angelbirdflies

"Mom you will NEVER guess what my teacher said at school today." "What?" "We are studying money, again , and she said money was one of the most important things to know about. Money makes the world go round." (Staring with disbelief and what may have been disgust.) "Can you believe that. I mean, hello, GRAVITY makes the world go round... Love makes the world go round... Peace might help the world go round. But MONEY??? Money definitely does not make the world go round." ---Quote by Owen Reed Jennings, age 8, August 25,2008

This is one of the many reasons I adore and admire my eldest. He awoke this morning and lay out his clothes. At the breakfast table he turned to me with a seriousness that only Owen can pull off, "Mom I'd like to be a cowboy at school today." He grabbed one of my hats, pulled on his boots and tied on a kerchief. I saw him sprinkle a little old spice on his neck and press his shoulders back into a prideful swagger. As he got out of the jeep to meet his class, I asked if he was ready for whatever came. "Cowboys have to be willing to handle sniggers occasionally". "Don't worry Mom", he assured me, "No one will make fun of me and even if they do, you have to be who you are and cool is as cool does". Damn this boy is COOL.

Bodhi's first day of school is Monday. I can't believe it. He is going to be in my school, right next door, and still my heart is aching at the thought of him being in toddler class. Here he is with his new Thomas the Train back pack.

This is motherhood at its best. We had a lovely lunch at blue sky cafe and on our way out Bodhi said "POOP". I stopped at a distant table for an emergency changing, this is what I discovered. Owen stood gagging nearby, Shane was laughing and avoiding it with stealth like reflexes (although he did manage to document the incident on his iphone) and I laughed so hard I was barely effective. Meanwhile, the onlookers stared with evident disgust at the repugnant family, bordering on hysteria, gathered around an innocent child smeared in excrement--- oh, if they only knew.

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well." Vincent Van Gogh

Back at work. I have mixed feelings: Sorrow, excitement, overload, frustration, guilt, longing, anticipation. It is an interesting conundrum, this thing called life. I am always uncertain of the path ahead. I keep placing one foot in front of the other, keeping a level eye out for adventure and trying (often failing) to soften the sharp edge of my mind and just enjoy the journey. I suppose I really am a gypsy at heart, never enjoying the feeling of tethered talons, whether to earth, to job, or to tomorrow. And yet, here I am, 34 years old with two beautiful boys, a wonderful man that drives me batty but also fills me with love and contentment. With a job and a wonderful home in a place that I love. It is odd, how I pull against the line at my heels and ache for flight...not to escape from those I love (I could no sooner leave my boys and Shane than take a flying leap from a tall building), but rather to take leave of the predictable, the expected, the assured. That is, and alway...

Kauai!!!!!!!! What can I say. It was as beautiful as ever, overflowing with rainbows and a panoramic vision of breathtaking splendor. The magic of Aloha, seems to blow across the wide expanse of Pacific blue with a peaceful abandon, beckoning, toward stillness, into the present, into life. I loved it, as I always do, more so this time because I got to see it reflected in Shane's eyes, in Bodhi's carefree laugh, in Owen's sense of adventure. Truly a wonderful trip. Endless Summer here they come. Owen picked up surfing on the first wave (he did have one on one instruction), and my heart swelled with satisfaction and pride. I nearly yelled out "That's a Lloyd out there", before checking myself. All the lost longing to be on the waves with my father and brothers, came back to me, as I watched my son skim the frothy blue with a smile spread wide across his turbulent face. Bodhi roamed the shores with wild abandon, preferring sand and shore to shifting tides ...

This is Bodhi's favorite thing. He just goes crazy asking to watch it and then watches it intently and when it's over yells, "Again, Again"

There can be no greater accomplishment than to open your heart to the world and in so doing, reflect, however briefly, a truth worth believing in.

I used to think the world was filled with terrifying unknowns, and now I think the world is full of possibilities too brilliant to comprehend.

Hello everyone We are off on a trip to Hawaii and won't be back for two weeks.... YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will post again when I return.

He's HOME, He's home, HE'S HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bodhi won't leave him alone for 5 seconds, he keeps yelling brobro, Owen and running after him ... I think he is afraid that Owen is going to leave again if he turns his head. For now I am just happy to have both my boys.

One of my dearest friends often asks me, "What's for supper?". It is so much more than a question about food. It is a question that plumbs the depths of the day. What is for supper, what is nourishing you, who have you invited to the table. A simple question that always says, "I am interested in you". Tonight, for supper, we had a monster zucchini, stuffed with a mixture of rice, fresh herbs, tomatoes from our garden, garlic and free-range bison. We had beans steamed with butter and seasonings fresh from grandpa's garden. We ate collard greens sauteed in olive oil with garlic, onion, and panchetta. We had a lovely cucumber salad ( sliced cucumbers and onions tossed with 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 t. sugar, yogurt, fresh dill and s/p). For dessert we ate Joannes zucchini bread (the boys did I watched them ingest the gluten with envy) and to drink we had iced sun tea. Bodhi spent the afternoon picking veggies with Baba and I learned a few of these recipes fro...

What a great Friday. Joanne and I went on a guided hike into the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Our guide, James Dziezynski , (aka Dziezynski), chose a pretty straightforward 5 mile hike for us. We started at the Brainard Lake parking lot and then hiked up beyond Long Lake to Lake Isabelle, where we had lunch and watched the wind ripple across the surface of the water. The whole day was such a profound feast for the senses that I came home and fell asleep promptly at 6:30 and didn't stir again until 6 this morning.

They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold: and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price. ---Khalil Gibran