a little inspiration

If you are local to the Baltimore area you will want to go check out Baltimore Yoga Village schedule this week.  They have some monks from Drepung Gomang monestary in India visiting and meditating and giving talks through June 3rd. It was a lovely way to start the morning.

the swan for the tree.  Oh, wait, that isn't how it goes...  Ah well, I'll keep trying. I've been reading a lot recently.  A whole lot.  And I keep meaning to take a snapshot of my bedside table because it is a little funny.  Piled high and full of different ideas.  I'll get to that... one of these days. I keep thinking of impermanence and how wonderful it is.  I've been using it to get me through a lot of very silly, superficial issues along with the more important ones.  It is funny how you can get so hung up on things that don't matter.   At all. Like my hair.  I love it.  I hate it.  It hardly exists in my mind.  It is plaguing me.  Once in a while I think- oh, it is being cute today!  And while I know intellectually that what my hair looks like doesn't define me, when it is "bad" I really focus on it and wish it was like that girls or this girls or maybe even that bald guy over there.  I've struggl...

On our trip we spent a whole lot of time just enjoying being outside together.  Three year olds don't care much about history.  They can hardly grasp "before" and "after."  They like trees, horses, tiny frogs and sheep though.  And ships and water.  That stuff is real, present.  If you want to know how to live mindfully just watch a three year old exploring a new place.  We're all looking for a specific place to see x, y or z and he is entertained by the ants marching under our feet.  The tiny frogs you would have totally missed because they are the size of your thumbnail.  And when it is time to eat?  "How about here?" It is really magical.  We are caught up in so many thoughts that take us away from the present but a little child can't get out of the present.  Just try telling him he can play in the pool next week.  Go ahead and watch the melt down.  Because to him, next week doesn't yet exist.  And he is r...

We are working on a new schedule.  No. Sleep.  Till Brooklyn!! Ahem, I mean, no more naps.  Why? You might ask.  I can tell you that staying up till 10pm with a bouncy child and then getting up early with a cranky pants child is just no good.  No good at all.  Especially as I am neither a night owl nor a morning person.  (How does that happen?  I really just need a half hour of being awake before I am responsible for anyone's life.  That doesn't seem like so much to ask... does it??) So- no more nap.  So we are avoiding any car rides in the afternoon and getting woken up right away if randomly he does manage to fall asleep.  Which makes him GRUMPY.  But that is okay.  I am keeping my eye on the prize.  If he is asleep by 8:30 I might get a chance to read for twenty minutes before I pass out.  :)

It seemed like as good a day as any other to learn to fly.  We were at Yorktown on this day.  We enjoyed the water and the walking and the ice cream.  We had such a nice time exploring and playing together all week.  Every time the Bug has been with his Aunt Carolyn they make such a magical connection.  It is really amazing to watch. We visited Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown last week.  One night John and I even went out to see a show and drink an ale at the tavern.  We actually got to play together every night thanks to Nana, Pappy and Carolyn.  Since we were staying in two attaching apartments on a little resort kind of place it was pretty easy.  John and I brushed up on our putt-putt skills and had conversations without any competition to finish a sentence. The Bug is so funny with his talking non-stop now.  Interrupting every second to say, "Mama, what are you talkin' about?"  Which mostly makes me giggle insi...

  We're back.  With any luck at all I will catch up at least a few days tonight.  In the mean time, I'm off to enjoy my sweet wild-child bouncing away.

  I'm going to be away from my computer for the next few days so there will be a radio silence.  I'll catch up on the days pictures when I get back.  In the mean time: This awesome ABC song is stuck in my head. This shirt has had me laughing all week. And this thought is singing in my heart. Until soon!!

It was a day of wonders.  Reconnecting with an old friend, seeing tiny miniature ponies and their babies and fuzzy little ducklings.  And, of course, the "soft bumps" were the best.

  Oh my, oh my!  I've been wanting to share this for about a month.  We have this little area at the front of our garden bed that has never quite been right.  Everything I put in there gets burnt up by the sun or crushed by the people who walk by every day.   In adding more zen to my life I thought a rock garden might be just the thing.  It doesn't photograph so well, but I really do think it looks pretty.   And after we started we just couldn't stop.  I also filled in the ugly, weed filled open square on our sidewalk and the Bug picked some pansies and phlox to go in it.  He and the other kids on the block were such great help for this project.  It was great to see them all playing in the dirt and working together.  Everything seems to be doing really well! It is so much more pleasant now! {Speaking of pleasant, aren't the new big pictures wonderful??!}

For the last three years I have always been away when my favorite flower bloomed.  I fear this year it will be the same.

This photo project is significantly harder with the Bug in tow.  I either have to point to camera at him continuously or risk how far away he can get before I look back at him after taking a picture of something else.  And the rainy weather isn't helping either.  But it is still my favorite feeling, the way the air feels right before a rain storm, bursting with energy.

It was day of the unexpected. An unexpected trip to the aquarium, unexpected gardening with a neighbor which turned into an unexpected tea party.   A lesson in flow for sure.  Easy and full of delight.

Sometimes the most beautiful thing is right outside your door.

Not from today, but from this week.  Love.

  Some days just line up to be perfect.  The friends, the weather, the watermelon, the bands.  Perfect.  I'm going to try for a picture everyday for the rest of May.  It is a good practice.  And soon I will share more pictures of the birthday things we made and the happy three year old himself.