My favorite days are when they close roads to cars and the pedestrians take over.  In Seattle they have a Summer Streets Day in each neighborhood when this happens.  it is glorious to revel in the  open space and the quiet.  So much of our lives are filled with noise that to have it silenced is a remarkable and peaceful event.

On Saturday our family rented canoes at the UW Waterfront.  It just happened to be on a day that the 520 bridge was closed; meaning that trip to and from and around Foster Island on Lake Washington was remarkably quiet.  There was not the whir of traffic, or the jostling of the bridge joints as cars went over the freeway to Montlake.  Instead it was mostly quiet , just the sound of the red wing blackbirds, the quacking of ducks, and the calls of Canadian Geese as we paddled past. 

I was slightly nervous about taking two children out in a canoe.  Due to UW waterfront policies each boy had to ride in a separate boat with a separate parent— as there is a three person limit for canoes and the four person rowboats were all checked out.   However, the boys did a terrific job. They each sat in the bow and were very enthusiastic about the short yellow paddles that were provided for them. 

I am thankful that the boys are learning about the Lake Washington ecosystem.  We have hiked much of the area near the waterfront. The boys have even searched for water bugs in the water with nets.  Now they experienced this place by water. They were experiencing it from the other side.  The trip allowed us to see more ducklings and goslings than we could count, a blue heron, red wing blackbirds, and two beaver lodges.  We also saw the long line of cliff swallow nests that lined the sides of the 520 off ramp. 

My wonders are: how do we get all children to know so intimately this place we live in?
Does it change we drive- when we know the amazing world your road is passing through?

Reflections on the Long Weekend and Parenting in General

Being a parent makes you slow down. You really can’t get to even a quarter of the things you might think are important, but you can live in “child time.” Child time is slow. It means on a walk home from the market you may watch your children sit under a tree for ten minutes eating pears, then skip fast downhill for a block trying to keep up with your toddlers’ amazing agility, and then slowly stopping and going for the next 20 minutes down that final block before getting home. Child time is a gift that kids give their parents and parents can either choose to fight it or relish it.

My husband and I have decided that these precious years with our young ones we are going to focus on what is most important to us: The boys growing up. The boys exploring their world. The boys getting to know our close friends, family, and community. This means we skip any unnecessary trips to the mall (actually almost all trips that involve driving), choose carefully among the community meetings we wish to attend, and focus our volunteering and personal studies. We prioritize: eating, playing, sleeping, singing, laughing, socializing, being outdoors and supporting community

This past Fourth of July Weekend fit our agenda perfectly:
Friday: was cooking and eating outside with a friend and then attending our neighborhood Beatwalk, which is seeing music at various venues in the community and supporting local businesses
Saturday was for helping friends and then being treated to wonderful home cooked Ethiopian food and amazing joy
Sunday was for lounging, “flying bikes”, and camping out in the back yard
Monday was for continuing to camp by watching the sun rise and then set again: eating meals outside, drinking morning coffee listening to the birds and reading books with Sam as brother and dad continued to sleep in the tent and then splashing, laughing, jumping around and in and out of the wading pool during the last rays of the day.

Our families’ path, our families’ joys, and travails are rooted in our values, our time in history and region. This blog is for my children to know where they came from: what beliefs informed their upbringing. It is also is for me to reflect on my parenting and the path our family is following. Perhaps it will inspire others to try something new- just as we are inspired by all those around us. Our path is riddled with mistakes, but mistakes are where learning comes from. Our path is filled with moments that make a life. For our family no journey can be as grand as watching your youngsters grow. Our goal is to make life’s passages as healthy and inspiring as possible while dancing in an urban nature landscape.