Our Journey: March 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Max's Story

Meet Max. We adopted Max (formerly "Rico Suave") from a local animal shelter a week ago. We are guessing that he is a mix of German Shepard and Border Collie?? He and a sibling were strays who were both very sick; the sibling did not make it. Max was nursed back to health and we met him the day he became available. He is a sweet, seven month old puppy with lots of energy and little training. We are all attending puppy school and learning a lot!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Today was a good day for sidewalk chalk.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Round Up

I'm told it's "kindergarten round-up" time. Some of our friends are participating in this ritual; parents trying to convince their little ones that it will be really fun- wondering how the time went by so quickly and their child is growing up so fast. Soon their child will spend most of her day time with other people.

Ready or not, drop 'em off. Don't stay to "coddle" them--they'll get over it.

Schedules and routines will change. There will be new standards of behavior to adhere to, new lables assigned. Will their child become the "smart one", the "cooperative one", the "stubborn one", the "kid whose parents are annoying", the "student who's too sensitive", the "hyper kid who needs medication", the "bully", the "math whiz"...

We've decided not to throw our hats into this ring at this time. Just the name "round-up" brings to my mind images of cattle being herded.

We've decided to continue to grow together at our own pace, surrounded by the loving encouragement of family, friends and mentors. We will sit in the sunshine, observing nature. We will play in the rain, and watch clouds, and gaze at stars while we gain knowledge about weather, seasons, science, astronomy, astrology, and mythology. We will examine snowflakes and leaves and bugs and plants while we drink tea and eat treats we've made during our math learning.

We will play with our dog while reading interesting books, then finger knit or finger paint. We will run in the halls without a hall pass, go to the restroom and get a drink without asking permission (and possibly being denied it), eat healthy food that we prepare and perhaps even grow ourselves. We will do these things for as long as we like without the interuption of a bell that signals switching to a new activity like musical chairs.

We will visit the places we love and explore new places too. We'll go to actual places of history and see them first hand. We will not be chastised for working ahead, or for lagging behind. We will socialize with people of all ages and all walks of life, not just those in our same age group or neighborhood ("district"). We'll listen to our favorite music, dance, and sing at the tops of our lungs without consequence.

We wish the best for our friends who are being rounded up. We're gonna sit this one out for now.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Pottery we painted this week

Pasta Bowl

Bud Vase

Cross

Star

Heart

"Peace" Egg

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My Great Aunt Elsie's White Cookie's

Aunt Elsie was my Grandma Lois' older sister. She is pictured here, top right, with Uncle Roger, and Grandma Lois holding yours truly. Aunt Elsie was a sweet, quiet woman who, among other things, made "white cookies".

I remember that these cookies were soft and puffy, lightly sweet, and best if dipped in ice cold milk. Grandma Lois recalled the recipe as:

2 eggs

1 1/2 Cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Cups flour

1 Cup "sweet milk"

1 tsp vanilla"These have to be rolled and cut. No instructions on Elsie's recipe. Flour hands and board, as it can be sticky. I imagine bake 8 min or so. They burn easily so watch carefully".

(There is no photo of the finished product because we ate them before we could snap a picture!)

Friday, March 6, 2009

A Fond Farewell

When Allie was ten months old, we took our first Mommy/Infant yoga class. The teacher, Sally, was a gentle, soft-spoken woman who was also the mother of two toddler boys. Sally's tender and compassionate teaching style is one of the reasons that Allie has loved yoga nearly all of her life. Sally inspired us to continue our yoga practice as a path of good health and spirituality. She was an excellent example of beauty, fitness, serenity, and calm. For many months, we had no idea that Sally was dying. She never mentioned it and she seemed so alive! When we learned, three years ago, that Sally had End Stage breast cancer which had spread to her bones we were stunned. But Sally seemed to live on as though she didn't know the cancer was there. I actually thought she would somehow be the one who survived this fight.

Today we learned that Sally has moved on to the next phase of her journey. Her energy remains a part of us, as energy never goes away but simply changes form. I remember the message that Sally wrote on the dry-erase board in our yoga classroom: "THE UNIVERSE IS AS IT SHOULD BE." Thank you, Sally, for being on this earth long enough to teach us "balance." Go in peace, Sally Canfied (1968-2009).