Love Is …
- Seattle with my love—three glorious days away from home.
- Grandmas who babysit my boys for free so I can meet my deadlines.
- Dry Cucumber Soda.
- Great summertime piano progress!
- Giving away our handmade (and mama-made) treasures to younger children, who might just enjoy some of them.
- Knowing my little niece is just down the street, attending a Waldorf in-home preschool that Lucas went to when he was little.
- Watching my 12-year-old lace up his fancy new kicks and go running in preparation for the fall cross country season.
- Joining in with a bunch of friendly, eager people from our Class of 2020 to do yard work for some beloved grandparents, who kindly bought the work day at our school fundraising auction—especially watching these rising seventh-graders hard at work pruning, shoveling gravel, and carrying heavy things.
- Kayaking with my loves. (We need to build two skegs!)
- Boys who wake up in the morning and play chess.
- Beautiful, fresh-laid eggs, even if during the summer my boys don’t want to eat them.
- Seeing old friends embrace change with camaraderie, grace, and style even while they are sad, and wishing them every happiness.
- Handsome boys who spent the summer learning new skills, such as emptying and loading the dishwasher, and embracing (mostly) additional chores and household responsibilities to help Daddy and me.
- Watching my boys come to understand money in a new way, realize that to have some of the things they want they must earn money and pay for these things themselves, and then actively seek jobs to earn this money (such as picking up liquidambar “spikey balls” and washing cars). They are negotiating when to spend hard-earned money and when to save. This is valuable stuff!
- My new clothes dryer. Hallelujah for such inventions!
- A boy who practices math during the summer with equanimity because his mama tells him to.
- Trying to be patient with our drought, trying to use less water, trying not to cry because of dying plants, lawn, and shrubs.
- Friends who say yes when I text them that I must get out of the house right now! Please meet me!
- Friends who invite my children to play. You make the long summertime fun for them and I am so grateful!
- Friends who work tirelessly to realize a shared dream. Thank you.
- My dad’s friend George’s gorgeous, delicious tomatoes—but even better, the friendship that he and my dad share.
- Making new friends online who do amazing things, capture spectacular moments, and share their talent with the world. I enjoy seeing their art very much.
- Wondering what the future will bring, being patient in not knowing all answers, and trusting.
