Week 2: Balance

balance[bal-uh ns]
noun
1. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
2. mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgement, etc.

When I think of balance I'm reminded on the rocks that line the walk up to my front door. They aren't just any rocks, but rocks that we've collected over the past few years. Ohio rocks, Vermont rocks, Pennsylvania rocks, Maine rocks... I don't remember where each individual rock came from, but I love the feeling of calm and balance I get when I look at them each and every day. The memories that come flooding back with each glance. 

The rocks are stacked into piles called cairns. A cairn is a pile of stones that shows a place or marks a trail. For me, these cairns mark the short walk home. 

SA

off–balance

adjective (or adverb)

1

:  not well proportioned :  out of balance <the plans are off-balance> <their military is off-balance>

2

:  not standing, sitting, or resting in normal physical equilibrium <caught off-balance and knocked down>

This week there were a few things off-balance around here. My oldest daughter had strep throat, which led to me taking two days off work to be home with her. So the remainder of my work week was nuts, to say the least. She started feeling better on day two. She has been wanting to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels for awhile now, so I figured this was a good time to try it out. She did AWESOME. She rode about 20 feet by herself and only wiped out once. She is still a bit unsteady, but she is learning a fantastic lesson in balance. 

-R

Week 1: Relaxation

When you think about relaxation, what comes to mind? Are you sitting on a white sandy beach, big, beautiful sun high in the sky, legs crossed in your best yogi pose, eyes closed, fingertips together, slowly chanting, “Ooooommmm”? 

You know what comes to mind when I think of that scene? Sand fleas, sunburn, and sand in my butt crack. And none of those things are relaxing, at least not for me. 

This week, relaxation came to me in the form of sitting in a lawn chair; ice cold Redd’s apple ale in my hand, staring for hours on end at a giant pot full of maple tree sap boiling away over a hot fire. We were making maple syrup. Did you know it takes about ten gallons of maple tree sap to make one measly quart of syrup? It also takes all. freaking. day. to boil away the water portion of the sap to leave you with a sweet, sticky syrup. 

My husband started this fire outside at about 9am and continued to feed it until about 6pm. Lunch consisted of hot dogs grilled outside and s ‘mores for dessert. I finished reading a book by the fire. My older stepdaughter started writing her first chapter book (it’s about our dog, Waylon!), and the younger one got some much needed sunshine and fresh air (poor girl was sick all weekend). 

SA

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Living in Houston, we get a LOT of rain in the spring. Spring, for us, is the hot season before the even hotter season called inferno  summer. We had a fantastic thunderstorm last night that took the power out for over two hours. My two little people are with their dad for the weekend, so my boyfriend and I sat on the back patio with a glass of wine and watched the lightning. That is my idea of relaxation. 

-R