What We Came With

Yesterday afternoon, my kids came home from school and did the usual things...they had a snack, filled me in on the highlights of the day, did their homework, practiced instruments, and then went outside to play.  It was a fairly calm afternoon, mostly uneventful.  My husband came home around 5ish, and I had just sat down to get the highlights of his day when two arguing children came crashing in the front door.  There was crying and screaming and yelling and defending.  Neither one was listening to the other, and they certainly weren't listening to me.  It got worse before it got better.   Both kids were sent to their rooms to cool off and I went to mine to do the same.  

Eventually, after all of us had calmed down, my very calm and reasonable husband called each child into our room individually to let them tell us their version of what had happened.  It wasn't a huge thing, pretty typical sibling behavior.  June and Mack were both outside playing separately with their own set of friends.  And suddenly, June thought it might be hilariously funny to take Mack's bike and ride off with it.  Mack is 7.  He's the youngest.  When his older sisters tell him things, he believes them.  So when June told him she was riding away on his brand new bike forever, he believed her.  Things escalated and we ended up with the two Tasmanian devils at the front door.

There was more crying and defending and lots of lecturing (because that's what I typically do in these situations), but about 75% of the way through June's lecture, it occurred to me that I wasn't really getting anywhere going in that direction.


So I changed gears, moved closer to her and told her a story...

When June was about 18 months old (old enough to walk, but not old enough to be in Nursery yet), she was sitting on my lap during a RS lesson.  My friend, Laura, was teaching the lesson, and I had chosen a seat WAY in the back of the room just in case June prompted a necessary quick escape.  Laura had a lot of accessories on the table to illustrate the point of her lesson (something about having balance, I think), including a large stack of books.  About halfway through her lesson, she put another book on top of the already teetering stack and it came crashing down onto the floor.  June (still on my lap) jumped when she heard the crash.  She said, "uh oh!"  And then she climbed off my lap and toddled to the front of the classroom to help Laura pick up all those books.  One by one she handed them to Laura until all the books were back on the table and then she walked back to me and climbed back into my lap.  It was unprompted, innate and totally instinctive for her to jump up and help with those books.  I remember lots of women that day gushing about how cute it was, and how helpful she was, and what a great mother I must be to have taught her that at such an early age.  I took absolutely NO credit for that.  With two other kids barely older than June, there was no way I had had time to teach her that in less than two years.  She came with that.  That was one of those spiritual gifts that she had before she even got to us.  I have seen it over and over in her in the nine years since then.  She is the first one to jump up and pitch in when there is a crisis.  She is calm, rational and very duck-like in the middle of chaos.  She's the one you want picking up the pieces.   

I'm not sure that I had told her that story before yesterday.  I'm not sure I've even thought about that story much before yesterday.  But it came when I needed it, and I think it was more effective than the yelling and lecturing that happened before it.  I reminded her that she came with helpfulness and compassion and kindness.  That those things are so much a part of who she is that she doesn't have to work very hard to find them.   Those things will bring a better result than the mischievous, impulsive things that kick up a lot of unnecessary dust.  I'm not sure if she'll remember that story, but hopefully, the next time she feels the need to be mischievous or impulsive, she'll remember who she is and what she came with.  

And hopefully the next time I get the impulse to give a long lecture, I'll remember who I am and what I came with.  

You did what you knew how to do and when you knew better, you did better. - Maya Angelou   

Dinners and Substitutes

Day SEVEN!  This whole being sick thing is beginning to get old.   
 
Since that hike on Saturday, I haven't left the house and I've barely moved within it.  This morning, I had the smallest surge of energy and I thought I was almost finished with this ridiculous cold, so I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, changed the sheets, and caught up from the general weekend chaos.  But now, 6 hours later, I feel like someone has poured cement from my head down to my chest again.  ugh!  I can't believe there are people who go through this more often than once every 20 years! 


But even though I feel like I've been run over by a truck for the seventh day in a row, there have been things throughout the day that have reminded me to be grateful.

This afternoon, my very sweet friend, Karla, called to say she was bringing dinner over tonight!  She makes the most delicious, authentic red beans and rice!  (She's from Louisiana.)  AND guess what else!  She even made a vegan version for the non-carnivorous members of my family.  So, not only did she bring dinner...she brought TWO dinners!  Amazing and thoughtful. 


And yesterday, Jeanette graciously agreed to combine my Primary class with hers for the lesson, with only about 1 minute's notice!  My 6 kids + her 6 kids + a visitor couldn't have been anything less than complete craziness.  But this morning, she called bright and early to check on me and to let me know that the kids were great and that she didn't mind at all having a few extra in there.  (Isn't it so nice when people minimize a challenging situation so their unreliable counterparts don't feel so guilty?  I need to remember to make that woman some cookies...sometime when I'm not highly contagious.)


So, with a totally grateful heart for all the people who jump up and help even when they don't have to, and for the fact that I have a life conducive to sitting around all day, I'm going to finish the estrogen movie I've been watching...

...throw away the monstrous pile of tissues I've accumulated (I don't think it's really necessary to disclose how many were from sneezing and how many were from crying through that movie)  

those are actually bison skulls...but it illustrates my point

...and get ready to greet my children who will be wondering when this make-up-less, sweats-clad, pitiful creature will be leaving and when their real mother will be coming back.   I'm kinda ready for her to come back, too.  Tomorrow I'll be writing about how grateful I am NOT to be sick anymore!

Connemara

I share my Activity Days responsibility in my ward with a woman named Jeanette.  She is positive and wonderful and infinitely patient, and I thoroughly enjoy being associated with her.  And with 12 girls in our group, it is definitely a necessity to have a co-leader.  We are similar in a lot of ways.  We both have 10 year old girls in the group.  We both have four kids.  We're about the same age.  We share interests in a few things and talents in some similar areas.  But we're also very different.  For all the fluffy, time consuming, artsy stuff that I come up with; Jeanette brings nature, simplicity, and practicality.  

  Haunani = hot glue and sparkles  

 Jeanette = healthy snacks and zen   

But that makes us a good team, I think.  We balance each other out.  I plan the ridiculously complicated sugar egg projects that require two weeks to plan and two hours to execute, and she plans the relaxing hikes at Connemara that require a phone call to schedule and mosquito repellent and a box of granola bars to execute.  Either way, the girls have experience with something they might not otherwise have done, and really, that's all that matters.  

Yesterday, Jeanette and I took four of our Activity Day girls on a hike in the Connemara Conservancy.  

 It's this amazing little preserved piece of nature that is less than 2 miles from our houses.  

Connemara Conservancy was founded in 1981 with an initial gift of 72 acres by Frances (Montgomery) Williams on the border of Allen and Plano called the Connemara Meadow Preserve, or simply, The Meadow.
Ahead of her time for the area, Frances became concerned that her family's land was in jeopardy of succumbing to the almost unstoppable "urban sprawl." By protecting the Meadow forever, Frances gave us the gift and opportunity to experience and understand Texas as it was, as it would be without us, and as we'd all want it to be. The Meadow will forever remain in its natural state as an open window to the environment where we live. (www.connemaraconservancy.org)

Connemara was surprisingly spectacular and inspiring for me.  I may have mentioned before that I'm sort of an indoor girl.  The thought of hiking into a field of ragweed wouldn't normally be on my list of things to do on a Saturday morning.  But this hike (like most of the hikes I get talked into) was thoroughly enjoyable and I'd absolutely love to go back again...without the box of Kleenex and pounding headache that accompanied me on this trip.  (Today is Day 6 of this completely miserable experience!) 

We left at 8:30am on the most gorgeous Saturday morning I can remember in a really long time, for a two hour guided hike through the 72 acre meadow.  

Initially when our guide said two hours, I thought, "TWO HOURS!  Did they really manage to squish a 6 mile hike into this little space?"  

Shortly after we started, I realized it wasn't going to be a two hour BRISK WALK, it was more of a two hour WANDER as we stopped and appreciated every single flower, tree and bug in that 72 acres.  

It was an incredible experience to look at things the way that guide looks at things.  

He doesn't just see a meadow of overgrown grass.  He sees native Texas grasses from the 1700s.  He sees what the original Texas pioneers looked at when they walked across that prairie.  

He doesn't just see a pecan tree.  He sees 150 years of farming that occurred long before all the subdivisions and highways happened.  

He doesn't just see a wildflower.  He sees a food source for the flutter of monarch butterflies that migrates to the meadow every year.  (Did you know that's what a group of butterflies is called?  I would have thought they were called a flock.)    

Connemara was a great way to spend a beautiful spring morning.  The girls loved it.  I loved it.  And we all love Jeanette for taking us to places off the beaten path.  

 

 

Lessons Learned

I made the mistake this week of telling someone (OUT LOUD) that I NEVER get sick.  

"Nope, I can't remember the last time I was sick.  It's been years since I've had more than a sniffle or a sore throat and it usually goes away within 12 hours." 

"I think you can talk yourself out of being sick.  My trick is that I don't give in to it.  I just get up and keep moving and pretend I'm not sick, and then it just goes away."

Guess what happens when you say things like that out loud???

...you end up with the worst cold you can remember since high school (except for that time in 2003 that I got the flu)!!  ugh!

I've been completely miserable for three days!  THREE DAYS...which is rapidly turning into FOUR!  Unbelievable.  I've pretended all week not to be sick.  I've dragged myself out of bed at 5:30am, gone through the daily routine, and plowed through everything I can think of...only to find that after 72 hours I feel worse than I did on Tuesday.  (ugh! just think of all the germs I've spread!)

There's some kind of message in there somewhere, I think, because Blogger had a "SICK DAY" all day yesterday, too.  The site was down all day and they even deleted all the Wednesday posts, so my cute story about Inclement Weather is gone.   (Apparently I should have been sleeping or drinking orange juice instead of spending all that time Googling the word "inclement" to make sure I spelled it correctly.)

Lessons Learned:  

Print hard copies of everything I post. 

Don't brag!   

Be Good.  Be Patient.  Don't Forget.  Print hard copies of everything.  Don't BRAG!  

(that might be too long for a motto...)

Inclement Weather Dismissal Plans

I LOVE my kids' elementary school. Typically, they walk the mile home from school in the afternoon, but today was not a typical day.  Exactly 20 minutes before school let out, the torrential rain started...

So instead of listening for my Droid to play Fleetwood Mac and notify me that it was time to open the garage door, I jumped in the van and headed for the school.  

In nicer weather, the kids who walk, exit the school from the back of the building.  So, I pulled up to the rear fence and waited along with a few hundred other parents who didn't want their kids to drown on the way home!  

2:55...no kids
3:00...no kids
3:05...no kids

It occurred to me after ten minutes, that there might be an inclement weather dismissal plan that I wasn't aware of.  

And then I saw the most amazing thing!  A very small, very wet, woman who slightly resembled a teacher was running barefoot from car to car in front of me.  

Do you know what she was doing??  She was asking each parent which kid(s) they were there to pick up and then radio-ing back into the building to tell the teachers inside!  And THEN, the teachers inside would find the kid(s) and walk them out to the appropriate car...with an umbrella!!!   The whole process took slightly longer for me than for some of the other parents because they had to track down THREE of mine...probably all at opposite ends of the building! 

I kept watching that poor little drenched teacher running back and forth in the rain, thinking how grateful I am that we found such an amazing neighborhood and such amazing schools with teachers who take such good care of my kids.  

 

Cherry Limeades, Ice, Maraschino Cherries...and Resisting Temptation

When I gave up Diet Dr. Pepper last November, I mostly replaced it with water, but sometimes I just feel like something with BUBBLES!  So, my occasional alternative became Sonic Cherry Limeades...they're not quite the same "deliciousness" as my beloved Diet DP, but they're bubbly and sometimes that's all I need. 

Since November, I've become really good at ordering water at a restaurant.  And I've always been really good at only drinking water at home.  But there's this ridiculously convenient Sonic right on the way home from TCD's school, and we have gotten into such a crazy habit of stopping during Happy Hour for Cherry Limeades...not everyday, but a couple of times a week, for sure.  I justified it for several months because there's no caffeine in it and no artificial sweetener, and because I always order the MEDIUM with EXTRA ICE.  Because after all, it's the ice that I really love, and because the amount of actual DRINK in a MEDIUM cup filled mostly with ICE is equivalent to a SMALL.     

But even though there's no caffeine and no artificial sweetener in Cherry Limeade, it's still not that great for me.  And according to my favorite vegan guide, "soda is liquid Satan!"  So, at the beginning of May, I gave up yet another thing...at least for a couple of months.  No more Cherry Limeades...no more drinks with bubbles...just water!

But today, I was totally craving ice...(apparently 10 days is always my breaking point)...and not just plain old ice, but the Cherry Limeade-flavored kind from Sonic.  

Insert tribute to SONIC ICE here...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE ice.  And of all the ice I LOVE, Sonic has the best, by far...so does Taco Time in Logan, but that's way too far away.  It's the tiny little ice that chews without much effort.  It doesn't hurt your teeth.  And it's fantastically satisfying!

TCD and I drove into Sonic.  I considered ordering just a cup with ice, but I always feel bad making those guys skate ALL the way out to my van just to bring me a 25 cent cup of ice.  So I ordered a MEDIUM Cherry Limeade with EXTRA EXTRA ICE...like fill the cup to the top with ICE and then pour in whatever drink will fit in the leftover space.  When the cute skater guy came out, I was guilt-free.  And then I was even more guilt-free when I came home and poured the Cherry Limeade into a cup and gave it to Spell Girl and June to share.  

Hooray for me!  I had a temptation right in my hand and I didn't give in!  

And the BONUS...the half frozen maraschino cherry that always ends up at the bottom of the cup.  I know there are people who don't love these, but I totally do!  They're like the best treat reminiscent of my childhood EVER...and only 10 calories!  

Vision Boards

Years ago, I read an article about Vision Boards. 

A vision board is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple.

The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires. 

They add clarity to your desires, and feeling to your visions.

That's so me...cutting, pasting and collaging!  When I originally read the article I thought, "what a great idea!" but I never did anything about it.   And then last month, I had a chunk of time and thought I would go through the increasingly large magazine pile in my bedroom and purge a few of them.  Who knows what actually sparked the cutting and pasting part, but that's what it turned into.   I remember reading in that original article that it shouldn't be a "hunt" for pictures of specific things.  You shouldn't get caught up in reading the articles or looking too hard at one thing.  You should just go through the magazine fairly quickly and if something makes you stop...and especially if it makes you catch your breath...you should cut it out and put it on your vision board.  That totally worked with my plan because the whole point of the exercise was to GET RID of the magazines.  (That's probably why this project has never worked before, because I get way too caught up in the articles and I never get through the pile!  This time I did a "speed run through" of each magazine and only cut out pictures that made me stop.)



Here are the cool things about my Vision Board...

1.  The entire thing is filled with pictures of stuff that's either turquoise or red (or varying shades of those two colors).  My WHOLE life...for as long as I can remember...my favorite color has been PURPLE.  But there isn't a single thing on that board that is purple.  Interesting...  I'm not drawing any conclusions from that.  I just thought it was interesting.

2.  The cake in the middle.  That's one of those pictures that made me catch my breath.   I have no idea why it's on there, or why I felt like I needed to put it right in the center of the poster.  But I love it.   

3.  The Temples.   My favorites are up there...Salt Lake City, UT; Laie, HI; and Logan, UT.  The Temple is a huge part of my current life, and I'm sure that will continue in the future. 

4.  There's a picture of a gorgeous bowl (that I actually own) filled with popsicles. I was shocked when I saw that.  Really....I had to stop and look at it for a long time because the thought of putting popsicles in that bowl would NEVER have occurred to me in a million years.  It's a show piece, not a serving piece.  It's one of those things that sits in my house with an invisible sign that says "DO NOT TOUCH."  I have a lot of things like that in my house...too many.  That picture reminds me that there are "needful things" that are sometimes more important than STUFF.  My kids have never gotten to use that bowl, but I'm working toward the day when I will take it out and not care if my grandchildren get sticky, popsicle-covered hands all over it.

5.  The Whale.  I LOVE that whale picture.  I love it because it's an unlikely friendship.  I love it because he's doing something totally out of character, and that it's unexpected and helpful.   And he made a difference for those little penguins.  Probably no one else cared that he did that, but those little penguins were grateful.  (I know...it's a cartoon ad, but it's a nice one, and it reminds me to find ways to do things that are helpful and that make a small difference.)

6.  The little girl.  The article was about providing drinkable water to small villages in Africa.  It moved me.  The picture moved me more, though.  There's something about Africa...weird, huh?  Especially because I'm an indoor, climate controlled, conveniences of modern technology kind of a girl. 


The poster is filled with other stuff...quotes, words, pictures of places I would like to visit, things I want to do, shoes I'd like to own, legs I'd like to have.  Some of them are a complete mystery.  I have no explanation for them, they're just up there.  And I made sure to leave blank spaces for future magazines.  One of the things the article says is that you should broaden your selection material.  Don't limit yourself to just the magazines in your home.  So I have room up there in case some picture from PC World, Field and Stream, or Modern Dog catches me by surprise.   

The other day, Spell Girl and I were having a talk in my closet (because she likes to talk and that's her spot of choice, and it's actually pretty spacious in there.) She was fascinated with some of the pictures, and she said, "I could sit here and look at this all day long."  I said, "Sometimes I do that."  And then I said, "Let's make one for you!"  

Over the weekend, we went to the library and she picked out some used magazines (5 for $1) and spent the afternoon looking through them.  (She is drawn to National Geographic, Smithsonian, and travel magazines.)  She also looked through Temple pictures on the internet and printed three of her favorites.  (Fresno, CA; Mesa, AZ; and Laie, HI...hmmm...she must like that design.  Not sure why she didn't pick Cardston, Alberta, too.)


Recently when I was in TCD's room, I saw her cutting pictures out of a magazine and putting them into a large spiral notebook.  She let me look through it and explained some of the pictures.  There are outfits and jewelry she likes.  There are sketches of dresses she would like to design.  There are tops cut from one picture and pasted above the skirt of another.  She wants to be a fashion designer, so that theme is prevalent throughout the book.  And she's 14, so it's not surprising that clothes and hair would be important to her.  

But in the back of the book there are quotes from Prophets, handouts from YW lessons, a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, and a list of 100 things she wants in a husband!  (She actually only has 75 currently, but she has them numbered to 100 because that's her goal...to think of 100 things!) 

It's kind of an amazing thing to have insight into their hopes and dreams.  I love talking to them about the things they want in their futures.  I told them the popsicle story.  Maybe someday, when I take that bowl off the shelf and fill it with treats, they'll smile because they will know how much I've evolved!  I'm glad something moved all of us to make those glimpses of our futures a little more tangible.  


You should make your own vision board and see what happens.  


Be Good.  Be Patient.  Don't Forget.

Mother's Day

TCD spoke in Sacrament today.   The little 12 year old boy who spoke right before her was very emotional about his mother and thanked her for the ways she had supported him, helped him feel safe, and taught him the gospel.  He talked about meaningful experiences he had had with his mom and how she was the reason he was able to do all the things he could do.  Here's how TCD opened her talk...

Sometimes people mistake me and my mom for sisters.  When that happens I am quick to confirm that I am 14 and she is 40.  I've heard that our faces look like photocopies of each other, but I think people just say that on the days that she's wearing my clothes.

Hmmm....it's a good thing that I love her sense of humor and I don't mind having the entire ward know that I'm 40 (especially since I'm actually 41.)


Here's another part of her talk...

Mothers have the biggest influence on future generations.  Their love is what helps us to learn and grow.  We need to honor our mothers and listen to them.  They know what's best for us and want us to be the greatest we can be.  Mothers have so much to offer us.  Mothers create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes.  I love my mom so much and I don't know what I would do without her.  We have so many things in common and I know that I can talk to her about anything and she will be there for me and understand. 

I am grateful today for the opportunity to be the mother of four remarkable children.  Everyday they say and do things that absolutely amaze me.  They are becoming smart, beautiful, kind people who want to do their best and help the people around them.  They talk about the Church with their friends.  They stand up for the things they know are right.  They say "I love you" freely and often, not just to their parents, but to each other.  They pray for one another when there are specific needs and challenges.  They have become friends. 
I look forward to the years to come and the people they will be.  

I am also grateful today for the beautiful and amazing mothers in my life... 

My mom, Dollie, taught me for the first 38 years of my life.  She taught me to be honest, to work hard, to listen more than ask questions, to always send thank you cards, and to never leave home without lipstick.  She saw the first footsteps, heard the first words, picked up the pieces after the first boyfriend went away, and saw my graduation from high school and college.  She taught me correct principles and made it possible for me to be in places so that I could find and join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and meet my husband.  And then she was there to give me to him and watch as we started our own family.  She was there for new babies and new homes.  She was strong, graceful and amazingly smart.  I miss her everyday. 

My mom, Chris, gave me life.  And then she gave me the most amazing opportunity when she gave me to my parents.   I have already learned unselfishness, warmth, and the spirit of aloha from her.   We are so much alike that I'm not sure which parts of my personality came from me and which came from her.  She may have missed a few things in the first 40 years, but she will be part of everything that comes in the next.  I love her and I am so grateful to her for all that she has done.  

My mother-in-law, Judith, has known me since I was 16 years old.  She has seen the best and the worst in those years and she has loved me anyway.   From her, I have learned faith, patience, quiet confidence, and the importance of making a list.  She is consistent and reliable at it's best.  I am grateful for her example and I am especially grateful that she raised a son who is my complement in every way.     

Happy Mother's Day!     

the outtakes...just in case you thought we were perfect...

this one actually isn't bad of the girls...it's that little scowly Mack in the front

May Day

Today is May Day in Mendon.  

May Day 2006 (Photo by Karole Sorensen)

This is the first May Day we've missed in seven years.  It's the first time since 2003 that one of my girls hasn't been dancing around a May Pole on the Square.  

There are definitely a few things I won't miss about today.  I never loved the part where I had to sew May Day dresses...sewing isn't my greatest skill and people who sew ALWAYS say that the pattern is so simple, but it never is.  One year I sewed THREE dresses that were not even a little bit simple!  

And I never loved the part where the girls danced outside in unbelievably cold weather (which was most of the years, I think, because while May = spring in most parts of the country, May in Mendon is always a little reluctant to let go of winter.)  Somehow, though, the ominous weather manages to hold out until 10:30am when the dancing is over and the poles have all been unbraided.

But there are TONS of things I love about May Day.  I love that it's the first official sign of spring.  I love that the entire community pools their efforts every single year to put together the most amazing celebration of tradition I have ever seen.  It's one of those consistent and reliable things that I was drawn to even before I realized it.  So today while May Day happens without us in Mendon, I am paying my small tribute to it all the way from Texas.  

Here are my favorite parts of May Day and the things I'll miss the most about today...

• Norma Myers  I love this woman!  (I wish I had a picture of her.)  She plays the piano rain or shine, out in the park, in elementary school gyms, in churches, for every practice three days a week from March until May.  They wheel her out on the bed of a truck for the final week of practices and then for the actual event she sits at a piano inside a dilapidated old gazebo that I think has been around since the first Mendon May Day celebration 149 years ago.  She is the only person I've ever seen play the May Day songs and I'm convinced she's the only one on the planet who knows them all by heart.  When we lived there, I secretly wanted to be the next Norma Myers!  When I get back to Mendon, I'm going to hug that woman and tell her how much I appreciate her consistency and reliability.   

• The Dress Reveal:  Every year one of the Young Women-aged girls selects the May Day dress pattern and makes a prototype to be revealed at the annual May Day parent meeting. (This year, TCD's best friend was the seamstress!)  All the 1st through 5th grade girls in the community come with their moms to get instructions for the upcoming event.  So many of them have danced the May Day program for so many years, though, that the real reason they're always there is to see the dresses!!  There is always a Big Girl dress in one color and a Little Girl dress in a contrasting color, and the ribbons used to braid around the poles coordinate with their dresses.  

May Day 2005 - TCD = Little Girl

May Day 2006 - TCD = Big Girl/Spell Girl = Little Girl

May Day 2007 - Spell Girl and June = Little Girls (these were my favorite dresses)

May Day 2008 (this is the year I made THREE dresses WITH ZIPPERS!)

June = Little Girl

• Fancy hair-dos:

May Day 2004 - TCD's hair courtesy of Gaylene Merritt

May Day 2006 - Spell Girl's hair courtesy of Lauri Anderson

May Day 2008 - June's hair courtesy of Angie Keller's crimper

• 100 little girls in matching dresses:  It is an amazing and inspiring thing to watch 100 little girls holding hands in coordinated dresses walking onto the Square.  For a few minutes they are beautiful, perfect angels. 

May Day 2010

• The Finished May Poles:  I've watched the program 7 times.  I've sat through countless practices.  I was even a May Day leader once.  And I still couldn't begin to explain how the ribbons go from individual strands to intricately and perfectly woven braids around a pole.  It will forever be one of those things that I'm happily clueless about, I'm sure. 

AND...the very best part of May Day for me, and the thing I will be thinking about most today...

• The Hamburger Stand:  These are totally ordinary hamburgers made by totally ordinary volunteers, who somehow turn them into the most extraordinary thing I've ever eaten...really!  I have been behind the scenes inside that place and I've seen how they're made.  There's nothing magic about them.  But there is absolutely nothing like the first hamburger of the season.  It's the sign of winter ending.  It's the official signal for everyone to come out of hibernation and reconnect with the rest of the community.  It's the beginning of summer.  I'm pretty sure I can smell them from here...

 Happy May Day, Mendon!