When I was a kid I lived on the east coast of Florida for a short time. I have clear memories of amazing sunsets, and I would sit and count the colors in the sky -- blue, pink, green, purple, orange, gold. The dramatic turns of weather would cause achingly beautiful twists of light, my favorite being the bright sunset just after a dark thunderstorm.
Last night's sky reminded me of that. We had no pre-sunset storm. And here in the DC suburbs we rarely have dramatic sunsets. But on the drive home from Daniel's Coming of Age ceremony (that's another blog post) I was kicking myself that the camera was in my husband's car. I could barely perform such a mundane task as driving when surrounded by such beauty. By the time I got home & got the camera, the light was fading and all that remained of the glorious spectrum we had witnessed were the purples & pinks underneath the clouds. But there were wide fields of gold, streaks of clear green, and poppy-orange contrasting with the dark gray.
It was one of those moments when the magnificence of the natural world sweeps away the worries of the day. It puts life into perspective.
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Spring Break
Spring Break.
Termites: The termites have been blasted. The carpenter tore apart the wall. He then showed up at odd, unplanned times, and put it back together again. I won't complain (anymore). The wall is done.
Yet: I will complain about the cost: OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH! I hate unexpected expenses.
Blood: The other morning I had to take Daniel & Dominic to the lab before breakfast for cholesterol blood check. Dominic was also getting his test for celiac. The day before I made deviled eggs with the last of the Easter eggs and Daniel ate 4 of them. that's 8 halves. How's that going to look on his cholesterol test? As for the celiac... well... I'm just doing some deep breathing.
UU Trip: 4:30 a.m. Wake up Matt & Daniel. Tell them to get dressed & make a final check of the bags. Send them to the airport. Daniel has gone off to Boston on a UU 9th grade trip, visiting all kinds of wonderful Unitarian sites in the city. Matt is with him, chaperoning. He's already called me 3 times today to let me know that Daniel is doing okay. I'm waiting for the last call of the day. (Later edit -- they just called. Daniel's numbers have been good today, just slightly higher than range, about 170. But I'll take that over lows, especially when he's traveling. He had lunch at a bakery of all things -- not a gluten free one, either -- but they had a chef's salad with no croutons so he ate out the meat & cheese. For dinner the gang went to Quincy Market and he found a Greek place & got lamb kebab with rice. He actually went off with the kids, and Matt stayed at the B&B to have dinner with the grown ups. Cell phones were on. Daniel had his Calorie King book in his kit. He had a buddy. Everyone was fine. Daniel even quizzed the guy at the Greek food stall to make sure that the rice "pilaf" was gluten free, because pilaf will sometimes have orzo noodles in it. So all is well, and my shoulders are a little less tense.
Cherry blossoms: they are blooming. I think we will brave the crowds tomorrow and head downtown to take in some prime cherry blossom viewing.
Kites: The kite festival is also tomorrow. How are they gonna get those things in the air without wind?
Mud Hut: Today we went to the Mud Hut to paint some pottery. 3 pieces = more than $70. I am in the wrong business.
Etsy: My sister in law, Kathryn, introduced me to Etsy. It is dangerous. Tonight she showed me pouncing. Go to www.etsy.com and look at the menu that goes down the left side of the page. Click on pounce. Then just pounce and pounce again. I'd spend all night pouncing, but then I'd never write anything here! You try it. See how long you pounce.
Walking: We have walked a lot over the past few days. The weather has been inviting. I took the kids to Great Falls (see my flickr pictures) and we climbed rocks, spotted lizards, admired wildflowers, and picnicked. Today I took Nora & Dominic on a trail that followed the northwest branch of the Potomac river. We saw a dog take a swim, a dead deer with most of the meat gone (but not all!) and its ribs turned, U-shaped, up to the sky. It smelled awful and Dominic almost threw up but he held it together and we got upwind. After the deer carcass, the views were rather lovely: a lazy river meandering through a forest full of newly budded spring trees. (Can you say allergies?) The kids bounded down a hillside, pointing and shouting, and then crossed a fallen tree trunk over a steep drop (that scares the shit out of me, but the kids were halfway across as I'm yelling, "Don't go across that tree!!!" so I had to follow them and it pissed me off how they make it look so easy but walking across fallen tree trunks over a steep drop makes me freakin' dizzy). We could have continued on for miles. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, as Robert Frost said. But we had promises to keep (I told my friend I'd let her come over and use my computer printer because hers died) and miles to go before we could go to sleep (miles and miles, especially if you've gotten up at 4:15 a.m.).
Pizza: The pizza place near us had this deal where if you save the coupons off of 10 of their pizza boxes, you could bring them in and then get a free cheese pizza. I had 10 coupons. Dinner for the three of us cost $2.65 (three drinks) plus $2.50 (video and toy machines for .50 or .25 for the kids).
Eyes: they feel like they are about to fall out of my head. I've done the miles, so now I can sleep. Good night, everybody.
Termites: The termites have been blasted. The carpenter tore apart the wall. He then showed up at odd, unplanned times, and put it back together again. I won't complain (anymore). The wall is done.
Yet: I will complain about the cost: OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH! I hate unexpected expenses.
Blood: The other morning I had to take Daniel & Dominic to the lab before breakfast for cholesterol blood check. Dominic was also getting his test for celiac. The day before I made deviled eggs with the last of the Easter eggs and Daniel ate 4 of them. that's 8 halves. How's that going to look on his cholesterol test? As for the celiac... well... I'm just doing some deep breathing.
UU Trip: 4:30 a.m. Wake up Matt & Daniel. Tell them to get dressed & make a final check of the bags. Send them to the airport. Daniel has gone off to Boston on a UU 9th grade trip, visiting all kinds of wonderful Unitarian sites in the city. Matt is with him, chaperoning. He's already called me 3 times today to let me know that Daniel is doing okay. I'm waiting for the last call of the day. (Later edit -- they just called. Daniel's numbers have been good today, just slightly higher than range, about 170. But I'll take that over lows, especially when he's traveling. He had lunch at a bakery of all things -- not a gluten free one, either -- but they had a chef's salad with no croutons so he ate out the meat & cheese. For dinner the gang went to Quincy Market and he found a Greek place & got lamb kebab with rice. He actually went off with the kids, and Matt stayed at the B&B to have dinner with the grown ups. Cell phones were on. Daniel had his Calorie King book in his kit. He had a buddy. Everyone was fine. Daniel even quizzed the guy at the Greek food stall to make sure that the rice "pilaf" was gluten free, because pilaf will sometimes have orzo noodles in it. So all is well, and my shoulders are a little less tense.
Cherry blossoms: they are blooming. I think we will brave the crowds tomorrow and head downtown to take in some prime cherry blossom viewing.
Kites: The kite festival is also tomorrow. How are they gonna get those things in the air without wind?
Mud Hut: Today we went to the Mud Hut to paint some pottery. 3 pieces = more than $70. I am in the wrong business.
Etsy: My sister in law, Kathryn, introduced me to Etsy. It is dangerous. Tonight she showed me pouncing. Go to www.etsy.com and look at the menu that goes down the left side of the page. Click on pounce. Then just pounce and pounce again. I'd spend all night pouncing, but then I'd never write anything here! You try it. See how long you pounce.
Walking: We have walked a lot over the past few days. The weather has been inviting. I took the kids to Great Falls (see my flickr pictures) and we climbed rocks, spotted lizards, admired wildflowers, and picnicked. Today I took Nora & Dominic on a trail that followed the northwest branch of the Potomac river. We saw a dog take a swim, a dead deer with most of the meat gone (but not all!) and its ribs turned, U-shaped, up to the sky. It smelled awful and Dominic almost threw up but he held it together and we got upwind. After the deer carcass, the views were rather lovely: a lazy river meandering through a forest full of newly budded spring trees. (Can you say allergies?) The kids bounded down a hillside, pointing and shouting, and then crossed a fallen tree trunk over a steep drop (that scares the shit out of me, but the kids were halfway across as I'm yelling, "Don't go across that tree!!!" so I had to follow them and it pissed me off how they make it look so easy but walking across fallen tree trunks over a steep drop makes me freakin' dizzy). We could have continued on for miles. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, as Robert Frost said. But we had promises to keep (I told my friend I'd let her come over and use my computer printer because hers died) and miles to go before we could go to sleep (miles and miles, especially if you've gotten up at 4:15 a.m.).
Pizza: The pizza place near us had this deal where if you save the coupons off of 10 of their pizza boxes, you could bring them in and then get a free cheese pizza. I had 10 coupons. Dinner for the three of us cost $2.65 (three drinks) plus $2.50 (video and toy machines for .50 or .25 for the kids).
Eyes: they feel like they are about to fall out of my head. I've done the miles, so now I can sleep. Good night, everybody.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Great Falls
Today was such a gorgeous day. The kids and I went to Great Falls, on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. I put the pictures on my flickr site. After climbing a few gazillion rocks, Daniel felt low so he tested. He was only at 80, but felt like he was dropping so he popped a couple of glucose tabs. The yukky feeling didn't go away, though. Nora & Dominic could have stayed there all day, exploring the many trails and climbing rocks until sunset. But after a picnic lunch and a quick visit to the museum, we packed it up & went home.
Daniel had a wicked headache. He took some advil & had a rest. Afterwards, he felt better.
When Daniel was first diagnosed with diabetes, it was after being misdiagnosed with a sinus infection (the doctor) and a stomach flu (that was my mistake). Now whenever he feels funny I'm always trying to figure out whether it is the diabetes or something else? Or perhaps the diabetes is making something else feel weirder than usual? It's frustrating for him, it's frustrating for me.
We all enjoyed the day, nonetheless. It was a gift to be with the kids, to be in nature, to see the power of the river.
Daniel had a wicked headache. He took some advil & had a rest. Afterwards, he felt better.
When Daniel was first diagnosed with diabetes, it was after being misdiagnosed with a sinus infection (the doctor) and a stomach flu (that was my mistake). Now whenever he feels funny I'm always trying to figure out whether it is the diabetes or something else? Or perhaps the diabetes is making something else feel weirder than usual? It's frustrating for him, it's frustrating for me.
We all enjoyed the day, nonetheless. It was a gift to be with the kids, to be in nature, to see the power of the river.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)