Taste of spring

One of the best things about this area is the taste of spring you get at the end of February. While everywhere else still seems to be snowbound and trapped in gray gloom, here the sun comes out, the weather warms up, the flowers begin to bloom...it's a beautiful thing. We usually come back around to some more winter rain and such before spring is really here, but ever since I first discovered the February pre-spring I have looked forward to it. 


One afternoon in the middle of the week we were on our bike, riding to the library, and I have to say that riding through the late afternoon sunshine, along a tree-lined street of lovely old bungalows...well it makes you realize that even with the difficult moments you have it pretty good.


We tried to get out as much as possible all week, though usually I forgot to bring along the camera. Here are a few of the spring time pursuits we managed to capture:

practicing walking

hanging out the laundry

checking out the new spring beauties

making handprints

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's hard to keep this girl in one place these days - the world is far too interesting! Our attempt at a Valentine's greeting for you all:

If you were here, here is how she would have preferred to spend the day with you:

You know, checking out sticks and redwood duff.

We would also like to take the opportunity to send you this year's Valentine's treat (in an imaginary way that is). Happy Valentine's Day!

More of that, please

Sometime in the middle of last month I discovered, via the website for Mothering magazine, the One Small Change Challenge. The idea is to make one new change in your life each month between now and Earth Day that will have some kind of a positive green impact. Well of course I got all caught up in the idea of just what that change should be, rather than actually just doing something for the rest of January. I already did a lot of the things on their suggested list of changes - use cloth diapers, reusable shopping bags, recycle, eat and buy locally, support my local farms, use a low-flow showerhead (not to give myself too many pats on the back, but you know...). So I was determined to find something new and interesting to do. The idea that came to mind was a packaging-free month for February - not buying anything that didn't come in bulk or in reusable containers and use that as a way to start thinking about ways to reduce our output of trash generally. 

Well, February 1 rolled around and I found myself in the middle of making a recipe that called for 2 things that only came packaged, and I didn't already have any at home. A quick trip (on foot) to the closest grocery store and two packages later...Day 1 and I was already failing my challenge. So I abandoned that project in favor of finding some new and interesting challenge (maybe I'll take this one up again next month?). 

So where am I going with this? In the middle of last week Cassidy and I were visiting a friend and her kids. Even though it was still muddy outside from all the rain, the sun was out and we soon gravitated into the yard. The kids were digging in the mud and mixing it with grass and flower petals in plastic containers to make "soap". Cassidy was crawling around the yard too, making her own version in a tiny bowl - a single blade of grass and a couple spoonfuls of dirt. I looked over and she had dirt on her lips too (clearly she'd been doing some taste tests as well...). Brant stopped by on his way home from work and we all biked home together. As we rode home, Cassidy was so peaceful and happy and I felt the same way. When I was thinking about it later, I realized that was the change this month should be about: doing more of what matters. Spending time with others or in activities that are simple, free, good for us and good for the earth.

I've heard from other stay-at-home moms who say they find themselves spending too much money shopping for different random stuff. I know how they feel. I too have sometimes found myself randomly cruising the aisles of Grocery Outlet looking for new bargains (half-price packs of Newman-O's anyone?) - shopping out of a sense of bored isolation. It's like shopping fills in those gaps when you go through your day as an isolated mother-child pair. An unsatisfying consumerism that isn't good for us or the earth. So the rest of the month will be about finding new fun ways to fill our time with the things that matter, the things that leave us with the peaceful and happy feeling at the end of the day, and that reduce the needless consumerism that has such an impact on the earth. It may be activities with others or it may be just the two of us, but I look forward to finding out. I think what I really like about it is that it's a change that gets me excited about what we can do - not what we can't.

Here's are some pictures of a recent fun excursion:

 

Homemade is best

The end of the day usually finds our living room covered with a layer of toys - colorful wooden blocks and pink plastic mega bloks interspersed with piles of books, random stuffed animals, finger puppets - you get the idea. In those moments as I try to clean up, I tend to think the girl's got a lot of toys, but then when I visit other people's homes and see many more toys I begin to wonder...however, I was comforted on more than one occasion this week when I noticed her discovering her own little "toys" around the house. The other day while I was unpacking groceries and making lunch Cassidy found an empty ziploc in the bottom of the grocery bag and set upon her own project...

She managed to pull down the majority of the magnetic alphabet by the end of it. I was pleased to see her so engaged in something that took absolutely no prompting on my part - this wasn't anything we'd done together before, and she didn't seem to want or need any help.

That said, I did pull out a modicum of my own creativity this week too to come up with this homemade gem:

 

I got the inspiration from a baby book and scrounged around the kitchen for some appropriate materials. Basically a big yoghurt container with a slit in the top and a bunch of jar lids that can be dropped through the slit. It was fun watching her figure out what to do with it, and once she finally figured out how to drop the lids through the hole, you could tell she was quite pleased with her little accomplishment.

Watching her enjoy these little homemade entertainments around the house, I feel pretty good about her toy collection after all...

Nature in the neighborhood

When I get a spare moment here or there, I've recently started reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from Nature Deficit Disorder. While I wouldn't say it's one of those books that just grabs you with its page-turning prose, I appreciate conceptually where he is going with the book. Particularly the idea that kids need to be out in nature just being, and not always engaged in some type of big or structured activity. 

In that spirit - when it isn't raining - we've been getting out for some freeform nature exploration. Since Cassidy isn't walking yet and the ground is too soggy for crawling, I'm still the vehicle for Cassidy's nature discovery; but given her adept pointing skills, I usually have a pretty good idea of where she wants to go. The other day when the sun came out we took a slow walk around a few blocks of our neighborhood, looking for interesting bark textures, soft seed pods and smooth leaves. I discovered that English ivy might just serve one useful purpose - entertaining babies. Cassidy wanted to touch the little seed heads again and again.

When it is raining (which it often is these days), we have to forego our nature explorations and find other ways to keep busy at home...

making funny faces

or pensive faces

doing ballet on chairs

reading cards upside down

eating bread in drawers

or bringing nature inside, in the form of our CSA box

When she's outside I feel that she's more peaceful and engaged, but it's fun watching her discover the little things around the house that captivate her interest too.

On a lighter note...

Just when I thought that the Baby Einstein had outlived its useful life in our living room, Cassidy discovered a new way to enjoy it:

How you are supposed to use it (little Cassidy at 7 months):

A walk in the woods

Last Saturday, before the big rains came, we took a walk in Armstrong Woods. It is a wonderful grove of redwoods near us, and it was a perfect day for a walk in the woods. The air was pleasantly cool, still and quiet and being there filled me with a sort of peaceful expectancy.

I've been mentally returning to that walk all week, as I seek to invite some of that peaceful hopefulness back into my mind and soul. Looking over the political and cultural landscape of the US has got me down. As I've puzzled it over, what is really bothering me is this deep-seated selfishness that just seems to have taken hold and is crowding out any kind of meaningful discourse - about anything. I feel like real thought for future generations is conspicuously absent. It is like we think that if we can just cling to a past we believed worked for us, we can keep it in the present and it will continue indefinitely. But we can't and it won't. The world is changing in a lot of ways, and the best thing we can do is recognize this and work within the present circumstances and create a world that is meaningful and beautiful - to the best of our ability. But back to that walk in the woods...


One of the things I love most about the forest is the way it changes. A forest works because it changes. The biological and seasonal cycles of a forest bring renewal, life, everything that is good and needed. The last time we visited Armstrong Woods was in the summer, in the depths of our hot, dry season. The redwoods were a welcome respite from the sun and heat, but in the winter there is a richness and a depth that just isn't present in the summer - and I love that. Change in a forest is a beautiful thing. 


I also loved Cassidy's receptiveness to the beauty and wonder of this redwood grove. As we climbed up the East Ridge trail, she expressed particular interest in touching the luxuriously mossy trees growing at the higher elevations along the slope. I gave her two little twigs covered in a bit of moss and she carried them with her for the entire walk. 

I also discovered a small lone branch covered in spanish moss lying on the path and picked it up - much to her delight. Just carrying it along with me brought chuckles, but giving it a little shake now and again - pure squeals of innocent glee! Oh for the days when I could be touched and delighted by something as simple as a moss-covered branch. Those little laughs, that innocent joy, remind me of what is good and worth working for.