Tuesday, June 8, 2010

land of the midnight sun






The gardens are in. The chickens are cooped. All that is left to do is some work on the flower beds and some refinements to the hoop house ventilation and the rest is just watering and weeding - no small task, but doable compared to tilling new soil and constructing things.

We are all tired after the past month of mania. The kids have just a couple more days with me before their dad gets back from his first fire assignment. It's been great having them here for a longer span of time, but also trying, as I knew it would be. Thea and Liam are now becoming a bit more adversarial toward each other, normal sibling stuff, but still obnoxious to listen to. And with all the projects on hand, there is less time for goofing off than there probably used to be (though I don't recall much of that in the past, either). Thea has moved into the "Why" phase - as in "put your boots on, Thea." "Why?" "Because it keeps our feet dry" "Why?" "Because I said so, that's why."

Liam started soccer today - so happy to be out there running around on the field. It's a little more competitive this year - he's in the next age group up. They play actual games. There are 8-year-olds playing with him. But he seemed to really enjoy himself, and when I showed him the soccer uniform he got, he said, with a sincerity only Liam can muster - "Is that for me?? Oooh, thaank you Mom. Wow." Such a funny kid. Tonight at dinner he used the word verbose. God help me, I don't know what it is, but he sort of inhales vocabulary.

Today, Thea didn't have a nap at Nikki's. I thought maybe that was that - no more naps. Bound to happen some day. But then on the car-ride home, she konked, and I woke her up and carried her inside and started doing the chores, and came back in 5 minutes later to see her fast asleep on the couch. We tried to wake her for dinner, but no dice. She was OUT. Probably will wake at 4 a.m. or some evil hour screaming for food. I'm hoping not.

As for me, I suffered a social setback of sorts this week, then had to ironically photograph a wedding the next day, still reeling. But the love between Kara and Mike was amazingly visible and very inspiring. I hope they make it. I hope they maintain. One of the flags people made for them said, simply, "Love is a decision." What a great thought.

2 comments:

Anika said...

Why? Why? If the answer is abundantly clear to all, including the inquirer, I don't bother to answer because it never seems to stop and I find it tedious, to say the least. I just try to pay more attention to them, because I suspect that all they really want is to hear to sound of our voice, and I would rather let them hear my loving voice and not my mounting-frustration voice that inevitably surfaces after 35 Why chain questions... I used to answer all the questions, but don't find that necessary anymore. I don't ignore the kids but I do ignore half the questions... just in case it is threatening to drive you crazy.

[Zephyr was explaining to Gazelle today that he didn't want her to do something because he "found it overwhelming"... you realize our little girls are going to be talking like that soon too, right? Just yesterday, Gazelle was talking about sitting out of the way so she "would not be disturbed"... I love it!]

Anonymous said...

Spring in Alaska is all about being manic. I'm always amazed at what can get done in such a short amount of time. Your garden and infrastructure look great!