May 31

I went running with a friend in Discovery Park this morning. Soon, the waist-high grass we ran through will be brown from the summer sun.

Cal is thinking a lot these days about being six, and what it will mean not to be six anymore. He is sure he'd like to stay six and three-quarters forever. He wanted to know what age I liked being the best; I told him, the age I'm at always feels best. And I mean that.

I accidentally texted my sister, not Alexi, during Abbott's baseball game tonight, and told her Abbott made a triple play. A most happy accident. Despite it being late at night where she lives, she was at the movies with her son seeing the latest Woody Allen movie, and indirectly got to share the moment with Abbott and all of us.

Our days are always as new as they are repetitive in this landscape that we call home.

Memorial Day

For the first time since last November, when I was in another state, I was too hot today! The sensation was glorious.

Also noteworthy:

Eagles fishing in the morning sun, pursued by a murder of crows (love having a chance to use that term) as I poured my coffee.

Open windows and open doors.

Overheard: 'Cal, let's be the good guys, mom and dad are the bad guys.'

The smell of watermelon.

Great links: this collection of photos, this article, this list of summer reads.

from Sunday night

xo Lecia

on the cusp

So here it is...the start of the weekend, the one that makes it officially summer. We dust off our grills, purchase tomato plants, sweep our patios. I bought multiple varieties of berries today, from California, but still. Doing so made it feel so much more like this thing we call summer is actually happening. I was even tempted to buy ingredients for granola, something I typically only make in summer, then decided not to go crazy.

Over the course of the weekend we'll plant a few tomato plants, and some other things, and, I suspect, get re-acquainted with neighbors also outside working whom we haven't seen much of since the fall.

Well. Whatever your plans are, I hope your weekend is lovely. xo

overheard

Abbott: 'Cal, let's play lawyers. We'll copyright things, & sue people if they do things.'

Pause.

Cal: 'Nah, let's play Star Wars.'

I hope your day was a good one, however you spent it. xo

evening

I took this picture earlier this evening as I walked from where I parked my car to a restaurant to meet a friend. The neighborhoods in this city are all so distinctive; I love every opportunity to walk in another.

At dinner with this friend, a friend from high school, we talked about our families, friends we have in common, and life in general. Mostly, it was just so good to be at the table with her; what we talked about is almost irrelevant.

On the drive home, just up the street, blossoms were crazy-strewn all over the place. Oh, it must be windy, I realized. And when I got out of the car I could hear it, the kind of wind that is like a lullaby, constant and soft.

I walked through my quiet house and felt a little sad. I kissed everyone - already asleep - goodnight. It's good to get out, and it's good to come home.

when the time comes

I hope that when my boys are grown up, they will have a slight sense of discomfort when they don't get outside and breathe the fresh air after dinner. I hope they stretch their legs, walk around the block, notice what's happening around them and what changes from day to day. Even if it's raining or snowing. Say hello to any neighbors or stangers they encounter along the way, pat their dogs. I hope the impulse, the desire to continue this habit we have becomes ingrained in who they are.

soon

The first cherries of the year are always the most memorable to me. Cherries! I have missed you so. They aren't the most delicious the summer will provide; those are the locally grown ones that show up sometime around the beginning of July, in what will seem like the blink of an eye. I bought some today, shipped here from California and I ate so many I got a stomachache.

Soon, our peonies will be in bloom. I saw some for sale at the market this morning also, but didn't buy any.

Tonight at Cal's baseball game I sat just behind the catcher. I overheard one of the catchers tell a coach from the other team, 'I'm the best player on the team. I got a home run.' Soon, tact and self doubt and other filters will insure that that level of bravado or self-confidence or honesty, whatever, will seldom, if ever be heard.

Sunday at Discovery Park

First hike of the year, today. I was about to get dressed to go running when it occurred to me that it would be much more fun to spend some time outdoors, together. Those spur of the moment outings are often the best ones, have you noticed? We went to Discovery Park, a five minute drive from our house. Admittedly I tricked the boys. (Hiking is at times met with resistance...) I told them to put their shoes on and when they said, 'where are we going?' I said, 'to play'. And in truth, we ended up doing quite a bit of play. As the trail widened onto a meadow we saw a bunny; quite a surprise and a charming sight. I was amazed at the daisies and lupine already in bloom, plentifully. And the beach the hiking trail leads to is just so much bigger and wider than the one we live next to; nobody wanted to leave. The driftwood is plentiful and just the right size for the pretend weapons that invariably come into the play.

We ended today with dinner at the home of friends. Lamb and white beans and spinach; a lentil salad and asparagus. Good friends, good times.

Left to remind us of today in the week ahead, on the counter in a glass of water: a poppy and a daisy and a tiny flowering branch found on the trail.

from Friday night

Good times this evening at a school event.

This day is done, but I think we'll remember some part of it always.

Enjoy your weekend. xo

here's the thing

Today I had my second session of Pilates, and it left me feeling profoundly peaceful and grounded. As I sat thinking about it afterward, it occurred to me that a fundamental difference between Pilates and running, my usual exercise, is that running is transcendent of the physical for me in many ways, pushing through feeling my body, and Pilates is very much a process of connecting the mind and the physical.

what there is

Sunshine, banana bundt cake and the first of our lilacs. The day included just as long a list of setbacks that I won't get into here; in the bigger scheme of things it was a fine day. And tomorrow there will still be cake, and lilacs, and, presumably, sunshine.

Tuesday

I noticed the first of the forget-me-nots today on a walk.

I think that I get as much enjoyment from thinking about taking a picture - composing, watching the light, finding a subject - as I get from looking at the end result. Do you know what I mean?

More tomorrow.

when the weather starts to get warmer

(Not that it's getting much warmer yet, here, but I'm an optimist. And, the forecast for this week looks good.)

The first cocktail I ever had was a gin and tonic, and it carries my heart to this day. I was at a catered party that had a full bar. I didn't know what to order; my friend Steve got me a gin and tonic. For some reason, I didn't try making one at home until a couple of years ago. It's become a favorite for a warm evening at home.

Here's how I make them. In advance, chill the tonic water and gin. Fill a glass with ice cubes. Add 2-3 oz gin, depending on your taste. I like Henrick's gin; the smell of it as much as the cucumber-y, green flavor. Add 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice (about half a lime). Top it off with 6 oz tonic water (I like fever tree tonic water - it comes in 6 oz bottles - I buy it at Whole Foods), stir well, and enjoy.

from Sunday night

Sunday night is always a mixture of a lingering sense of the idyllic, on the one hand, and on the other, the unavoidable reality of setting an alarm clock, collecting garbage for Monday morning's pick up, laying out clothes for school tomorrow. When Alexi and I were dating, we cooked dinner together every Sunday night, as a way to stretch out those last few hours of togetherness in the weekend.

My friend Valerie commented on Flickr about the last photo pictured above. She said, 'hopefully heaven looks like this'. Such a beautiful thing to say on so many levels. Let's all go in to the new week looking for the bits of heaven in our surroundings. xo