Five Good Things

Our weather... oy. It's annoying. The days are gorgeous, the sky is clear, blue, lovely. I promise, I am not complaining about beauty and comfort. So much of the United States is in a freeze, and the rest of the world is enduring record heat, and pretty weather is cause for picnics and mild gloating. Superficially, we have nothing to complain about... except... it's dry. Oh, would I appreciate some rain! Instead, we are bracing ourselves for higher temperatures, and Santa Anas... those winds that blow east to west and fan the sparks, that start the fires, that set us all on edge. It's January, and I am eager for clouds, and moisture, for rainfall, and snow capped mountains up and down the Western mountains.

Anyway... it felt wrong posting these lovely outdoor, January scenes, with what looks like gorgeous weather, without recognizing that this is not the kind of gorgeous we need.

But it is gorgeous. Sigh. The flowers, and goats, and chickens, and green beans think so. Our Rosemary is full of honey bees. The chickens were in such a big dustbath pile-up we could hardly tell them apart. Really lovely. I hope it rains.

Good Things...

1. Geoff earned some down time, and we spent it with the physics class, and outdoors with goats, in the metal shop with FIRST 2102 Team Paradox, sharing the wonderful company of friends and family, enjoying Paul and Janece's generous Hobbit II gift, doing chemistry experiments, and learning MasterCam.

2. Watching Maria and Izzy and Parker completely engrossed and engaged with playing, running, laughing, dancing, singing, and it was easy and natural as though they have always been best of friends.

3. TED... Ideas worth spreading, and being inspired to rethink my beliefs about stress.

4. Time with my friend Anna Banana, and the pleasure of sharing, caring, listening, laughing, understanding, learning, and feeling revived, and connected.

5. Max built a beautiful, and well engineered bridge, and it held a bucket filled with 18 pounds of water, so, together with 17 of his classmates, Max's bridge will go forward to the ultimate and final challenge: Bigger water! (A little boasting. Thank you, Ruth... that felt great!)

I was looking for some words to support conversations I've been enjoying, and found these...

“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem,
but the truth is that things don't really get solved.
They come together and they fall apart.
Then they come together again and fall apart again.
It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen:
room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” ― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heartfelt Advice for Hard Times"

Good things, even in the midst of things falling apart... do you have some to share?