Tag: explore outside

Rain is gently pattering on the metal roof on the sunroom adjacent to where I type and isn’t supposed to let up all day.  One can hardly complain with the state of the west coast and how needed rain is there.  Children are quietly (and not so quietly) working on the day’s schoolwork.  Now they are off playing a game of hide and seek and screaming throughout the house.  We are into our fifth week of school, hard to believe how quickly these first weeks have flown by.  Overall it has gone very well so far, better than I expected.  I began a more structured school day schedule for us last year and I’ve adapted it and solidified it more this year, and I think that’s really been essential for us.  It’s good to be back in the flow.  Be that as it may, there’s always a level of chaos amidst all the flurry of activity in the school room as I bounce between different children offering help.  It does feel busier though with more on our plates, and even getting on the computer to share a blog post feels harder to do.

In the midst of all this constant rain, I’m looking back on the photos for this post.  Labor day weekend we went for a picnic to Mt. Mitchell, which is relatively close to us and is the highest peak East of the Mississippi.   I do so crave getting up high and seeing a beautiful view.  We hiked the Deep Gap trailhead at Mt. Mitchell over to the first peak, Mount Craig, and enjoyed the stunning views from there.  Wren would have hiked the whole way if we let her, such a little one but so strong and determined to keep up with everyone else.  I think the last time I hiked to that peak was when Brandon and I went backpacking for a few days for our tenth anniversary.  Then it was May: stormy, icy and with freezing wind.  This time it was open, sunny, warm, and green.  We were with my parents and brother’s family.  After the brief hike we had our picnic dinner and watched the sunset.  As you can see, the sunset and views and colors were just spectacular.  Simple beauty, these old blue rolling mountains.

Then back home, back to the regular work of the week and of the season.  The weather has cooled here ever so slightly, but I’m not sure the hot days are entirely behind us.  I’m enjoying every bit of the cool weather that I can, however.  Recently, I finished knitting a hansel hap with a kit of yarn Brandon and the kids gifted me for Mother’s Day last year.  The yarn was Little Meadows yarn from Ginny Sheller + extra special and squishy.  It was a relatively quick knit and so, so enjoyable.  I modified the pattern just a bit, adding an extra repeat or so to make it bigger.  I thought it may cause me to run out of yarn but I had plenty, and I’m so glad I did it as the size is perfect.  I’ve already been reaching often for it on these early cool nearly-fall days.

Most days are just ordinary, mundane and full of the work that must be done.  Then there are days where you escape to the mountain tops, picnic and spend time gathered with family.  There are days when you harvest armfuls of zinnias and marvel that you grew these and then you trim them down to brighten up your September table.  There are days you finish knitting a beautiful shawl with a bit of yarn you hoarded for as long as you could stand it.  One foggy September morning you can finally wrap up in that cheerful woolly shawl.  All so unexpected sometimes, the glory and the hardship, the peaks and the valleys, though they shouldn’t be.  I’m grateful for the way the beautiful moments carry us through and feed our souls in a way, bright spots for bleaker days.