free range

Hi May.  Maybe you were wondering about me?  I have spent the last few days running around with my eyes bulged out, anxiously ticking lists off my fingertips.  If you were to catch me standing still I was probably picking my thumbs and chewing my nails.  My condition could have been mistaken for thyroid disease, but my back is sore and the tops of my feet are a darker shade of pink, excepting the strappy-white. 

All the seeds I wanted in at this time, are in.  All my happy saplings that haven’t had a purposeful drink since last fall, got a big drink.  The hose is on.  The timer is set.  A neighbor has the key. 

 

Yesterday afternoon we packed for a camping trip and a trip within a trip (rafting squeeeeeee!).  I am writing this in the car.  (Which, incidentally, is a first for me; I am really not a fan of gadgetry outside the home.)  True to form, in the midst of frenzied packing, last night around midnight I sewed Juniper a pair of “sun pants.”  It’s going to be hot.  The sun is going to be intense.  There isn’t going to be much shade.  If you know me well, you are laughing.  Because I do this ALL THE TIME.  I finished my wedding dress the morning before I was to be married.  In college, I had an entire semester to write the thesis I wrote in a week.  (The week before it was due.) 

I also have a penchant for unabashed luxury when I should be, say, packing.  My new favorite thing: morning brew on the front-porch swing, in the morning sun, air temperature the perfect hue to stay in light cotton pajamas and swing and sip and watch aspen unfurl their neon wings under the snow-capped mountain above our home and my two little girls bringing me bouquets of dandelions.  Sometimes, long winters are worth it. 

It’s been a busy month: finishing up J bug’s first solo swimming lessons (awesome!).  But with the end of preschool, our schedule will be a little less hectic.  I am a firm believer in a largely unscheduled childhood.  “Free range children,” as my friend would say.  The more unscheduled time, preferably outside, preferably in the wild, the better.  

^Collecting moose poop on a forest walk.^

Hazel is a well-spring of new words, though she’s still caught up on “orsies!”  She used to cry when we took her out of the “nwing” [swing], and now cries when we go back inside or walk away from the horses.  

^New summer neighbors.^

Mother's Day morning making my card:

Lots of face-drawing going on these days.  Meet cat girl and baby bear:

:: Right now, kids are napping.  It's 90-some degrees.  We spent the morning splashing in the bottom of a red-rock canyon, visiting good friends who just moved to this pink salmon desert.  In a few hours, we'll meet up with grandparents, hike, camp, meet more family and float down a river for four days.  Happy May.  

^Mother's Day preschool project.^