Actual happiness looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Education
"Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education." -David Polis
"Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it... but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one becomes to feeling ill... Thus if one just keeps walking, everything will be all right." -Soren Kierckgaard
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
- Albert Camus
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
Annie Dillard
We had a great weekend at Maine Fiddle Camp in June. Silas loved the opportunity to perform on-stage and signed himself up to play alone during the Saturday afternoon camper concert. He did a great job playing a "Oh Susanna" unrehearsed.
Levi took the penny whistle workshops and learned two songs, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" & "Have You Been to Ireland".
Arlo had a great time just playing and making new friends, like Super Sid.
Mark's Mom Marsha (aka Nenny) came to camp with us and learned the ukelele!
A short clip of her group performing "When the Ukes Go Marching In":
Silas & I both took advanced beginner workshops and we learned the same song, so we were lucky enough to perform on-stage together. It is a lot easier to be on-stage with cute kids!
When people ask the boys what they liked best about fiddle camp, they always mention the food, especially the blueberry-rhubarb crisp we had for dessert one night.
Our family has been skiing most Thursdays and Fridays at Mt. Abram and Arlo was not content to sit and the bottom of the mountain and watch, he had to get in on the action.
While watching his brothers the first day out, he let us know that he wanted to try, so we found some tiny skis and boots and since then he has done 2-12 runs each day we've been out. He isn't really skiing so much as going along for the ride, but he loves it and squeals with delight.
As soon as we enter the lodge, he asks for pizza, which along with his brothers, he sometimes enjoys with cocoa and a movie:
We were starting to think it just wasn't going to happen this year.
5 degrees F today, but so hot in the sauna.
In general, our family is more into people-powered outdoor recreation than motorized, but my sister Danielle & I received a tiny snowmachine as a Christmas gift in 1976 and somehow, coming from a family with almost no keepsakes, that Kitty Cat is still around & running. All the boys love it:
It took a Herculean effort that included a 3:00AM wake-up, two taxis and three airplanes, but the boys & I made it to Alaska! We're taking the scenic route to the Yukon, through Skagway, Alaska, following the same route that tens of thousands of people took in 1897 during the Klondike Gold Rush, which is fitting, because Mark is involved in a modern day gold rush of sorts.
We flew into Juneau, where Mark met us at the airport, after a 350-mile drive and a 6 hour ferry ride of his own. It was definitely worth all the effort it took to get here.
I have wanted to visit Alaska since I was Silas' age and it is even better than I imagined it to be - towering, snow-capped mountains, beautiful, lush forests (Southeast Alaska is a temperate rain forest) AND an ocean! Incredible.
Arlo's first night in a hotel room.
Mendenhall Glacier.
After a night in Juneau, we boarded a ferry to take the Inside Passage to Skagway. This was spectacular, one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had.
Besides the breathtaking scenery, we saw seals, eagles, porpoises and humpback whales.
The captain stopped the boat so we could watch two whales as they breached, they put on an amazing show for us!
Levi became as wild as the animals we were watching, we had to keep a close eye on him to be sure he didn't go overboard.
Skagway, Alaska.
Skagway, though super touristy, is a beautiful place. Because it was the starting point for many hopeful gold seekers when they set off over land for the Klondike River in the Yukon, much of the town is preserved as the Klondike National Historic Park, which really brings the history of the area to life.
The Moore Homestead.
The nefarious Soapy Smith's place. Both boys were very interested in his antics.
Si & Levi both became Junior Rangers.
We spent four nights in Skagway, back in the Airstream.
Smuggler's Cove.
A detour on our hike to Lower Dewey Lake. Mark & I are still trying to wrap our minds around the idea of hiking in grizzly and black bear country. But, as my friend Deb told me, more people are killed by rattlesnakes each year than bears!
It is very hard to leave Alaska, but Mark has to get back to work, so we're off to the Yukon!
In an attempt to enjoy the first pleasant day of spring so far, we visited two beaches yesterday. Pine Point was just too cold & windy, so we moved to Ferry Beach and it was beautiful - it gave us hope!
Fall is here and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. Early pregnancy was very, very tiring for me and I did little besides sit or sleep for months, but now I feel great, and the boys & I are back out exploring our world. We've done a lot during the past month and I thought I'd share some pictures.
We harvested and have been enjoying pumpkins and squash from our little camp garden. Silas loves squash and they both really love pumpkin cookies, pie and cake.
I found that these two cannot be trusted alone with a pumpkin spice cake. I awoke from a nap to discover that they had eaten 3/4 of it in an afternoon.
Levi discovered that a chicken feather makes a great ink pen.
We attended the Common Ground Country Fair, one of my very favorite fall traditions. Silas loved it so much that he insisted we visit twice, even though it was a two-hour drive each way. We spent many, many hours in the children's area, the boys favorite part was definitely the hay jump (or hay war, as they called it).
Silas has been wearing his new fair t-shirt literally every single day since.
The boys caught a couple of large polyphemus moth caterpillars that immediately spun themselves into cocoons, we are looking forward to watching the big moths emerge in the spring.
And Mark returned from almost a month working in California, just in time to help us move again. The move was just from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor apartment, but still a move.
We have managed to sneak in a few adventures in the midst of all the work of moving, like the Corn & Apple Day with Chris from the Koviashuvik Local Living School.
We all spent the day in the woods at a local farm and made corn husk dolls, ground Indian corn into meal and made corn cakes and applesauce, which were cooked over a fire built by the kids, a wonderful fall celebration.
A few people picked up on the subtle hint a the end of the apple picking post about the exciting news we have to share - we're having a baby!!
We are all absolutely thrilled about this new little one. Silas is thinking about all the things he can teach the baby and Levi is picking out names, so far his top choices are Cricket and Sweet Pea. We're all looking forward to the end of March when we'll meet this new baby!
We've been so busy outside these past couple of months that I haven't found much time to spend inside on the computer. Finally, here are some fairly recent photos of summer fun.
Silas, Coco & Levi ready at the starting line for the Peaks Island Kids Race. This was Levi's first time running this race. He was hurt by a fall right after the start, but he managed to finish even though tears and blood were flowing.
Suz joined us again for the annual Peaks Island 5-Miler. Levi refused to pose for the post-race photo, but he was very proud of winning a medal.
We've done some hiking this summer.
Some camping.
Lots and lots of swimming. Levi can now hold his breath and go underwater. And yes, that float does say Camp Winnemucca!
Blueberry picking at the Wilton Blueberry Farm.
Si & Levi became Junior Park Rangers at Mount Blue State Park.
Levi has made new friends everywhere we went.
And these two have spent the majority of their summer barefoot and in bathing suits, which sounds just about perfect to me.
I am not a fan of hot weather and it has been very hot and humid in Maine lately. So I haven't been doing much of anything except reading books and keeping an eye on the boys while hanging out by the ocean or the lake . Silas & Levi been very busy and seemingly unfazed by the hot, sticky days.
They've been doing lots & lots of swimming.
Levi is becoming very comfortable in the water. Just a couple of weeks ago, he wouldn't even try floating while wearing a life jacket, now he swims all the way out to the raft by himself with one. He is also working on swimming without the life jacket, jumping off the dock, holding his breath and going underwater.
The little ones often take off in the paddle boat by themselves and head to the raft for some fishing.
Silas has started driving.
As usual, there has been a lot of frog catching. Here is Silas with a gray tree frog.
There was a lot of excitement when the tiny tadpoles we rescued from a swimming pool back in April finally morphed into tiny wood frogs.
The garden is growing and the boys were ecstatic over the first cucumber and cucumber sandwiches of the season.
And we've all been having fun spending time with friends and family. How is your summer going?
