Designing in the Maker Lounge at the PEM.

Mud.

(or, more specifically, Mortar.)

Dad and I before we:

Portaged a dozen or so times, over fallen trees, around dams and across roads,

Found ourselves waist deep in water after a portage misstep (well, myself, anyway!),

Overtook three boats ahead of us, and were overtaken by one behind,

Waved to our cheering squad as they moved from overlook to overlook,

Capsized in the cold, April water, soaking the few dry spots we had left,

Got covered in some kind of wriggly bug larvae,

Acquired any number of new bruises and scrapes,

Ducked completely down inside the boat to go under low trees and branches,

Paddled our way from the VFW to the Harbor,

Travelled with Andy, one last time,

Raced our way across the finish line in 2hrs, 14 minutes.

It was an awesome day for canoeing! You can check out a handful of other photos from the day, here.

Took a reconnaissance hike this evening to check out a new trail for our hiking club. Beautiful trail, beautiful wall, beautiful night!

Salem: Not just witches.

This is the only photo I took today. A quick shot of the girls while walking home from the Y. A moment earlier they were walking in step with each other, talking about something, just out of my earshot. By the time I noticed and snuck the camera out they had separated and moved on to other things.

Such are our days. Full of tiny things- fiddling hands, new discoveries, busy eyes and minds. Rarely are we looking in the same direction or considering things from the same point of view. And that’s what keeps our days, even the most mundane among them, from sinking into sameness.

The instructions tell us to fill in the circles when we’ve completed the daily workout. So naturally, we decided to use smiley face stickers.

There has been a rekindling of our love for Monopoly in recent days. This game lasted a good hour and a half before we declared it over.

But not before:

*Catherine played banker and made correct change almost every time.

*Esme bought St James Place from Catherine for $2000. (what!?)

*Mama collected two ‘Get out of Jail Free’ cards, but never wound up in Jail.

*We almost declared Esme bankrupt…and then found her stash of $500 and $100 bills under the game board.

*I realized that I was actually playing the game with the girls and not playing ‘for’ them.

Sorry babies, toddlers and other reasonably cute people at church today- these two were the cutest things this morning. Hands down.

Posting this photo is a bit out of my comfort zone. I don’t like drawing attention to myself, yet want these photos to be an accurate record of the year and this is where I am now.

I am thankful for this space to practice. Even with its crumbling ceiling and ancient, peeling wallpaper. It is a peaceful, clear place to rest and stretch and succeed and fail and to try again. I fully appreciate the privilege of having an entire room to myself and am mindful of my time spent in it.