heat wave

Well it certainly seems to be easier to be-with-what-is when I like-what-is. I suppose that is self-explanatory, part of either our cultural conditioning or the human condition, depending on which camp you stand in, maybe both for some? It was hot hot hot today in Portland and I found it hard to-be with that and hard to-be with it being hard. Double whammy. Around about the time it dipped to 98ish I started watering the plants and went out front and saw that the chickadees were declaring the blueberries superb. Time to pick the berries. Now? Wow, even with the sun setting it was hot- hot like stepping-into-a-hot-garage hot- but outside. My body felt hydrated and actually willing to take it on. I knew I would want the berries and if I let them slip away I would feel sad and extra-especially irritated with the heat.

So I put some ABBA on my ipod and picked five pints of blueberries. It was a lovely mindful picking session- feeling the hot air, enjoying the berries, amazing myself once again with what can happen when I become present with what-is, no matter what that may be, no matter how irritating and annoying I have declared it, no matter if it is my preference, or in this case, not. The heat suddenly just was. I was hot. Yes. But without the pushing away, it was not nearly as intolerable as it could have been.

I am glad I gave myself the time today to adjust to this heat wave, soaking in the AC, taking time out from running around. It is going to be hotter tomorrow and the next day (104 degrees? did I read that right?) and I know if I take it easy, slow things down, I can be-with-the-heat. I can even be with the heat going away once I get used to it. Remember that? It always cools off eventually.



Heart magnets.

sand dance

Video of Eva doing her sand dance and Samuel adding silliness.

Eva with her giant sea shell lollipop from our recent trip to the coast.

abundance

If you are feeling a lack of abundance in your life I highly suggest heading over to the u-pick and checking out the raspberries. Nature is not reserved with her wares and showers the world with whatever is on hand- raspberries, flower petals, rain drops...Today the raspberries were so abundant that when I put my hand under the leaves, the berries literally dripped off into my hands. Ten pints of lovely red raspberries lickety split, just like that.



The morning glories are blooming! Also Eva made another petal person- this one has a third eye for her intuition. She is sitting on a sock I am knitting.

We are going out of town this weekend with friends to check out a beach in southern Washington. I already have my camera packed! Thank goodness Eva reminded me!

don't harass the newts

Eva catching crane flies. (Interested in what crane flies eat like we were? They are much like soldier flies in that most species as adults eat nothing at all!)

Those little hands also caught four salamanders at the Audubon Society today while we hiked some trails and the kids walked around in the streams. Eva got down into the mud and muck where there were so many salamanders. We didn't know what they were at first when we started seeing movement under the water- fish? frogs? salamanders!

As we were leaving we saw many more lying in the water basking in the sun. There was also a sign reminding us to stay on the trails and not "harass the newts" which Samuel found at once hilarious and disturbing. Eva contended she was not harassing the newt- she was picking them up. She is extremely gentle and conscientious with their little bodies wriggling all around. Such funny little creatures with orange bellies and smooth skin- polished, as Eva said.

After checking it out I think the "salamanders" we saw were the Oregon rough skinned newt (or orange bellied newt). I wondered why there weren't at least herons somewhere about looking for them because they were so abundant and found they do indeed have toxins on their skin. We saw raccoon tracks in the mud as well. I wish we could have seen what they were up to!

what a wonderful world

I love this photo and the story behind it which Eva pulled me aside to tell me about today.

~basically it goes something like this- there is a herd and the dominant male is the one in the middle with the red horn on his head and around him are all the females, some of whom have babies (if you look closely at these tiny metal balls that actually came with those magnets you can buy and build things with, you will see there are a few that are smaller than the others- I am not saying you can tell this from the photo, but if you were here and you sat in front of them in their formation, you would definitely be able to see the smaller ones)- anyway, those smaller ones are the babies and some of the babies are in with all the other metal balls, next to their mothers, of course. there are two other babies under the shell and their mother stands in between the shell and the herd- something about not being ready to join the herd yet and wanting to be able to protect her babies from the herd and the dominant male? and the really great thing about these creatures is that unlike us, they have three nipples and so on very rare occasions they can have three babies- she didn't, she had two- but what i love here is that for eva, breastfeeding, nursing, nourishing our babies with our bodies, is the way of life, the default, how it is and this excites me because maybe someday, someday, little girls will grow up after being breastfed themselves and will know how grand it all is and there will be enough of us around to help and support and guide and love them through the experience of nursing their own babies themselves. in the meantime, for this herd, for these babies, there are extra nipples for all!~

now

How about a little coconut bliss with homemade raspberry jam to jump start some creativity this afternoon. Samuel is sick today. Eva is on the mend, although still hosting a cold virus or two. There is something about a fever and cold in the middle of the summer that seems not quite fair. It is unseasonable at best- although truth be told who am I to schedule viruses. Could this mean one less cold in December perhaps? It helps, I think, that it is inordinately hot outside- summer in Oregon, the big surprise no one mentions- can be very very hot. And dry! Imagine that. Someday I would love to have rain barrels to collect rain during the winter months to use to water my garden and flowers in the summer. I know my roses would last longer if I watered them more, for instance, but I stand stubborn on watering too much, too often- and I decide what that is, each day being different than the one before. Right now there is a lot of watering going on.

My projects of late range from the mundane to the excessively spiritual, beginning with meditation first thing in the morning. I leave you to decide which is which. We thankfully have a ton of blueberries currently and I made jam yesterday as well as some yummy watermelon-blueberry juice (with beets! of course) that I am still sipping on today. I read a great quote by Mark Twain (who, oddly, I dreamed about the other night) about watermelon-"When one has tasted it {watermelon, that is}, he knows what the angels eat." Yes- I agree wholeheartedly and argued with myself just this morning about my favorite food- watermelon or apricots? We're talking local, seasonal fruit, of course. There is nothing worse (well, that is meant as an exaggeration) than out of season watermelon tempting you into thinking it will taste as good as the jewels you find at the market or u-pick in August. Or now. I bought my first watermelon of the season (I am not counting those few I bought back in May when they started showing up at New Seasons from elsewhere) at the market last week and was so excited. I confess it was not quite there. The thrill of buying it might have been better than the tasting of it later. We ate some, I cut a bunch up for the park- if we make it this week- and juiced the rest with some blueberries and beets. The possibilities of the watermelons to come, though, were definitely present in the flavor!

More blueberry love-

Morning Blueberry Smoothie
blueberries (a pint-ish)
frozen raspberries (or any frozen-ness, to taste)
rice protein
maca powder
almond milk
agave syrup (just a touch, to taste)
Blend it up!



Blueberries from the front yard...



Albert feeling the love.

Living this life- it is a leap of faith, a jump-off-the-cliff, a walk through fire...knowing this goodness and living it. Albert knows it. The blueberries too. Dr. Seuss might say How about you?