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Home,
let me come home
Home is wherever I'm with you
Home, let me come home
Home is wherever I'm with you
 (Edward Sharpe)

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A Picture a Day

Hey there. I've given myself the lofty goal of taking a picture a day. Mostly because I like goals. And lists. And keeping the goal, or finishing the list, is not nearly as important to me as having one. I know that's weird, but so is the fact that I like to turn almost any surface into a chalkboard so that it will be ready for brilliant ideas or thoughts or lists, at any time. I rarely write on them, but I have them. Just in case.


I took this photo yesterday, so I guess I'm behind already. Hmm, maybe I should just try and post a picture a day. See, that's the good thing about giving yourself goals, you can modify them at any time if they're not working out so great.


Anyway, here is a view of a sea of sunflowers. I hiked through waist high spiky plants in my cowboy boots with my tripod slung over my shoulder to take this photo. My socks were slipping off in my boots and ended up in a little puddle by my toes, and the spiky plants kept depositing little spiky seeds conveniently into the top of my boots. But it's technically impossible to feel irritated in a field of sunflowers.

Happy Thursday.

Jericho

Jericho



We had a brief sojourn in Jericho on the way to the Dead Sea. Someone had to use the bathroom. Our jelly bean mint green rental car stuck out, well, like a mint green jelly bean in a dusty brown landscape. We came out of the store, after politely disentangling from the gentleman who was earnestly trying to sell me the $500 Hebron glass set, to find our rental surrounded by a gaggle of Palestinian teenagers taking selfies. Aidan's appearance set off a flurry of whispering and giggling, and shy smiles beneath headscarves. But Chloe had eyes for one thing only. Because there, next to the man in the hut brewing Chris an exceptional cup of Arabic cardamom coffee- over an open flame, was, The camel.

I sent Aidan over to ask how much a ride was-15 Shekels, they said. Chloe was seized with immediate camel-shyness though, and wanted Aidan to ride with her. So I trotted over to ask how much for the two kids. The guy looked me over and quickly replied- 50 Shekels. Chris was still happily discussing coffee with the guy in the hut, so I did what any good mom would do and forked over the extra shekels so my daughter could get her life's dream of a slow turn around the parking lot on a grumpy dromedary. 

Elisha's Well

And the water is still good

There was an archeological dig going on across the street. We didn't go in, but we bought some dates from a snazzily dressed young man at the gate. When he opened his wallet to give the change, it was stuffed with large bills in all currencies. Chris doesn't like to carry coins in his pocket, so I held out my hand for the change. At this, he sweetly chastised me telling me "No No no, the man should be the one to hold the money." And then he proceeded to see us safely across the (empty) street by standing in the middle of the road and grandly ushering us over.

The archeological site

Shepherd Boy and Aidan

Jericho

Jericho

PS, the dates weren't very good, but the coffee was extraordinary, the hospitality was lovely, and the camel ride was bumpy.

Crested Butte in July

A word about chickens first; they are a little like children. If they don't get out of the house enough to play, they start getting cranky and pecking at each other. Also, if I stick my head out of the house and holler how much I appreciate their effort when they start singing the "I Laid an Egg" song, they stop clucking and satisfied, move on to another activity. The moral of the story is that chickens and children need appreciation and sunshine, dust baths optional.


And if that's not enough to make your Thursday shiny, here are some pictures from our long weekend away to Crested Butte. Chris and I took advantage of Grammie in the house and spent a weekend away sans kids. Mountains, wildflowers, camping and sunshine fed our spirits. And since this was only the second time in 15 years that we have left our littles for so long, I can be forgiven for my constant checking in by text.

Awesome Fence

Awesome License Plates

Crested Butte

Awesome Scenery

Awesome Wildflowers

Summer's Begun

We are loving our summer. The mornings are still chilly enough for a cup of tea in the morning while the kids are still sleeping and it's just me in the garden, watching Mr. Darcy slink among the mint pretending that he is a wild tiger.

The first flowers from the garden

A Saturday hike

We've been spending as much time as possible in the mountains because it feeds our souls.

Arapahoe Glacier trail

Across the way, we could see three tiny dots of skiers plowing down the mountain.

The crew

Aidan slipped on a snowy ridge and went sliding down until it leveled out. (I sort of think he did it on purpose.) Roscoe immediately plunged down after him to make sure his boy was okay, which he was.


We've also been watching a lot of World Cup soccer. And because Chloe loves to celebrate, the house is decorated in pink streamers, and she spent the first USA game watching with full on face paint from a massive fort that engulfed most of the basement.

Go USA!

We've been busy trying to get things ready for the first Art Night Out booth that I'm sharing with my beautiful, talented friend, Sarah. Sweet friends have chipped in to help, because no matter how prepared I think I am, it still seems like nothing is ready until the last minute. I had a brilliant idea that I was going to cut ALL my own mats, but that idea went down in a blaze of glory. I'm not so good with actually measuring things. Fortunately, I'm married to an engineer who specializes in coming to my rescue.



And, just because, here's a final picture of Chloe's crazed rabbit face. You're welcome.

Almost Summer

Summer came and kicked spring's tail this week. It's sweltering in my un-air conditioned house and the chocolate cake baking in the oven isn't really helping things either. Tonight my baby girl gets one step closer to the black belt she has been doggedly working on since kindergarten. She has a quiet confidence but shyly refuses to show off anything that she has learned. But every once in a while, we can talk her into demonstrating and after being thrown to the ground a few times, I've wised up and volunteer Chris instead.


Tomorrow is the last day of school and I'm not sure who is more excited, me or the kids. No more chauffeuring, packing school lunches and volunteering! But mostly, I'm just happy to have my little birds back in the nest full time.


Today is such a stick-your-feet-in-the-sand sort of day that I'm going to post some pictures of the beautiful Tel Aviv beach. (Which according to the taxi driver, has the finest sand in the world, imported from Egypt. And on secondary note, when you tell the kids to put on sunscreen, they might only think to put it on their faces...)

We were sitting on some nice chairs, but when a surly young man wearing a hat telling us to F-off came over to collect payment for the use of the chairs, we begged our ignorance and dumped our things to the sand instead.

Our totally awesome sand castle

I thought it would be fun to rent a boat, but apparently Chris thinks that being stuck in a boat is not at all relaxing and more like a kind of torture, which led to an interesting debate in which there were no winners, and we sort of agreed that it was okay to disagree.  (I don't really understand how he can't like raspberries either.) But the moral of the story is that we made a beautiful sand castle, and didn't rent a boat.

Texture Tuesday

The onset of spring and weather warm with the scent of growing, living things, gives me an almost irrepressible urge to paint things glossy white and lemon yellow. During the winter, I wanted to paint things orange; in fact, I walked around the house sometimes muttering, what would that look like Orange?


Another random fact is that going to the library makes me so happy that sometimes I find myself walking the aisles and humming, usually Christmas carols. It happened yesterday. Weird, I know.

Tzfat, Israel

Old windows and doors also make me happy, like this one. It has character, and stories to tell, and it's beauty and order surrounded by old crumbling stone. It was processed with Kim Klassen's texture, happy heart.