Mammoth Cave KY

Hi All,

We're enjoying a nice rainy day here at Mammoth Cave in KY. Vashti and Shanti earned their Junior Ranger badges today. Yesterday Daph, Shanti and I went on a half-day tour of Mammoth Cave that was very educational and uniquely inspiring. We have seen bats, spiders, deer and wild turkey here in the park, and enjoy swimming and mini-golf when the weather has been dry. Right now Vashti is enjoying playing with a toy workbench here in the common area while I write. Love to all.

Birthday

Yesterday, August the 13th, was my 38th birthday. It turned out to be one of those simple, perfect days that I will probably remember for a long time (it reminds me of the day Vashti was born). We woke up to a beautiful, warm, sunny day (the previous day had stayed cool and cloudy with occasional soft rain). I baked a chocolate cake (the first time I have baked in our little convection oven), and I was happy to see that it baked very evenly. Brian and I went for a walk and enjoyed a leisurely yoga practice and meditation together. During our practice, the resident falcon circled above us and even managed to do a spectacular dive right as we rested on our backs and looked up. Afterwards, we ate lunch, went for another walk, lounged around, and then cooked quinoa chili for an early dinner. After dinner, Brian and I walked down to the lodge while my dad hung out with the kids. As usual, we had the whole place to ourselves. We played three games of pool while listening to classic rock music and then played ping pong (it felt very 80's and was a lot of fun). As we headed back to camp for chocolate cake we decided we should get gear for mini-golf so the kids could burn off their sugar buzz. Brian gave me a piggyback ride across the parking lot, and we felt like kids goofing off. For the third time this week we lit candles and sang happy birthday (Vashti is very into candles). The cake was delicious with a very rich dark chocolate glaze. After cake we played mini-golf and I got a hole-in-one on the very last (and one of the most difficult shots). We had a nice walk back to camp and enjoyed watching the bats fly above us.

Brian and I have been reading a book called Respectful Parents Respectful Kids. It blends ideas of interconnectedness and the importance of true co-operation for the health and sustainability of families, communities, and the whole world with Marshalll Rosenberg's style of Nonviolent Communication. So far, I'm enjoying the book, and I'm feeling very thankful for being at a place in my life where I can take care of my own needs so that I am able to better meet the needs of our family and kids.

From where I am sitting outside I can see my dad and Shanti canoeing across the placid lake. It is another beautiful day (the high is supposed to be 87 degrees). I am thinking of all my beautiful friends, and hope that you will all take the time to do something nice for yourselves today. I had another lovely yoga practice this morning, and now I'm going to head off to play with Vashti.

The soul empties itself of all its contents in order to receive the being it is looking at, just as he is, in all his truth ---Simone Weil

Catching Up

We have been enjoying a simple existence lately without cell phone service or internet connections. After we left Livingston, TX we camped at Lake Tawakoni which is east of Dallas. We had a lovely lakeside campground where we enjoyed bike rides and bird watching. While we were parked at Tawakoni Brian, the kids and I drove into Dallas where we spent a week visiting my mom and little sister, Lindsay (who is now 13). Despite the heat, we all got to spend a fantastic day out on the lake in my mom's boat. We got caught up on all of our shopping in Dallas, and then we finally made it out of Texas to camp at DeGray Lake State Park in Arkansas.

DeGray is about 20 miles south of Hot Springs (which is where Brian and I bought our $8 sterling silver Hopi Indian engagement bands back in 1992...I still wear mine as my wedding ring most of the time). It was fun to revisit the city with the kids. We also visited Diamond Crater state park where we got to play in the dirt digging for diamonds and other gems/minerals. DeGray lake is breathtaking and I highly recommend camping there when passing through Arkansas. After camping in Texas it seemed like we had jumped back in time about a century to be on such a beautiful lake with no houses or businesses surrounding the water. There was a wonderful produce stand just outside of the state park with lots of fresh, local produce. It was incredibly hot while we were in Arkansas, but we finally got a break from the heat as we headed into Tennessee. It rained most of the day as we drove into Tennessee, and the temperature stayed in the low 70's. Currently we are camping about 50 miles east of Memphis. The campground is about 300 acres and we are sharing it with 5-10 other people (depending on whether it is the weekend). We have a swimming pool, pool table, ping pong, mini-golf, tennis court, a small playground, and a pond stocked with very big large mouth bass pretty much all to ourselves. I have found a perfect spot for doing yoga, and the weather has stayed in the 70's to mid 80's during the day and around 60 degrees at night (just cool enough for a campfire and marshmallows with a couple of the other campers). We met a woman who is in a tent with her dog and she is probably between 70 and 80 years old. She camps for part of the year and she has a home in Baja where she stays the rest of the year. My dad said it made him think of what Tricia might be like when she is that age, and he suggested we invite her over for dinner.

After spending the last few years cooped up inside (trying to find relief from our allergies) it is great to be spending the majority of our time outside. We love being lulled to sleep by frogs and bugs, and to wake up with the birds each morning. When we leave here we will stay at a campground near The Farm (which you can check out at thefarm.org), and then we will be heading up to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We will try to post some pictures while we still have internet access so stay tuned!