Can't Get This Out of My Head

....Don't wear no shoes
Her nose is painted pepper

Sunlight...
Jane's Addiction

Take a listen to the perfect summer song :)

Download this mp3 from Beemp3.com

Silent Sunday

The Dichotomy of Water

I have realized that several of my recent posts have involved water. Funny, I just realized it as I sit here to type a post for Jillsy's June Challenge. It is truly an amazing thing, water. It is all at once, beautiful, peaceful, a building block of life, and one of the most destructive things that I have ever seen. I experienced the destructive side three years ago when our house was flooded, the power of water filled me at that time with despair, yet in retrospect with awe and a new found appreciation. We have all seen what has happened around the world from tsunami's in far away places to the current river floods here closer to home.

Then, flip the circumstance, floating in a calm pool at dusk brings tranquility. The vastness of the ocean and peaceful crush of the breakwater waves.  This mingled with sounds of laughter and children's squeals as they rush in and out of the water equally chasing the waves and running from them.   I guess the ocean may be a good example of water's dichotomy, equally beautiful and at the same time dangerous. She coaxes you in, yet if you are not careful, her undertow will show you who is ultimately in control.  Watching the pure exhilaration reflected in the kids faces is infectious and a model for approaching life with the same pure joy and alert exuberance. 

Good Morning!

Yesterday I cold steeped Pioneer Woman's perfect iced coffee and after eight hours of setting, I strained it through the sieve and cheese cloth to fill this lovely (and inexpensive, thanks Target), carafe to dispense the iced coffee dream.  I placed in the fridge and went on to fiddle with uploading vacation pictures to flickr.  Several minutes later B yelled help and I came running.  Running is a great word as the perfect iced coffee elixir was running out of the fridge and all over the floor.  The refrigerator door had apparently jarred the lovely spigot when it closed and, well you can picture the rest.  So, this morning we have about 1/3 less of the two gallons we began with........

 but, well worth the hassle.  Good Morning!

The Two Faces of Relaxation

 Relaxation can take many forms.  A few days ago our family was at the beach, watching the kids play and taking tons of pictures.  We got home last night and today worked like crazy to do catch up work here at the homestead.  Thanks to a lot of rain and good friends, the ole' fort was held down well.  The garden more than doubled in size from the new little seedlings and small plants that we left behind to robust plants ready to put on their seasonal show. 

We are having our annual chili cook-off next weekend so between that and catch up from being gone for the week, we have been flying from task to task.  Some days our ambitions flow much better than others, and this was a good day.  You know what?  As I sit here with soar muscles and a few mosquito bites, I feel a different kind of relaxation.  The kind that comes at the end of a day of hard work, when I sit back and bask in the beauty of all the accomplishment around me.

There really are two faces of relaxation, but both of them involve a winding down, and we have accomplished that well this week.