Summer!

It's the end of the year and our neighbors are slowly starting to leave for their month long vacations which brings home the fact that soon we'll be leaving too ....for good! We haven't really planned a vacation this year since there's just so much going on (a major peeve about international moves--they eat up your entire summer!) We'll try very hard to squeeze in a last minute week somewhere but it isn't going to be easy. I hope we can do it. There's just so much to do.

We have a little inflatable pool on the terrace, actually pretty big, attracting lots of neighbor kids attention. I've invited some kids over on Thursday for a very last hurrah for Little S (must.stop.inviting.kids) and that will be it. It's just so hard to think of cutting him off from his friends but he's at an age where if you leave them alone for five seconds they do some pretty awful things--dirt clods in the window (they were meant for the side of the house mom!--as if THAT were okay) making a medevial pot dinner out of foraged bamboo shoots and things from the kitchen (they used an entire box of powdered chocolate and half a bag of flour--fun cleaning that up) and writing on the newly painted bedroom wall, (they blamed charlotte but there was a very detailed chateau in the picture, yeah right) Normally S is a good kid but in a mixer he's sometimes a demon child and I don't know why. Is it the other kids? Some of these things seem really out of character for him. I guess the addition of another kid brings out some need to be somebody else. People always tell him he's timid and he should talk more so I think that bugs him. Lately though he's been really testing the limits.

So the Kool-Aid mom is tired and yes I actually fell asleep last night fully dressed for at least the third time in a month so this is definitely the last invite. I'm kidded out.

The day after Easter

The cherry blossoms started falling off the tree today, too soon I was thinking. So sad to see them falling with each wind gust. I wanted to enjoy them longer. The tree just bloomed last week. Then Little S ran outside all excited and said "it's like snow mom!" and he laughed and waved his arms in them. "Look Charlotte, it's snowing!" and he went down the slide covered in petals and said "bring Charlotte out in the snow mom!"

and I could see that weird moment

illuminated as---

my children

seeing time

as having no essence



I know that one day they won't see it that way. They won't be able to enjoy the moment because they'll be so wrapped up in the next moment. I'm going to stop pushing them so hard to be bigger and stronger and better. I'm going to let them enjoy themselves and be children for as long as possible.

who cares about an eighteen month old not walking yet or how a four year old can only count to three and then skips to six seven eight?

I'm going to try not to care about these things so much.

And that's where I was today when I stopped to watch the cherry blossoms fall.

Outside,

thinking

about letting go.

Springtime!

The first signs of Spring are arriving everywhere in my back yard and what an exciting time. I don't know any of the plants yet, not sure what bulbs are stuck in the ground and I'm trying to quickly decide what to move, cut and keep. Each day there's a little surprise outside the door when I walk past the garden beds that haven't been tended in thirty years or more. We live in such a gardener's paradise.

We had the vernal equinox yesterday afternoon. Wildflowers are in bloom everywhere, the cherry tree is budding, the roses are shooting leaves and colors are beginning to pop out everywhere in our little village--yellows, pinks and white. What's in bloom in your backyard or neighborhood today? Make sure you take a walk with your camera and find out.

Have a wonderful first day of Spring everyone!

Celebrating in France

Someone in the States once said to me "wait you mean you don't celebrate Thanksgiving in France?" and then she quickly came to her senses and said, "oh yeah right I guess you wouldn't." And then she sat there for a moment mulling it over. I don't think she was stupid. I have the same reaction every year. It seems weird not to celebrate Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving day in the US, right before the big meal, Americans always talk about what they're thankful for. I haven't had a real Thanksgiving dinner in about ten years so I haven't had the chance to tell an entire table full of people what I'm thankful for. I do have a blog though so it's kind of like a dinner table.

I'm thankful for my beautiful family, especially my kids who teach me so much about creativity, patience, and unconditional love.

I'm thankful for my husband for taking the time to understand and appreciate me for who I am and for not being judgmental when I don't do something the way he's used to. I know it's been ten years of adjustment for him and instead of being afraid of change he's learned to love everything about me.

I'm thankful for my family in the US who I love and miss a lot this time of year. I have this fantasy that there is a gate in my garden in France that opens up to my parent's street in Florida and I can use it two or three times a month. It's so hard to know that plane tickets prices are constantly going up.

And I'm thankful for my privileged place in the world. Sometimes I ask myself how I got to be so lucky to live in two of the most developed countries in the world. I don't have to worry about food and water. I don't have to feel what must be the worst nightmare in the world for a mother, --worrying about how my children will eat that day. I have everything I could ever want and when I complain about not having a finished bathroom I have to remind myself that there are people who don't even have a home, and some of those people even live in these two developed countries.

Okay I'll sit down now.

Seb is still in China so tonight we're going to do something simple in the dining room. We usually eat in the kitchen because it's easier but the change will feel festive. And as a friend suggested, even if we don't make the whole meal we will have mashed potatoes and gravy in a porcelain dish. I think I have one of those around here somewhere. And like this it won't feel like just any other day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Miss maple

This is something that makes me smile every morning. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen and I have this view out my kitchen door, --a lovely Canadian Maple in full "fall bloom. " It isn't a very common tree in France. There's another maple tree more indigenous to Europe that's just a typical Fall brown. Autumn in France is definitely more brown than red.

I just wish I could get closer to it to get some good pictures. It's in a distant neighbor's yard.

Anyone else taking way too many Fall pictures? I took nearly a hundred pictures yesterday on an hour long hike with the kids.

Groovy offerings

To celebrate solstice yesterday we bleached the poop stains out of one of Charlotte's diapers!! What? You mean don't know about this ancient method of paying homage to the sun god?

Okay ha no, just kidding. It's just that I have wanted to post this for a long time and I will forget once we move. Did you know that the sun works wonders for bleaching out stains.? Whenever the cloth diapers come out of the machine with a little poo memory attached I toss them out onto the grass and in two hours they're white and stain free. It always impresses me how efficient mother nature is so yes I guess it is sort of paying homage, but my offering isn't so wonderful.

You can use this for any stain really. And yes, this may be a problem for those in less sunny locales but at least try it in the summer!

June solstice

On our recent trip through the Yucatan we visited the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and got to see the wonderful ruins of the ancient Mayan city, including the pyramid of Kukulukan. We were both in complete awe of the Mayans and their connection with the seasons and the earth. We left our guide full of information and questions and as students hungry to learn more about this amazing civilization whose daily life depended on their devotion to the sun. We both vowed to be more aware of the solstices and use our telescope more to study the stars and planets. This tied right in with our new philosophy of being more present and more in touch with our world, experiencing our life by taking part in it rather than watching from the sidelines.

Midsummer day is a fixed date in many parts of the world, (near June 23rd) but today, June 20th is the longest day of the year according to the more official solar calendar. For the next few days the sun will appear to stand still in the noontime position for much of the day. According to the pagan religions, magical entities are no longer hidden & the veil that seperates us and them is lifted during Midsummer. Magical indeed! Our wishes and desires are more likely to be granted at Midsummer Solstice so take advantage of this time to concentrate on your heart's desires and keep your eyes alert for fairy people!

Today and tomorrow I will take Little S and Charlotte up to the ridge and let them see some trees and wildflowers again. It is important to appreciate nature during this day, to be outside and to feel connected to the elements--a small hike or a wade into a country stream, feeling the cold water bubbling gently over your feet. In fact what will you do on this day? Where will you go to get your dose of nature and midsummer bounty? Will it be in the garden digging out weeds or in the forest brushing your hands over a mossy tree? Maybe a short walk on your lunch break? Maybe just a drive through the country after work and just the simple act of picking a flower. Whatever it is be sure to get outside today.

A quatre pattes did a very lovely and informative post on the solstice a few days back. She's a wealth of knowledge on paganism and has some wonderful ideas about what to do with your children and family during the various seasons of the year. Go pay her a visit.