angelbirdflies

 My beautiful boy and his beautiful dog.

Lair o' the Bear. A day showered in gold, serenaded by the dance of leaves under foot and the song of water rushing over rock.  Have I mentioned lately that I ADORE hiking/walking/meandering/wandering in nature.  It is a haven from the busy thinking me, who plagues my days with constant doings.    Owen found several promising sticks for wand making. Bodhi discovered vanilla scented sap from a beloved, beetle infested evergreen.  We oohed and ahhed over natures splendor, bedecked in ravishing, breathtaking glory.  Bodhi climbed rocks..  and trees. The boys actually got along famously!  And both boys spent many excited hours collecting fairy house supplies (Note: this is a fabulous way to keep young hikers motivated.  I milked 2 miles out of them at a solid pace, without them noticing...well plus several snacks to keep them moving.) It was, yet another, fabulous day in my favorite hideout...NATURE.

My boys. Owen is gone for the summer again.  He is ten.  Growing up now and eager for more space, more choice, more independence and autonomy.  I am still watching him leave with the same heart wrenching longing of seven summers and yet now I understand his need: to be with his father, to be independent, to experience a few months of life outside the full throttle living of his younger brother. He is growing up and I am grappling with letting go. Summer.

Someone has taken Zeus' mighty lightening bolt and anyone who has a mythology loving, Percy Jackson reading, ten-year-old worth his salt knows what that means!  Someone has to get it back! Step one: Make shields. Step 2 Read all your clues!   This was the fun part for mama.  I wrote several disasterously rhyming clues peppered with greek mythology and each requiring wit and teamwork to solve, then rolled them into scrolls and hid them strategically throughout the oddysey, with each clue leading to the next challenge. Including riddles to decipher, archery and scavenger hunts: In the end they discovered a cache of swords, Which was a good thing, because they had to defeat the terrifying cyclops at the creeks edge. Once that was complete and Zeus's thunderbold recovered... A friendly battle ensued, Followed by supper back at the camp. Overall, it was a wonderful birthday party and a happy tenth birthday! PS: Check out those cool T-shirts Shane made for the speci...

I walked in the door from work today and Owen was joyfully spinning circles in the living room with Shane. They had been joyously talking about the choicest super hero powers, which led them to a very serious discussion, centering around which super powers they would pick if they could choose six. The list is as follows: Owen 1 The ability to fly at any velocity 2 Super strength with no minimum or maximum 3 Ability to teleport at will 4 Invisibility at will 5 Invincibility 6 Control over the elements His superhero name is Elementis, his color is silver and his daemon is a harpy eagle. Shane 1 The ability to fly at any velocity 2 Invincible in any atmospheric condition 3 Time travel at will 4 Super strength with no minimum or maximum 5 Ability to discern the truthfulness of anything 6 Super intelligence without suffering (no tortured genius) His superhero name is Navi, his color is green and his daemon is the resident cat Eli. If you could...

Owen and I have a standing date, each Sunday night, a mama-son evening, usually spent reading, drawing and/or sipping tea. Last night we nestled in bed and turned scribbles into art. Next, we turned our collaborative attention to poetry. I wrote the first line, Owen the second, I the third and so on, until we were finished. As a grand finale, we gave a dramatic reading to Shane in the backroom, who kindly paused the football games to attend our performance. Here are the poems (when reading please imagine Owen, standing on the coffee table dramatically interpreting the poems, while mother reads): Duh! Light on winter window, A bird mutated, In glass, reflected. The mutant cried, caw, caw. The mutant cried, moo, baa, neigh. Confused the bird sought sun. "Well Duh!", said the moon And the light went out. Sleep "Sleep", howled the wind. "EEHEEHAHE, NEVER!", Yelled the child, hiding tired eyes. "BOW-WOW", cried the...

Owen, Shane and Baba (aka Shane's pop, Ronaldo) drove all the way to Texas. These playful photos were captured along the way. I love to see the child in Owen seep out. In those passing moments his freedom and laughter are contagious, swelling my heart with joy and pride.

'Tis the season and once again Owen has asked me, "Is Santa real", I answered with the same vague assurance that "Magic is real". This year it fell a little flatter than last, which fell flatter than the year previous. He is almost 10 years old and is asking a sincere question, hoping for an answer that he has already stopped believing true. Owen is growing up and although I have never been a proponent of holiday hype, the loss of Santa IS a rite of passage. I pondered Owen's question for a few days and realized that he was ready. Tonight, while Bodhi napped, Shane and I sat with him and answered his question. We told him that the spirit of giving is real, the magic is real. Taking his hands, I invited Owen to join the circle of magic keepers. We lit a candle. We sat cross legged in a circle, Shane, Owen and I. We invited Owen to help keep magic alive. His eyes teared at the loss, rites of passage aren't easy. As his Mom, I have witnessed Ow...

When Owen was four years old we saw a guy at a gas station. The guy wore a white t-shirt, beat up blue jeans, a styled hair cut and drove a motor cycle. He looked pretty cool. When I got back in the car after filling my tank, Owen said, "Mom I like the way that guy looks, could I look like that?". Of course I went home gave him a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and gelled up his hair. He looked in the mirror and nodded. With an air of satisfaction he announced, "Now I need a new name". He thought for a minute and said, "Hawk Raider...my other name is Hawk Raider". Of course my heart swelled with pride. There is nothing I admire more in a person than the willingness to look deep within the crazy disguise of being human and find that authentic sense of who s/he really is and then SHINE with abandon. This weekend Hawk ran into his brother and namesake. You can see his totem in the background. Owen borrowed my camera and slowly, with patience and ...