what we did.

...this past week when it was windchill -30...

we stayed inside and baked, watched Lost (and old Disney movies), knit, read, and I managed to get started on the mounds of grading already piling up this semester.

knit these fingerless gloves (easy pattern) during a Lost marathon...

some of the reading...my college roomate's debut novel An Uncommon Crusade (review post coming soon!), Gladwell's Blink,The Sabbath World, Judith Shulevitz's interesting meditation on time.

peace

We've had such a fast paced week around here, from the oldest to the youngest...late nights and early mornings for all of us. Combine that with the unseasonably warm, dry weather and a prolonged fall allergy season and I awake too early (again) feeling fairly ragged. After a morning of  "catch up" errands, the hammock and warm weather beckon.  The house and neighborhood are quiet. Who knows when the hammock opportunity will come around again? It could be months...It's been too long and too busy, and I've been reading Thoreau with my American Lit. students. So I give in (despite all the grading and the lesson planning and the research writing that needs to be done...not to mention the cleaning and laundry!). Note to self--Friday is the perfect hammock day.

st. maries, idaho

In the midst of a much needed bathroom remodel, I flew to Idaho to see my best friend from childhood. She and I spent so much time together in those formative years of elementary and jr. high that when we saw each other again, we recognized the actual bone structure of each other. Wrists and hands, shoulder width, even feet -- all so very familiar.

We watched her daughter barrel race at the jr. rodeo.

We ate our breakfast al fresco, which included just picked wild huckleberries

 Their gorgeous view of Lake Coer d'Alene and the St. Joe's River.

Her garden where we picked vegies and berries.

Swimming the river (well, she did...as a former competitive swimmer and runner she still swims across the river and back several times a week!)

biking the lovely trail on the lake...just as if we were still 10! 

The day after I returned to Colorado, our oldest moved back from NYC with all her worldlies (or at least the portion she took with her). 

It is good to have her home before her next adventure. That quiet room is occupied again!

(she gets the remodeled bathroom)...

April Snow

       Easter lilies with a backdrop of snow

We awoke to first a 2 hour delay, then a snow day....serendipitous in my book (though I am ready for sun and warmth). I do love an unexpected day at home!

Spring Space

I've long been a fan of the transition times...the hint of change (of weather, of clothes, of pace) that's almost but not quite yet. Typical of Colorado in the spring, this spring break began with a Friday snow day!, then several long warm days in a row. This spring break I have decided to take the "break" part literally, which for this teacher and graduate student means a break from planning lessons and grading and research...all rather heady work. It's been physically cathartic to clean out closets and our garage piled high with stuff for goodwill (long overdue). And fun to find long forgotten treasures that point to summer, like our camping stove and the hammock still in great condition that I might just finally hang. And it's been lovely to linger on my front porch with a cup of green and ginger tea and watch my 13 year old ride her bike to the old fashioned ice-cream, candy and soda shop or chat with my 16 year old who savors porch time too. And if my mind drifts to that half-asleep place in the warm late day sun, so be it...I have no urgent deadlines...

Rooms

So I've been thinking in the last few years about the changing nature of place and space. Of the intersection of mobile space with geographical place as we move through real places while engaging socially or professionally in virtual spaces. What effect does the place have on our interactions, if any? And how does interacting in virtual spaces affect our movement through, our awareness of interactions in real places? Is it possible to be present and engaged in 2 places, in 2 communities or more, at the same time?

And speaking of spaces...here's one that has changed drastically in one month, from clutter and laughter and music to this quiet place that still somewhat smells of the lotion that was used not that long ago. It used to be our oldest daughter's room, then the one who just married and moved to London...now it is a "guest room", but it feels like it's just waiting for someone to move in (don't think it will stay this way long!). It's nice to have the extra space, but I really don't mind that place filled with laughter and music and clutter.