August Break 2013 – Week Three
August Break 2013 – Day 11
“Play”
Today, the family went for a luge (or three) at COP – Canada Olympic Park – site of some of the 1988 Winter Olympics.
It was a TOTAL blast!!!
I am SO glad our friend Mile put out an open invitation to join her and her family… and that we said “YES!” and went. Grabbing summer while we can. Hope you had a great day of play too!
August Break 2013 – Day 12
“Far Away”
Not feeling terribly inspired by the day’s prompt, so here’s a quick and dirty snap. Meh. =P
August Break 2013 – Day 13
“Home”
The word itself is loaded. Hearth and home… Home is where you hang your hat… Home is where your heart is… Home improvement… Homeward bound… Homeless… Home sweet home… Home care… Home-made… Home page… Home away from home… Home free… Home for a rest… Coming home… Writing home about it… Bringing home the bacon… Coming home to roost… Make yourself at home… The lights are on, but nobody’s home… Until the cows come home…
“Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” ~ Maya Angelou
“Home is where the heart is.” ~ Pliny the Elder
For me, I love making wherever I am currently living feel like home. In that sense, it is some sort of transferable quality that I can carry with me via meaningful trinkets and comforting objects, but also in the way things are organized or made to function. However, I also feel as though the older I get, the more “at home” I feel in my own skin, recognizing my physical body as a temporary residence for the essence of “me”.
And of course, I cannot think of home without thinking of my boys – as that place of unconditional love and acceptance and support, where you can “let your hair (and guard) down” – wherever that may be geographically. I also find it interesting that many of my dreams of late focus on me salvaging the “important” things of my youth from my childhood homes: both my grandmother’s house and my mother’s. In them, I am somehow still struggling to find my own way – often fighting the past to establish my new life, my new home, and even my children. Carl Jung would love that, as for him, a house often symbolizes one’s psyche or self…
Apparently home is a complicated thing, it is.
August Break 2013 – Day 14
“Stillness”
Today, I took the two Monkeyboys shopping for some camping gear. They were terribly excited and full of suggestions (or wanting to go and look at other things while I deliberated over certain items), and it… was… exhausting! The only moment of stillness was at the checkout, where MBJJ found a toy on the floor and started intently playing with it (and the flashlights near it)… The floor was gross. And he could very well have opened some packaging if I wasn’t watching… but I knew where he was, and he was quiet, so I let him play. And enjoyed the calm.
We eventually made it home, and I went about setting up our new tent. After several minutes of struggling with unruly tent poles and stubborn pole sleeves, I finally got it “pitched”, and sweatily took a moment to relax inside. Until the neighbourhood kids realized it was up, and the Monkeyboys decided to entertain some noisy and constantly moving friends within…
At last. The neighbourhood kids had to go home. The tent got packed up. My kids went inside. And I enjoyed some late light of the sun with Buddha, in the garden. Ahhhh. Much better. And more like how my day began, with Oprah and Deepak and their meditation challenge. Now *there’s* some stillness… 😉
August Break 2013 – Days 15, 16 & 17
“Books”, “Floral” & “Touch”
As I was meandering about the house and garden, snapping photos of various books and flowers and textury things… it dawned on me that all of these things could be found by my bedside table! I always have a wealth of books there, ranging from poetry to DIY to fiction (and my gratitude journal, of course)… and usually, there is a small vase of flowers (from my own garden, whenever possible)… and before bed, I try to pamper my hands or feet with some aromatherapy cream, maybe do a goddess card reading, or don my silky sleepmask. So, yeah. Three prompts at once. Boo-yah! 😉
