Woods Trip, Long Pine Reservoir

I know where you live, and I will be coming to get you when it is convenient for me

Girl Waiting for Fireworks, July 4, 2010

The Dark Beauty of the Silhouette

Form, lines, dark in light,
A simpler view of these things,
Made clear and lucid.

P: Where's mom?

L: She's in the hallway.

(Open door, confirm that mom is not in the hallway)

P: No, she's not.

L: I (th)tand corrected.

First 5K

It really was a perfect day to take on my first 5K. Overcast, fairly cool, with a veil of optimism in the air! My friend and I were nervous together but had enough time to become accustomed to being there. We considered how an hour can last a really long time if given the right circumstances. I was impressed with the friendly nature of the running community, which I did not expect. I appreciated that the already-finished were generous enough to hand out encouragement to those still slogging it out...I'm sure it made them feel good too (Uh, I have been done for so long that I am trying to keep myself entertained by cheering for the turtles...)

My motto for the event was "Having Fun," and the running part was reeeeasonably fun. My running partner, if you could call it that, for the second half of the race was a giant, tall man in head to toe black, running pants, and sandals. He was a walker/runner, but was fastidious in making sure that the very second I caught up to him, he would hang up his walking hat and put on his running stride. The maddening part for me was that it only took him several strides of those long legs to be about twenty feet ahead of me, when he could walk again. I thought to myself, well, I guess I'm ok with being someone's motivation to run? And then I looked at the flowers as I passed them by.

But, the most fun part was the last ten seconds of the race. I followed the lead of everyone ahead of me who turned on their juice in the last block of the race, not wanting to let the onlookers down with at least an energetic-seeming finish. But I reeeally turned on my juice when I see my sweet cheering husband, running parallel to me and trying to get to the finish ahead of me to get the good photo op. I couldn't let an onlooker beat me in this race!

American Robin, Turdus Migratorius. Before you make your mental joke, it means thrush. Thrush on the move.

Rain on a tin roof all night.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
and though they are with you, and yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.

Kahlil Gibran

This Is It

A parent of one of my clients passed away about a week ago. The family was sadly unprepared for any significant kind of recognition of a life gone by. It's not particularly important to me to have a big fancy celebration of my own passing, especially because I won't be able to attend. But, what is a life worth? I would like to request a service among the trees, a bonfire, some nice words from people I have loved. I would like there to be beer because it will help everyone relax, be sad together, and maybe sing a John Denver song about country roads and West Virginia. I would like someone to say that I was a good mom to my kids and a good wife even though I made lots of piles. I would like there to be beauty present in the midst of sorrow and for everyone to be grateful for being alive.