Thursday, November 26, 2015

turkey trot

Happy Thanksgiving!  We've had a very nice day today.  The first thing we did was drive down to Miller Park where I ran my very first 5K!  It is exciting!  I started running again this past summer, but the farthest I've ever gone at once is two miles, so this was a big deal.  The girls ran together and Phin ran with me for most of the way and then stopped when we passed Matthew in the parking lot.  We really were almost done and he regretted stopping when he later saw how close he was to the finish line.  Phin had also run in the half mile children's race so I am pretty certain that he ran three miles today -- one way or the other.  My time was 36 minutes which is pretty slow, but I didn't really know I could run a 12 minute mile, haha!





We were planning on going to the Clay's for dinner around 2:00, but Clare called and asked, "What is the most tragic thing that could happen on Thanksgiving?"  I answered that someone must be throwing up, but the truth was that their oven wasn't working!  So they brought the turkey to our house to bake and we ended up having dinner closer to 5:00.  She had tried to broil some of her delicious rolls and a pie, but that didn't work out so well.  We still had a lovely dinner!  And the company was wonderful, too.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

First Snow

Even those who dislike Winter
Enjoy the magic of first snow.
Colossal flakes steadily drifting...

Blanketing the lagging fall leaves
With fleecy whiteness.
It's not quite time, the sun returns --
Radiant after the brief scare,
Reflecting off the shiny wetness,
Finding a path through newly bare branches.
Rivulets running down windows and pipes
Drip, drip, drip -- A sound usually reserved
For Spring
.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Unmediated

An un"media"ted afternoon
Includes long lines of hot wheels
Following a carefully plotted course....

Boys, with one knee down and one
Up for efficient scooting,
Spit out directions as each car
accelerates, vroom!
turns, errrrrr!
brakes, eeeeee!
crashes, pshhhh!!!
Glassy eyes replaced by shining ones.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Autumn Leaves

Green falls away
Revealing gathered summer sunlight.
A flash of fluorescence...

Glistens and glitters
Before the graceful drift and tumble
To beloved mother's base,
Cocooning her roots through the chill.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

happy halloween!

Autumn in Illinois is always so lovely!  It is bittersweet because one knows that at any moment the weather can turn on you and you'll be in a perpetual state of chill for several months... so each sunny afternoon, each evening that doesn't require a jacket, each bright blue sky, is one to celebrate.
 
::We were able to meet some friends at the Haunted Trail -- it always makes the long, long wait so much more bearable!
 
 
::getting his face painted at the end of the Haunted Trail -- Phin had to run home for piano lessons so we didn't get a pic of his spidery face.
 


::We bought a pass to Rader Farms and tried to go a few times a week.  I think we got our money's worth!



 ::The boys wanted to be a storm trooper and a lion -- I went to Target and they actually had those costumes!  But they were both so expensive, and this one of Finn, from the upcoming Star Wars movie, and Snoopy were both on sale!  The boys both agreed very complacently which was so nice of them.


 ::Our beautiful neighborhood!


::At the neighborhood fall party -- waiting to hit the piƱata



 ::Lucy dressed up to be a crazy cat lady and Jessa dressed up as a cat


::Same tree a week or so later

 
::We went to IHOP with Syndy and Charlie for free scary pancakes
 



::We always wait until the day before Halloween to carve our pumpkins or else they are devoured by squirrels, mold, or both.


 ::Halloween night!  I'm glad that Ibby still likes to dress up -- and her costume was just things found around the house -- perfect!


::We always like to get a pic in front of the Emmert's house -- they always do such a great job decorating!

 
::After trick or treating we met Maggie and gang at Chipotle for boo-ritos - yum!
 

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver


You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting....
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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