through the eyes of a 5 yo

Since all my Littles are blessed with things, I'm wanting to give them experiences as gifts now. As my favorite five-year-old is just about to have a birthday, have been trying to figure out an outing that he would enjoy.

So, when my sis texted me and asked if I wanted to take him to a BrickLand expo, I hopped in my car and zipped up the road.

But is it Art?

The sheer scale and number of tableaus was incredible. It must take some of these people an entire year to create these.

Grand Central in DC.

It was a stunning display of mechanical engineering~SO many trains and rockets and race cars.

My voice is completely gone from shrieking over the sound of excited hordes. 

There were, natch, many snacks to be had. 

And hopefully some joy to surprise someone in the bathroom. 

After a few hours of deliberation, the birthday boy decided to spend his money on a fire engine kit.

He did most of the building himself~with some coaching from Mama.

Since "sharing is caring", some other little hands got involved as well. 

A beautiful memory to tuck in my head & heart.

Shrumen Lumen

Since the rains lifted, today was declared a day to flaneuse. Hopped on Metro and wandered through the Renwick Gallery as it was on the way to the DAR Museum.

I am SO glad that I gave in to this impulse as they had a new exhibit~No Spectators

It's pretty much a guarantee that I will never attend Burning Man, but it was amazing to see some of the craft that goes into each year's festival. 

As I went upstairs, I could smell fresh wood~turns out the entire upper floor has been turned into a balsa shrine for grief and lost people/items. You got a little square and wrote what you were grieving and tucked it into the wall or sculpture throughout the room. 

Since it's coming up on the anniversary of Bogart's leaving me, his name got tucked into this niche. 

Loved this room of shadows/designs. 

If you look at the top photo, when the circle on the floor turned green, someone stepped into it and that made the 'shrooms open up. They are crafted out of what look like old postal bins and crackle and pop when opening. 

My original purpose of the outing was a World's Fair festival at the DAR Museum. But it was overrun with shrieking children, so I ducked into their library and scanned several volumes of Dunston genealogy. I may go back on a quieter day and do more research.

Visited the small and lovely Art Museum of the Americas~featuring artists from the Caribbean and Latin America. 

Hmmm, my lunch is upside down. Delicious falafal from one of the food trucks. 

Minute white blooms. 

Back to the Wishing Tree.

Just sitting a moment on one of my favorite city benches. 

Now I'm sitting between two box fans to recuperate from jaunting about in humidity.

how does your garden grow?

Stepping back into growing things for myself.

Transformed a planter that I rescued from the trash heap with a can of spray paint. Now to decide which plants to put in it this weekend!

checkmate

I was invited to teach another elective this term, so I chose the theme of "holistic learning". This week, we spent time having fun with words~via games such as Taboo, Scrabble, and chess. Since I don't really know how to play chess, I invited some students who do to instruct us today.

As the instructions were mainly in Arabic, I am still foggy on the details of the game!

Stay tuned for next week's classes on yoga/meditation/dance.

the lightness and the softness

My current gratitude journal~taking me to 2022!

Three Gratitudes

~Carrie Newcomer

Every night before I go to sleep

I say out loud
Three things that I’m grateful for,
All the significant, insignificant
Extraordinary, ordinary stuff of my life.
It’s a small practice and humble,
And yet, I find I sleep better
Holding what lightens and softens my life
Ever so briefly at the end of the day.
Sunlight, and blueberries,
Good dogs and wool socks,
A fine rain,
A good friend,
Fresh basil and wild phlox,
My father’s good health,
My daughter’s new job,
The song that always makes me cry,
Always at the same part,
No matter how many times I hear it.
Decent coffee at the airport,
And your quiet breathing,
The stories you told me,
The frost patterns on the windows,
English horns and banjos,
Wood Thrush and June bugs,
The smooth glassy calm of the morning pond,
An old coat,
A new poem,
My library card,
And that my car keeps running
Despite all the miles.
And after three things,
More often than not,
I get on a roll and I just keep on going,
I keep naming and listing,

Until I lie grinning,
Blankets pulled up to my chin,
Awash with wonder
At the sweetness of it all.

buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Ended the month by going to a ballgame~excellent game with the NY Mets. Of course, I can say that as we won 25-4.

Symmetrical beauty. 

Oh look what showed up!

Gorgeous national anthem.

Sayin' good-bye to July. 

Back in my space~drenched with sweat from sitting in humidity for hours, totally hoarse from screaming/cheering, and amped up on spun sugar. Here's to a new calendar page!

Monday, Monday

Found a penny and that's all the good I can say for this day.

when serendipity leads you to a silk purse,

you say "oui!".