Joanna Macy

JOANNA MACY: Climate Crisis as a Spiritual Path from Old Dog Documentaries on Vimeo.

“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”

3 Good Things: July 29, 2021

 

We spent a week out west bopping around Wyoming and Utah. It was a dream to be able to show the girls these special places in nature that mean so much to us. While their favorite parts of the trip were bunk beds and the neighborhood pool, they did very much enjoy hiking and swimming in three different lakes! I'm excited to continue exposing them to the great outdoors both near and far.

A few good things (lord knows, the world could use more GOOD):

+ Groovy yoga beat

+ Top Olympic moments off the court

+ Saw this in theaters on Tuesday and it was just as fantastic as the trailer looks.

Spring

We are showered every day with gifts, but they are not meant for us to keep. Their life is in their movement, the inhale and the exhale of our shared breath. Our work and our joy is to pass along the gift and to trust that what we put out into the universe will always come back. 

― Robin Wall Kimmerer

3 Good Things: November 18, 2020

These days, we'll take any sunny day we can get. I should start logging all of our outdoor time. 

1. Billie Eilish on Song Exploder

2. I just learned about this wonderful organization centered around BOOKS!

3. Anyone else experiencing cooking fatigue? This may help.

3 Good Things: March 26, 2020

We let the girls run around a local peach orchard the other day. It was a much needed, colorful distraction for us all. Hoping we can actually pick peaches this summer...

A few other good things:

1. Yes, we're watching. No, we can't look away.

2. This helped me identify how/what I'm currently feeling.

3. Enjoying Ben Gibbard's virtual concerts. Don't wake me, I plan on sleeping in. 

Eclipse

Did you catch the eclipse yesterday? I've been enjoying all the photos from around the country - especially this one of our friend, Andrew. It was taken in Jackson Hole where they were lucky enough to be in the path of totality.

Pippin Hill Vineyards

It's a hot one here in Virginia. We took the babies on a field trip to Pippin Hill Vineyards - a Charlottesville staple.

Our little town has been turned upside down, but we're all finding our way again. These gorgeous views and lush flowers sure helped. Hoping for a quiet and peaceful end to this summer season.

2017 National Geographic Travel

I enjoyed spending time scrolling through these submissions for National Geographic's Travel Photographer of the Year contest.

This Summer's Garden

Peonies

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open —
pools of lace,
white and pink —
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities —
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again —
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

-Mary Oliver

The Time Travelers

...the only way out is by going through.

Get Out Now

GET OUT NOW. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people…. Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around. Do not jog. Do not run…. Instead pay attention to everything that abuts the rural road, the city street, the suburban boulevard. Walk. Stroll. Saunter. Ride a bike, and coast along a lot. Explore…. Abandon, even momentarily, the sleek modern technology that consumes so much time and money now…. Go outside and walk a bit, long enough to forget programming, long enough to take in and record new surroundings…. Flex the mind, a little at first, then a lot. Savor something special. Enjoy the best-kept secret around—the ordinary, everyday landscape that rewards any explorer, that touches any explorer with magic…all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it. take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.

-John Stilgoe

New GoPro Reel

This makes me want to do EVERYTHING!

Happy Birthday to the National Park System!

Especially to my beloved Great Teton National Park.

Google created this incredible, interactive site that allows you to virtually walk through all the parks. Get ready to waste spend some time falling down this rabbit hole. You won't be disappointed!

Enchanted Forests, Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean

We're back from a great trip out west and have the pictures to prove it! While Portland is an amazing city, we always preferred exploring the mountains, the forests, and the ocean.

Our vacation was filled with early morning pour overs, outdoor adventures, and visiting with the greatest of friends (and their kiddos and pets). We ended the week with a family wedding which was located at a beautiful venue tucked away in the woods of Washington. Congratulations Alicia and Andy! 

I came home both exhausted and refreshed. 

Happy August! Cue the nesting. 

Grand Tetons

This tugs at my hormonal heart strings.

Lewes 2016

It's back to reality after a great week in Delaware. This year, we decided to go before the 4th of July. The weather was ideal - 80s and no humidity. I'm already missing the bay views and good company. I can't help but think of next summer when we'll have two new additions of our own!

June Blooms

It sure does seem like May goes on for-ev-er, doesn't it? Besides it raining non-stop, I really had no problems with this past month. However, I am thrilled that June (read: summer) is now here!

Today was the perfect introduction to this next season. It was productive, warm, and carefree. I spent some time in the backyard admiring our new and returning blooms.

Lots of change is around and upon us. The biggest of all (pun intended) being that I'm pregnant . . . with twins! Without going into much detail, it's been a difficult few years, so we're thrilled to be blessed with not one but two little girls. They are due to make an appearance late October.

(Don't worry, this won't become a TMI mommy blog, but it is exciting news that I've wanted to share with whoever is still reading!)

New promise to myself these next couple of months - TAKE PICTURES! Then I'll be certain to blog more, too. Win-win.

Happy June, everyone!

Van Life

My friend Jess and her man are on the road . . . again! This makes year three. Impressive, right? Follow along here. Full disclosure - it will make you experience feelings of jealousy.

Happy Earth Day!

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
-John Muir