Our First CSA Pickup..

I couldn’t imagine a better weekend, ending a work week a little bit early to pickup our first CSA delivery only to turn around and head out for an excellent weekend of camping!!  Friday was our first “farm-fresh” pickup from our CSA farm Sycamore Spring Farm.

And what a first selection we had…

• 1 dozen farm fresh eggs…
• A bag of cornmeal
• two ears of popcorn
• Cilantro
• Asparagus
• Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Scallions
• A head of Romaine Lettuce
• 1 lb hamburger

I’m soo excited to see what next friday has to offer!!!

You don’t have your own CSA??  What not??  Sign up here  –>   http://www.localharvest.org

Thanks Sycamore Spring Farm!!  Check out more about my special CSA here –>  http://www.sycamorespringfarm.org

Tags: CSA, Sycamore Spring Farm

And we thought ‘The Matrix’ was just a movie…

Uuughh..  As I pull my head up from the toilet of reality and try to find a towel to wipe the dripping acid of sensibility from my nose and mouth I have finally realized that what I see, what I breathe, and what I have been told for my entire life is not true.  Like consuming the red pill, I have awaken to a different dimension of my life that has made me realize that there is no one out there looking out for my safety, my comfort, and my continuation in this life.  The media had convinced me that it’s better to have the products they’re selling and to buy into the feelings they’re portraying in each of their economically converting adverts than to enjoy my life and laugh, live, and grow old with my friends and family gracefully.

Don’t buy into the hype of today’s reality.  Make your own decisions, draw your own conclusions, and make sure you get all of the information before you give in to the ‘easy path’.

NOBODY is looking out for you, so make sure that you are looking out for yourself….  This is something I teach my daughters each day and I hope you do to everyone you know as well…

MEDIA and ADVERTISING is NOT out for your best interest…

Eat healthy, Eat local, drink local, and treasure the ecology around you…  before it’s too late…

Easter and the consumption of spring!

The 2nd annual Easter spring fling at Luray Jellystone Campground in Luray, VA turned into an amazing event that will be hard to trump in years to come.   With temperatures pushing the upper 80′s and the nights being the best campfire weather that anyone could imagine, we lived a dream-world reality of camping that could only be broken by the reality of the checkout times by the rangers at the campground.   Between our great friends that enjoyed the trip with us and the additional friends we met during the trip, Easter ’10 will be a definite trip to remember.  Here are some pictures that highlighted our trip.

It was soo true!!

Picture of the Campsite...

Such a relaxing view...

Mia & Dad jumping on the bouncy pillow

Dad, Mia & Hannah on the bouncy pillow!

Another pic of the bouncing...

Hannah & Dad bouncing...

Hannah & Mia feeling the 'aftershocks' of Dad's bouncing...

The gang heading back to camp after Easter Egg dying..

LOL!! It's Mia DRINKING during the tractor ride! lol

Hannah looking REALLY cute before the Easter Egg Hunt

Hannah & Ashleigh

Dad helping Hannah & Mia open their Easter Eggs....

I should be sleeping…

It’s late, everyone in the house is in a deep sleep dreaming something wonderful (at least I hope) and here I am.  Laying flat on my back and peering into the darkness that’s only illuminated by a small light in the bathroom,  I listen to the drone of the humidifier fan pushing out moisture, a  babbling brooke from Hannah’s sound machine, and the drone of an almost worn out Hunter ceiling fan uniformly running in circles.  As I try to stop my wandering brain from conquering all of the unknowns, I start to wonder about my life, what’s left to do, what’s already been done, and how there seems to be so much time to accomplish it yet I’m constantly struggling with the ever expanding complexities that roadblock my intentions.

That’s when I slightly refocus on the fan and wonder if where I am in my life is being represented by such a utilitarian object affixed to the ceiling above.  Maybe my life at this point is consistently just running in circles, like the blades of the fan, like an orbit of the planets, and moons to those planets… maybe what I need right now is a ‘life asteroid’ to knock me out of my orbit and place my life on a new trajectory towards the unknown.

But what really is driving this force, this emotional doom and gloom asteroid that I so fondly think that I need?  Just as everything in nature has a particular plan set forth from it’s energy and birth, why shouldn’t I just embrace what I have now and just continue to let the energy around me dictate my new path?  This question alone spawns so many other ideas and so many other thoughts that my mind seems to forget about the original problem in the first place.  I guess this is one excellent advantage to having a creative mind.

Hmmm, I think I”ll go grab a glass of water.

Fears have been conquered!!

Have you ever recalled a traumatic incident that occurred in your life that only you remembered?? It’s one of those events that didn’t seem like such a big deal to someone else, but caused a mental roadblock so large that you felt like you were unable to overcome it?

I think that Mia had one such event some time last year that scarred her ability to get onto a bike, even with training wheels, and pedal her heart out! Sara and I noticed that she was consistently shying away from her bike and favoring her tricycle and scooter instead of  the more exciting bicycle. When we pressed her for the reasons of her sudden preference change, she would allude to how she really liked her scooter and in a political way, fox her way around answering the question.

With the break of the weather this year, Sara and I decided that it was time to do a little ‘gentle persuasion’ with Mia and her bike and loaded up the fam for an outing at their elementary school… Wow! The outing was an amazing success that could only be measured by a multiple session break-through at a psychologist’s office! lol… Here are my favorite pics from Dad’s ‘gentle persuasion’!

You can do it!!!

There you go!

Now she's motoring...

Spring is in the air! Camping is soon upon us!

Driving home from work today I had the windows open breathing in every sweet molecule of goodness that spring provides to our senses to fill our bodies with energy and mental boost to charge our creative juices and push us towards the spawn of a new day, a new year, and a new commitment. As something that only being an East Coast native (and eventually an east coast elder) can attest to, there truly is nothing better than the spawn of a new year through the sprouting of nature’s life once spring is upon us. Sure, I bitch and complain about every season.. The humidity in the summer (thanks Metro DC..), the fall with raking leaves, and the winter with shoveling snow, but seriously.. I’m from the East Coast! I belong to the northeast megalopolis and DAMMIT!! complaining is what we do best!

With the temperatures pushing 18 degrees C (Wondering what this is in F? Google it dammit! ) I am getting super excited about the camping season ahead of us. With this said, we have officially paid for our first trip of the season over the first weekend of April in Luray, VA.

The camping season always reminds me of my close connection to the earth and how insignificant my life is in the grand scheme of the planet. It’s an amazing time that naturally humbles me and refreshes my body and my mind. I think that we all need moments like this to understand that what we do, what we say, and what we think is important really is just a small part of the whole of the world.

Happy Spring everyone!

Tags: renewal, spring

Oh Spring IS here!!!

As I stepped out the door this morning and was devoured by the wonderful 45 degree temperature and the smell of melting snow, I just knew that I was not kidding myself, Spring is here.. SPRING IS HERE!!!! If mother nature hadn’t threw me enough hints already on the way to work I saw two massive flocks of birds migrating NORTH! NORTH!! I say… Oh Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!!!

Mia’s registered for Kindergarten..

Sara and I have been dreaming and praying for this time to come.  To get TWO kids out of daycare and try to recover from that financial ‘money pit’.  Wow, what will we do with all that cash?!?  LOL!  But seriously, my mind was totally preoccupied today with my baby girl heading in to kindergarten registration at the school.  I could only think about how quickly the last 5 years have flown by and I have realized that I need to quit focusing so much on what’s next and to enjoy every moment IN the moment, because when you blink, it’s gone.  (It’s usually after I think about this statement that I briefly get that “we should have another baby feeling” and then quickly smack myself back to reality. )

So I asked Mia today when I got home from work if she had a great time registering today and she briefly told me in her “to educated to answer your silly question” voice… (which if you know Mia… is 1 part smart ass mixed with 1 part of being annoyed that you are speaking to her and two parts ‘cute-ness’)  ….  Yes…

Sara said that Mia got to walk by and see Hannah leaving PE and a couple kids said..  ”Hey Hannah is that YOUR sister..  She looks like you… ”  HA HA..  While I’m sure there was innocence in that statement, my mind could only digest it in that snotty teenage Cool Girl talking down to the other girl.  Oh..  It’s MY SISTER..  BLAH..  Go away and leave us alone Mia..  lol!!

I pray that they won’t turn out this way, the two sisters pinned against each other.  But maybe I think I mentioned it best in the first paragraph….

Enjoy every moment IN the moment, because when you blink, it’s gone.

We’re soo excited your heading to school Miester!!  Luv Ya!!