their faces in yours, looks up people’s noses, missing the full picture and things that are interesting when you are 3-years-old. All the pictures below are Mr. D’s.
(the featured photo is mine – I thought the clouds looked like an arrow reminding me to check out Mt. Rainier)
“There are no ‘seven wonders’ of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” – Walt Streightiff
Christmas ships on Lake Union
Christmas Eve fun. I’m not sure how long I’ll get away with giving matching pj’s but it’s pretty sweet for now.
Mr. D mirrored how I felt by the time we got through opening presents.
Washington coast scenery and wildlife – and the animals were great too. 🙂
Heart and home of the week
Wishing that all of our signs for 2023 are more hopeful…
“The morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness.” – William Shakespeare!
Like any good parent, I let my kids play at the dump. 🙂 But as I’ve said before in pictures of this particular transfer station, Seattle Public Utilities has made a really cool place for education and observation of the garbage process.
The story of the week was snow and ice and we did our best to enjoy it! Even the neighborhood skeleton has icicles (lighted and real)!
Sunset on the winter solstice. And then, even after the longest night, the sun rose in glorious fashion!
Our attempt to make reindeer cookies Vicki style from her Holiday Hijinks post.
The heart of the week might be (wo)man made but no less authentic. Merry Christmas everyone!
“Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.” – Maya Angelou
Indiana Jones-ing things up!
Wild Lights at the zoo. I wondered why Big Foot was by the Pike Place Market sign and that’s when I learned that he is reported to roam in our woods.
The car turned 100,000 miles and Miss O’s idea was to make it a car cake to celebrate it!
My favorite shot from last weekend – Mr. D riding his strider bike and the cat running along. When I zoom in, it appears the cat has at most one paw on the ground in her effort to keep up.
Our motto (together we can do anything) that we painted on the front walk this summer has almost worn off. But I think the leaf shows, the motto is still loved.
How was your week?
“This life is for loving, sharing, learning, smiling, caring, forgiving, laughing, hugging, helping, dancing, wondering, healing, and even more loving. I choose to live life this way. I want to live my life in such a way that when I get out of bed in the morning, the devil says, ‘aw shit, he’s up!’” – Steve Maraboli
Our decorations are up. I’m not holding my breath that the Christmas snail is going to catch on very soon. First, he looks grumpy and also, he just doesn’t instill confidence that the package will arrive on time. But if I see any others in our neighborhood, I’ll take a picture and post it here.
The big story (or non-story, I’m not sure) this week was the snow. We did get a dusting and despite the interruptions, it was beautiful.
Trust me, this one looks better than it sounds.
My heart of the week was less of a mystery than heart shaped leafs, but one of the best kind of love – created close to home!
The golden rule as it applies to social media. Hope you all had a week where you were tweeted well!
“All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.” – Indian Proverb
Blocking the view
Mr. D is very interested in being the “food maker” these days. It’s a bold thing to ask to help with during Thanksgiving week.
Fall biking … which is a lot better than bike falling. And although the shadow makes it look like I’m riding with Mr. D on my head, I can assure you that’s not the case — see the previous sentence.
Of the many things I’m thankful for this week, one is definitely the gorgeous sun that has been treating us to incredible views from dawn to dusk.
Love is on the ground doesn’t sound very interesting so I’ll “leaf” this caption up to you all. How was your week?
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” – “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”
You know what’s worse than finding a half a roll of toilet paper unfurled in the family room? Finding a whole roll unfurled! And that perspective is what saves my sanity as I roll up the half roll of toilet paper.
Turns out there’s a lot of fun gear that comes both with mountain climbing and mountain climbing presentations.
Don’t look too closely because it seems like someone in the family wore pajamas to school every day this week. I suppose it’s great practice for the next generation of remote workers doing Zoom meetings.
And when Mr. D wasn’t just in his pajamas, he opted for the socks & sandals with full rain suit (on a perfectly blue sky day) like a true Northwesterner.
Getting ready for Friday night movie night.
I took (and posted) pictures of the continuous streak of gorgeous mornings we’ve had this week. It seemed liked if I stopped doing it, I would doom us to three months worth of overcast skies. Rationally I know it’s not my social media controlling the weather but just in case a slip of appreciation lets cloudy skies in, I keep taking the pictures.
How was your week?
“Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you’ll never get the same moment twice.” – unknown
But you might get the same soda display twice….just dressed up as a different holiday (for anyone that remembers the Halloween themed display from a few weeks ago.)
Is there anything better than a huge wheel to make you feel like you are going somewhere – even when the boat is securely tied to the dock?
The fall light was really spectacular this week. Either that or I was just so out of whack from the end of daylight savings time that I couldn’t tell whether the sun was coming up or going down.
Cold weather beach walk
It appears that the cat is trying to learn to read. I just don’t know why she’s trying to hide it?
How was your week?
Surprised By Joy 