Every Other Family in the Four County Metro...or Just Us.

Saturday was an absolutely perfect day here in North Texas. This after several soggy, cold weekends. We decided to take advantage of the day by visiting the Dallas Arboretum. Unfortunately, so did every other family in the four county metro area. The parking lot was closed and they were running a shuttle from a remote (and I do mean remote) parking lot. We finally found the remote parking only to encounter a line that stretched for a good city block, made longer by the fact that every family in line had 2.2 jogging strollers and the jumbo sized Radio Flyer wagon outfitted with all the supplies one might need for an afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. Whatever that might be. Anywho, we decided we really didn't wish to spend such a beautiful day with every other family in the four county metro so we left. After much grumbling and complaining from the middle and back rows we finally decided to head to The Heard Museum of Natural Science. It turned out to be our good fortune that the Arboretum was packed as we ended up having the Heard practically to ourselves and it was wonderful. I suspect much better than if we had braved that line and spent the day with every other family in the metro area. So please sit back and enjoy our lovely pictures of a natural Texas fall. The Heard is a natural science museum that consists of six different walking trails, each highlighting a particular habitat (forest, wetland, prairie and meadow.) We walked the wetlands and the prairie trails, and visited the animals in the sanctuary. With all of our recent rain the wetlands look more like a lake than a swamp.



I'm sure the linked within will pick up my post from last October's trip to the Arboretum so enjoy those too. It's a completely different environment, but equally as lovely...as long as every other family in the four county metro isn't there with jogging strollers and wagons!

Touchstones

I found this link while surfing through blogs...I'm pretty sure this is an exercise from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Touchstones: Make a quick list of things you love, happiness touchstones for you. River rocks worn smooth, willow trees, cornflowers, chicory, real italian bread, [etc.]. Post this list where it can console you and remind you of your own personal touchstones. You may want to draw one of the items on your list–or acquire it. If you love blue velvet, get a remnant. . . Play a little.

Here is my quick list:

Cats

Children laughing
Staying home
Autumn
Cold nights
Chocolate
Books

Candles burning
Dusk
Sunflowers

Fall Decor

I finally got around to taking down my spring (yes, I said spring) decorations and putting up a few things for fall. Everything feels a little fresher now.

Five Senses...Sunday

I was very faithfully keeping my list for each day of the week....and then my mom left a message Wednesday afternoon asking me to call her cell phone. My mom does not use her cell phone except in emergencies so I knew something was up. My grandfather was in the emergency room and wasn't expected to make it through the night. He did make it, for three more days. But from that moment until this one, time has pretty much been a vacuum. The only senses those of feeling and emotion; sadness, exhaustion, worry, gratefulness. Grateful for a husband that was willing to turn his world upside down so that I could stay where I really needed to be for three days.
Grateful that he was alert and able to recognize and communicate with everyone yesterday morning. Grateful that everyone who could be there was. Grateful that my cousins with whom we had pretty much lost contact are reconnected. Grateful that before I left to come home yesterday morning I was able to tell him that I loved him and he was able to tell me the same. Grateful that he had wonderful nursing care in his final days. Grateful that his passing was a peaceful one. Grateful that he is no longer in the pain that has defined his days for the last ten+ years.

I love you Grandaddy. May you rest in peace.

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I leave the notes I made for the week. It seems like these events happened a lifetime ago. They are my thread that connects me to the daily life that will soon resume for our family.

Saturday: Lasagna for dinner (include recipe)
Light evening rain
Kite flyer
Weight room orientation
Heavy rain in the evening

Sunday: Steaks on the grill with roasted potatoes
DS had a friend over while DH and DD went bowling
Laundry
Cold with the windows open

Monday: Cold and rainy
Girl Scout planning meeting
Roast for dinner--wasn't very good


Tuesday: Much warmer this morning
Cold front blew in about 2:00 bringing rain
DS to the symphony as a school field trip
Sad Mickey at the shelter...he needs to find a home soon
Dr. appt. for me...annual
Cacciatore for dinner
Cub Scout meeting

Five Senses Friday

Hear: Little fingers strumming the guitar as she teaches herself to play
Lots of yelling and screaming from a soccer coach (I don't agree with this style of coaching and will be very glad when the season is over.)
The timid mewing of the baby kittens at the shelter. Combined with the much more plaintive meow of a momma cat.
The cacophony of a bunch of 2nd graders playing their homemade instruments while parading around the school.

Smell: The tangy citrus of tiny mandarin oranges picked up at Central Market
The almondy scent of the floor cleaner that I dropped and spilled...at least the floors are super clean now.

Taste: Homemade gaucamole with extra cilantro just the way I like it
Yummy gelato

Feel: Happy to help a new friend celebrate her 50th birthday
Proud of my son for sticking with the soccer thing even though he doesn't like the team situation
Proud of myself for finally taking the yoga class I've wanted to take for several years now.
Stretched muscles from that yoga class!

See: The sun behind the storm clouds on Thursday evening (wish I had had my camera!)
The way the sun falls at different times of the day. I love how the cats follow it from room to room.

I kept the following as a way of jogging my memory for FSF, but I can't bring myself to delete it so I'm including it today.

Saturday: Daughter's winning soccer game
Elizabeth's party
sleeping with the windows open

Sunday: burgers on the grill followed by a trip for ice cream

Monday: the cute kitties at the shelter

Tuesday: play of the sun as it moves through the sky


Wednesday: Stock up on fruit from Central Market...the mandarins
no afternoon activities!
plucking guitar strings

Thursday: Rain and thunderstorms
pack meeting
fajitas with guac.
first ever yoga class

Friday: music parade
lunch with son
First really cool morning
clean house...especially floors after dropping the bottle of cleaner.

Five Senses Friday

Taste:

Homemade Baklava and strong tea for Eid
Fresh Banana Bread made for my husband to take on a Boy Scout campout
Paradise Cafe pasta primavera salad for lunch! This week was the first in four that I was able to eat lunch since I was fasting for Ramadan.

Smell:

Apple Cinnamon Candle
Cool morning air

See:

Beautiful, bright sunshine after about ten days of cloudy, rainy weather
A blazing red sunset Monday night on the way home from soccer practice
The monstrous pile of discarded, out-of-date food at the food pantry yesterday

Hear:

Still loving the new Cross Canadian Ragweed cd I got a couple of weeks ago
Soft instrumental music in the afternoons
The sounds of silence as I spend the last few hours reading before getting the kids from school every afternoon
The sound of the waterfall on the pool coming through open windows

Feel:

The glorious north wind blowing in cooler temperatures for at least a few days
Happy to live in such a vibrant community
Sad at all of that food going to waste
Relief that the super hot temperatures seem to be behind us. It will still get warm...but 90's are better than 100's any day!
Thankful for being able to spend time with extended family
Proud of my children for fasting three days this Ramadan

Favorite Time of Day

The hours just before the sun sets are my absolute favorite time of the day. The twilight hours. I found the following description of this magical time of day in the book Quiet Places: How to Create Peaceful Havens in Your Home, Garden, and Workplace by Lee Vinny. The author's description is so lyrical that I just had to share.

"Sunset, when the light fades and the evening stars appear, is a peaceful, magical time of day. The progress toward dusk is gradual, bringing subtle change to even a familiar view as light filters slowly from the sky, and gold gives way to soothing deep blues. Dusk is a time of transition between the activity of the day and the stillness of the night. Sounds, such as rustling leaves or the last calls of roosting birds, carry further than in the day, and fragrances also become more intense...."

This is a time of day when families come back together after being apart all day. It's the time of sitting down to a family meal. A time of reconnecting. The light has a warm, pleasant glow. Things finally slow down a little bit.