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yesterday was the day i dusted off the flip-flops as we headed out to the sea. it was so lovely to feel the sand between my toes - and to know that the summer days of bare feet and long sunny afternoons which spill into evenings lingers just around the corner. ahhhhhhhh....
this morning was beautifully sunny - a great morning for a run. i ran a little 3K race and as i came around my first long lap there was little kai along the street clapping for me and yelling "go mama!" really, at that point i felt like running on air.
***i found out this evening that i came in 2nd place in my age group for this race! granted, this wasn't a big race or anything -- but i did get a little silver medal -- and even if they may have only been a handful of women in my age group...it sure has made me smile.***
" I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." ~Jesse Owens
only after a couple of weeks and many a good rain- a chorus of seedlings have sprouted their leafy little heads from the earth. the garden pulsates with life. i love walking out to the garden in the evening - examining each mound of dirt for the signs of newness, breathing in the possibility that each little plant holds. this weekend we'll need to tend it a bit to allow her to remain productive. the mornings now awaken me with a choir of birds greeting the day with their cheerful melodies. it's almost time to dust off the flip-flops...almost.
today, as i waited for j, kai and i walked through the city - stopping to look in every window. this is what i love about life here -- the pace, the sauntering, the slowness. we didn't have to hurry - we strolled even stopped to pick up a snack to share in a small park. as we strolled the streets, i noticed...yes, there was bustle, bikes flying past, scooters whizzing by - but underneath all of that was this wonderful sense of slowness - of old men dressed in a fine suit walking casually down the sidewalk with their dog, friends catching up on life and the world over a cafe, and people savoring the moment with a gelato. my life has changed immensely since moving overseas and it is this slow pace that resonates with me most.
i stopped by shutter sisters and fell in love with the prompt. since kai was teeny, i have taken photos of random 'bits' of him. i just sweep my camera past him and click - not even looking in the lens. i hope to capture the tiny features which have such a dear home in my heart. and when i look back at these photographs i am able to summon up so many of the smallest details of our day. this photo, with the setting sun casting such a beautiful glow across his cheek - i can just hear him giggling as he watches the sand blow out of his fingertips.
so much of my life seems like time spent 'getting the rust out' of my way - clearing away obstacles (that usually aren't really even there but are instead self-imposed). i pass by this bicycle often. it is obvious someone left it here ages ago. the ivy has started to cover the wheel and rust coats the frame. it does have things blocking its path whereas i do not. perhaps i am feeling more this way lately as there is so much change going on around me and amidst change sometimes 'feeling stuck' can be mistaken for feeling secure. i don't know, but i am up for trying to shake this rust off...
it is that time of year when you just long to be out wandering through a city - perusing a market on a saturday morning searching for treasures in the form of linens to re-purpose, handmade jewelry, or neatly wrapped chocolates all done while catching up with friends...this morning we did just that. and as the sun stays shining up high in the sky, i believe there is a garden who will be calling to me this afternoon for a bit of tending - just before dinner with friends. ahhhh, spring - it is the time of renewal, re-energizing, and connections.
while busy playing in the sand of his beloved beach, kai, decided he needed a snack break...but when i looked up he had carefully laid his pretzel in the sand. just as i was about to tell him how dirty that was and how he needed to throw it away -- i stopped and realized that he was looking skyward and calling to the birds. he dropped his snack in hopes of sharing it with a winged friend. to me, there is no greater expression of love than sharing what you have with another.
happy love thursday!
i love this part of gardening - the first signs of growth - the promise and potential of what's to come. the magic that happens to a seed nestled safely inside the Earth after some warm sunshine and days of cool rains -- it truly is magic. as is life, in so many ways.
constant change - that's what life is, isn't it? the lesson comes with how we choose to react to (or not react to) these changes and the hardest part is always the letting go. it is evident in young children - like kai having to leave his beach. the more we struggle against the change, the harder we resist, the more difficult the whole situation becomes. there is such peace in the letting go - the releasing...and yet it sometimes seems the hardest thing in the world to do. i am learning though -- how vitally important it is not only for me but those around me. thank you sweet, little one -- for being a gentle reminder and teeny teacher along my way.
