Footfall
Scramble
Up, up, up
before the crowds
to earn a view
Paying in sweat
for a payoff of smiles
sunshine skin and a daisy* goldmine
Then off to Thunder Island
to count our treasures…
Continue Reading…
Now…where were we?
Ah, well, this week in Oregon it was all heatwaves and doughnuts, wildflower hikes and roasted marshmallows. (Until it was sorrow and heartache…but I’ll save that for another time.)
The seasonal whiplash here on the blog is one thing. I mean, yes, I make no apology for the long silent spells, and I refuse to stress myself out over arbitrary posting schedules and inflated expectations. This corner of the world is my spot to share what I love, as I have the time. I know that I’m jumping from January to almost-June.
So, consider the blog jump my little way of illustrating how the past few days felt: transitioning from 40 degree lows to 92 degree highs in a couple short sleeps. Continue Reading…
Two months of illness in our house, a midwest funeral following the Cubs win, work projects piling high and time together running low…
Our family needed to run away, and we did.
(Heads up: get that scrolling finger ready. This post is 99% pictures, pictures, pictures.)
“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, prayer, sacrifice and an intense inner life.”
– Mother Teresa
Apple season’s just fading to memory again as the deeper darker rhythms of Oregon autumn carry us toward November. Can it really be that time of year to swap fresh fruits for root veggies? To grab a jar of preserves instead of a fistful of berries?
Here in our home, we’ve been living on applesauce and apple butter. (That is, when we’re not chugging lemon ginger tea and garlic and honey, trying to fight off tenacious chest colds.)
Marion, eight months old, scarfs down bowl after bowl, banging her spoon joyously on the high chair tray, grinning wide with fruit smeared into her eyelashes. Continue Reading…
Today, while two girls are finally asleep and Ted’s away on a quick errand, while I drink a little coffee and down a little leftover birthday cake, I’m asking myself, “What just happened?” Continue Reading…
Since early last summer, today’s hovered on my mental calendar as an exciting unknown: February 3rd. My 32nd birthday, and the day before my baby’s due date. Celebrations were in order, of course, but would they be for a girl in her third decade or a baby in her first days?
Would we be a family of three or a family of four?
Knowing there’s little use making concrete plans during such an up-in-the-air season, I didn’t really anticipate what today would look like until it arrived…but now that it’s hours from over, I can happily go on record saying it was just about perfect.
No baby (yet), but so very many favorite things from this life I love.
Full circle.
Back to the upper gardens of The Grotto…
My first visit: fall 2011, before flying away into a wild unknown. Most recently: late afternoon, in a tiny hollow of the week. Ted, relieved to take a break from finals. Me, momentarily disconnected from project deadlines and life juggling. Lucie, happy to walk and scamper on her own.
Sunbeams streaming low, over the city and through the fir trees. A stolen few hours awash in quiet calm… Continue Reading…
I’m a sap for sentimental jewelry. I love wearing pieces that connect me to a story, and when I found these sweet little Heart in Oregon necklaces on Etsy, I just knew I’d be wearing one soon. I bought mine last week (and I’m wearing it right now!), and I’m excited to send a matching one out to one of you lovely readers: anyone, anywhere on the planet.*
To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the widget at the bottom of this post.
Congratulations to winner, Irene W.!
Read on for tidbits from jewelry designer Amanda Senten at Freshy Fig about her jewelry design, her childhood memories, and her upcoming travel dreams. Continue Reading…
My little brother calls Lincoln City the “Chile of the Oregon Coast.”
The long, long skinny beach town hugs Hwy 101 for miles: a rambling collection of nondescript businesses, gas stations, and strip malls dotted with a few eye catching boutiques, outlet stores, and saltwater taffy shops. I remember my parents taking us to the shoreline in the eighties and nineties to watch soaring cloth birds fill the sky during the annual Summer Kite Festival, but my adult memories of Lincoln City consist of passing quickly through on drives to destinations north or south: never quite enough time or reason to simply stop and be there.
This trip, though, the pin on the map at the end of our route was just a west turn off Hwy 101 and two blocks from the sand: a cheery little beach house in Lincoln City, proper. Continue Reading…
Last Friday, Lucie and I joined our friends Heather and Micah and their girls Penny and Ramona for a spring break getaway to Lincoln City, Oregon and a calm weekend of tidepools and sunbreaks, games and seafood dinners.
Heather and I set aside trip dates on the calendar back in February, then I blinked and it was the night before departure. We called each other on the phone, “Did you?” “Nope. Not me.” “Not at all.” “I didn’t plan a single meal, I haven’t sorted clothes or groceries…” “I’m packing blind and winging it once we get there.” I paraphrase slightly, but you get the idea. We’re both moms with many irons in the fire, and sometimes getting out of dodge is an exercise in lunacy tempered with reckless optimism. Continue Reading…