checking in

whoa! where did a whole week go?  i've been flying and visiting (and talking politics) and visiting (and drinking gin) some more and laughing and baking in 107°F/41°C temperatures.

we got to spend a little bit of time at the farm on st. mathias, near brainerd, minnesota. they were holding a celtic festival last saturday. the fabulous lisa of lil fish studios was demonstrating needle felting at the event, which also featured sheep-shearing, spinning, irish music, a guy who was forging swords (the vikings could totally have taken those celts) and wonderful organic, locally-produced food. it was so inspiring. i definitely want to stage a viking version at our place one day.

we also fell in love with a kitten and may have brought her home and are getting the health papers and ticket arranged so we can take her home to denmark. we can't seem to find the right name for her. every name we suggest, she shakes her head and vetoes it. if any names come to mind, please do let me know in the comments.  she's absolutely adorable.

lisa demonstrated how to make her little sheep and you can buy a kit and make your own if you'd like one. i got to help her pack the kits, so i can vouch for how awesome they are! they come with everything you need - wool, beads for eyes and felting needles and all!

and now we're off to go find a cool spot at the river. hope you're all having a fabulous summer.

in search of cool water

they say it's gonna be a scorcher today (28°C = 82°F). that's pretty much as hot as it gets around here.

what are you gonna remember?

as i said earlier, the lazy days of summer have begun. i have this melancholy sense that this is the last summer that sabin will truly play. she's a real tween now, but has enough of the child still in her to run and swing and do cartwheels across the yard. i so don't want to see that go.

she has a friend here from her old school where we used to live. they're having a great time together and i haven't heard a word of irritation between them (tho' it's early in their week together).

i suspect that she will remember these golden summer days...of getting to go down to the creek unsupervised with air mattresses and float downstream. of synchronized cartwheels across the lawn. of chasing chickens and trying to shoo them into their new enclosure. of watching YouTube on the iPad while snuggled up together in a nest of blankets and pillows that only two ten-year-olds can make. eating æggesnaps (egg yolk and sugar stirred into creamy, decadent smoothness). staying up late and giggling. getting a driver's license at legoland. spending the day at the beach. teaching bunnies to jump. the smell of freshly-mown hay. picking wildflower bouquets.

all of these things still done with childlike abandon.  no worries, no cares, just being in the moment.

there's a lot i could learn from that.

the lazy days of summer

ahh, the summer holiday is here at last. friday was the last day of school, so now we settle in for staying up late, getting up late, relaxing,  some good food on the grill, days at the beach, a bit of floating down the creek on an air mattress. and a good book and the occasional glass of wine. i'm not entirely sure how this is different than most days, but we're already enjoying it. 

the first

 

red, juicy and perfect. 

the first one. 

plucked.

eaten.

not shared.

but that's ok.

soon there will be more.

light

i am not my house.

my car.

my job.

my kitchen.

i breathe in golden evening light.

and a calm comes over me.

the very air itself shimmers golden.

liquid gold.

and realize that light is all there really is.

a sparkling good time

the weather is completely glorious - low humidity, perfect temperatures in the upper 70s, low 80s (mid to upper 20s for you, my european peeps), sunshine, fluffy white clouds in blue skies. visits with old friends and new friends, baseball games, hours spent in a bookstore, hitting a gap outlet, getting to know our iPad (fabulous, i tell you), good food, loads of fresh fruit that's perfectly in season, loads of laughter and sparklers. what more could one ask of their holiday?

the games we play

yesterday, at the birthday party, i stalked followed the children around with the camera(s), trying to catch them in moments of play without them posing. it became a game in which sabin and her friend j decided to try to run away and avoid having their picture taken. however, in actuality, they wanted to be photographed, so although i've got a zillion pictures where they are but blurs, there were some real gems, where their energy and their very life force simply beamed out of them. it was a good and joyful game.

before the game really began, they were intently watching a dog training session

note: this pic taken with the D60 - note color difference to pictures below, which were all taken with D300
the D60 really rocks the color. no processing on any of them, they're straight out of the camera

and now, the game is on and they are blurs

gotcha!

even with a plastic toy gun, they were poetry in motion.