Deliberate spontaneity or spontaneously deliberate....

I've decided I want to be more flexible and regain some of my muscle tone(this would be the deliberate part). I tried skating today for the first time in 9 years, it was NOT pretty(this would be one of the 3 spontaneous parts). Anyway, I've found 5 Element Qi Gong is an easy way to get back into exercising. Several years ago I did yoga all the time and LOVED it but one day it was too cold(I did my routine outside) and it was like hitting a steel wall. I have never done a yoga routine since then. This is fun and doesn't take long to learn or do(spontaneous thing #2). I follow along 3-4 times a day.



I've also started walking at a local park again(spontaneous thing #3). This is Julianna Park for the locals. My plan is to get fit enough to be able to skate. I took 2 semesters of roller skating in college and loved it. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in the swing of things but I've GOT to have better muscles in my legs!











Along the walking trail is a small neighborhood park(Ward Park). We lived a few blocks from this park before Ryan was born and I'd walk there when I was pregnant. It used to have old, dangerous equipment but yesterday we were pleasently surprised to see this being installed! Now, if they'd only add more tables and a bathroom we'd be set! Luckily its just a 1/4 mile or so to another park(at the upper end of the trail) with facilities. This looks like one to add to our rotation.

Abundance Is....

(First I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my deliberate living post. What you all wrote was inspirational and has given me more to think about. I'm absolutely at peace with dancing to my own music, using my microwave, and sleeping in dyed sheets.*G*)

Now,

Abundance is...

Having enough to give away and never miss it.

We filled the whole Suburban today with stuff for charity and gave a nice dresser to a needy family. We aren't finished, not by a long shot, but we were cleaning first, sorting out second. There are more weekends coming up.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Ecclesiastes 11:1-2.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.~G.K. Chesterton

Abundance is...

Perfect weather, rain or shine.

The past two weekends were spent raking, moving, hauling, lifting, digging, bagging, and so forth. We got our entire front and back yards done! This Saturday we awoke to chilly, windy drizzle and it was just perfect because we had nothing to do outside(no yardwork). Ryan had to be at his job just before noon so we all got ready and dropped him off. We headed to Lowe's for some shelf holders and Jake's for guinea pig and dog bedding. The girls were hungry and decided on Taco Bell. Just as we were waiting for the light to change for us to turn onto that road, Mark had the brilliant idea that we needed something a bit more substantial so we headed for our favorite Tex-Mex dive. It was exactly what we needed on a gray day, very comforting and relaxing.

Today we had no plans to work in the garage but it happened. The weather, once again, was just perfect. Not too cold, not windy, sunny and mild. We didn't get hot on the west side of the house nor did we get cold fingers(except the girls when they washed some box lids). Now after hours of hard work, our garage is clean and organized with (almost)everything in its place.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway. ~Mark Burnett

Abundance is...

Experiencing one of the Earth's most powerful and awesome events and not being hurt or scared.

We had an earthquake early this morning! Actually, what we think is that it was an aftershock from one that happened north of Oklahoma City at 3:43am(Did You Feel It?"). Mark and I were awakened at 4:45 by a series of vibrations like idling in a diesel truck but there was no noise(our bedroom doors did shake a bit). The dogs had actually got me alert a few seconds before so I felt them before Mark. The shakes woke him up. It was unnerving but we really didn't think "earthquake" until we'd got up and around later in the day.

Which would you rather have, a bursting planet or an earthquake here and there? ~John Joseph Lynch

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. ~Frederick Douglass

Deliberate Living....

A new friend of mine said something that gave me pause. She said she needed to start living more deliberately. Hmmmm. As with all philosophies, some followers are rather militant, taking it to the very far extreme. Many, however, like my friends Cheryl, Kel, and Anet (and others of course) are just wading in and doing what their hearts tell them. Baby steps for me. I'm not sure I am ready to commit to any certain "thing" yet. It might be that I do as these women are doing and deliberately change the foods I serve to my family but it quite likely won't be exactly what they are doing. Maybe I'll work at reducing my plastics like Kel has done.

There are things we have that we cannot give up, like our swimming pool. Sure chlorine isn't the healthiest thing to be swimming in but does the exercise we're getting count against that at all? We can't afford to switch over to a salt water filter but I can research alternatives and possibly switch to a less toxic treatment or determine when the best times for swimming would be. There are other things out there that seem to be hype(or at the very least, overly dramatized) as well. I won't be giving up my microwave, sticking my feet in a detox machine, or exchanging our current bedding for organic, unbleached, undyed sheets. I have no room for a garden, nor do I have the inclination to dig in the dirt so that's out for me too. What I do know is that the phrase I heard at park day, "live more deliberately" struck a cord in me and I want to investigate further. How about you?

Here are more websites about living deliberately...

DeliberateLife.com

Deliberate Living: Slowing Down & Simplifying

Living Deliberately(a discussion group)

Living-Deliberately.com

abundance...

For Christmas, my mom gave me a book of affirmations called The Art of Abundance, a Simple Guide to Discovering Life's Treasures, by Candy Paull. I've just now had time to start reading it and found three wonderful quotes right away that spoke to me. They have a common theme not just about abundance, but about where it is truly found...

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand- to see that heaven lies above us here in this world. ~ John Burroughs

One of the most important -and neglected- elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. ~ Thomas Merton

In those vernal seasons of the year when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth. ~ Milton







Abundance, for me, means enjoying the goings-on in our very front yard. That this Spring-like weather is tricking my daffodils into blooming is only part of it! I've got 17 flowers in my little "daffy patch". I also love the beautiful moss carpet that's shooting up new growth like velvet underfoot. If it wasn't 45 degrees at the moment I'd be out there closer to it. My dad bought a bird feeder for the girls and I after we returned from North Carolina. The birds have finally figured out how to eat from it and we've been enjoying them for about a month now. Sunday morning as I took Puppy-girl out for her potty break, there were 4 robins swooping and darting from the back yard oak to the front yard pines and all manner of other birds hopping and twittering in the sun. This morning there was a squirrel on the porch, teasing the cats as it stuffed its face full of sunflower seeds.





Abundance also means cooking the spaghetti squash that was languishing on the counter and anticipating the eating of said squash as if it were the finest meal in the world. For the record, I sprinkled it with ground sage, a tiny pinch of dried thyme, salt, and liberal amounts of garlic, oh, and a spoonful of smart balance margarine! It was a comfort food much like mac and cheese without the guilt! We won't be doing a "real" grocery shop until Thursday which means I'll have to make do with what we've got in the cupboard til then. A "pantry challenge". Mark just arrived with guinea pig food and hay, potatoes, and bread. We've got rice, pasta, beans, spices, chicken breasts, tortillas, dairy products, sausage, peppers, onions, fresh and frozen veggies, canned tomatoes(and beans, etc, etc.), and more, so technically we could probably eat for another 10 days or so. Having such a bounty is not just abundance but also peace and provision.



I hope you all find similar things to appreciate within the ordinary(and it is SO not, once you take time to observe) this day and this week!! Children seem to enjoy abundance naturally so I take a lot of cues from this chicka. She found the first anole of the season yesterday!

I'm HOME!!!

We drove straight through yesterday, leaving a very cold Micaville around 7am and arriving in Longview around 10:30ish(honestly I didn't look at a clock). There was fresh snow on the far end of Yancey county but not too slick on the roads. It was beautiful on the mountains but I don't have a picture, the cameras were packed.

The trip went by really fast, dad and I took turns driving. We saw dozens and dozens of deer all through Mississippi, probably over 100. The girls and I had fun watching for them, until we hit one. Dang things leapt in front of us, the first one made it across to the median, the second one crashed into the rear wheel well. I have no idea if it could have survived its wounds, we found a dent and where it wiped off the road dirt along the back of the SUV. After that it was a nervous trip, there were deer EVERYWHERE!! Thankfully the Louisiana deer weren't as plentiful.

Mark took me to lunch today for my birthday. Then mom and I went and enlarged patterns from several books and magazines for our thrifted wool projects.

We're having homemade chili for dinner with cornbread. Mark's coming home early because we didn't sleep well last night. He's VERY busy with his new company, getting everything in compliance takes a long time!

Anyway, I've got pictures on 3 different cameras so it's gonna be a few days. I'm sure it will take a week to get back to normal!!!


(the girl in the hat is my mom's mom's mom, Ollie Skaggs)

Conversations with Sarah...

Last night I went on the back porch to observe the weather. Sarah wanted to come too so I had her bundle up. We turned off the porch light so we could see the stars and moon better. I pointed out how we could see snow in the boxwood patch so we were ooohing and ahhing over that. Then...

She told me about how she and Amy had been up there yesterday and seen all sorts of tracks. Some looked just like dog tracks, they were Puppy-girl sized, some were Daisy sized and one was people sized. But it didn't really look like a people foot but more like a cross between a people foot and a dog foot. It was shaped like a sweet potato or cashew and had toes and claws. Hmmmm, my neck hairs stood on end. Like these?



Or the ones found Here.

I casually quizzed her on shape and size and we went inside. Amy described the same thing and I handed them each a pen and paper to draw what they saw, in separate rooms. They came up with the same exact thing, a bear track! Later Ryan verified by looking online at all kinds of tracks. He said it was definitely not canine, the toes didn't go around the pad but were across the top in a line. I let the girls look and they picked out several bear tracks that fit the bill.

They are banned from the hill/boxwood patch for now, unless they have a grown-up with them(preferably not me). Good thing their uncle is coming home today, he can go along.

My mom said that she and my dad saw a bear track up there once, on the trail Sarah and I went on a few days ago(wish I could get pics on here). I plan to investigate later. Where the kids saw the track is all grass, no way a track would show up after the snow melted, but the trail has muddy ruts so there might be one there.

Deer and music....

The more I listen, the more I like them. First Aid Kit.





Now for the deer!! I wish I had been able to slip out the door to take these pictures. There was a mama, a daddy, and two babies. I only managed to get one shot of the mama, running across the yard to join the others. They were in the front yard late last night, I could see their eyes glowing blue when I stepped out before bed. This morning they were in front of the picture window for about an hour but I only found the camera at the last minute.


(mama deer sprinting across the yard)


(babies nibbling)


(babies watching mama who'd snuck around the back and come up the neighbor's driveway)


(watching and listening)


(itching)

I snatched the girls' camera....

Wish I had a way to upload from mine, it makes better pictures. These will have to do for now. Hope to have some of the kitties soon. Click to enlarge, they are worth it.


(from driveway looking right)


(house for sale across from driveway)


(shed included)


(storm clouds over the mountain-driveway looking left)


(this was absolutely gorgeous)


(house- on right side of drive looking up- next pic is from same place turned to the left)


(mean ol' Buckaroo, lives up to his name by trying to bite the hand that pets him and kicking too!)


(he is pretty handsome though)

Just some Christmas-y stuff...

We did this a few weekends ago:


(Ryan on the roof)


(girls on the roof)


(Mark on the roof- I don't do rooftops)


(front yard holly berries)

We are going here again in a few days:






















In other news...

Ryan's winter church camp was cancelled which allows us to leave earlier than we'd planned. Actually, it also allows ME to go along! My parents will bring us back before my doctor appointment in mid-January. I am looking forward to going, its been a while since we've been there. My blogging will be sporadic at best and probably pictureless so you might want to come back after we return for a big update.

Mark is working fast and furious on several different projects at work so us being gone will help him out. He feels guilty when he brings work home.

The kids are chomping at the bit waiting for Christmas. Driving me crazy but in a good way. Ryan has had his fill of "the mall" thank goodness. We might go light-seeing tonight but I'd rather take a nap.

The Walk...

It started beautifully....
(please click each picture to enjoy the full-size version)








Got even better...







With many neat discoveries...

















Then, luck turned and we had to head home...