{this moment}

Field Trip Friday: Alcatraz!

Beautiful Decay. It's what we found on Alcatraz. I was surprised by the extent of the non-prisoner presence all over the island.  It seemed like a little town. Families lived there together. There were apartment buildings and homes. There was a social hall, two bowling allies, gardens. I wondered how imprisoned the families felt on the island? San Francisco is a short distance away - by ferry. Still, it seemed a curious existence to me. What was left of the buildings was just a whisper of the original structures. Now they served up education and fed curious eyes like ours and have become nesting areas for many, many birds.

"Alcatraz" means pelican or strange bird. Seagulls were the birds we saw the most of. And heard. They were vocal. The wind was the only thing more relentless than the squawking of the gulls. The history of this island goes back much further than the beginning of the infamous prison we all know. In 1863 confederate soldiers were imprisoned on the island, confederates!

The cells are five foot by nine foot. 

After we toured Alcatraz we hopped over to a yacht club and walked to the end of the jetty there, where there is a wave organ which is an installation of a very beautiful wave-activated sound sculpture. This was potentially cooler than the prison for the boys.

The boys listening to the organ. Look in the distance, that's Alcatraz. 

Chris spent was the most patient with the organ and spent time really listening. 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by soulemama.com

Life's a Beach

No one was mortally injured today.

The waves were spectacular today. Big and bold. And a little bit scary - or very scary, depending on where you were sitting on the beach today. I often worry about the waves swallowing my boys up, but today it was what was in the wave that caused injury - a big-ass log. About 18 to 20 inches in diameter brought with the full force of a big-ass wave down onto someones ankle. Luckily not his head. The kids spent some time as spectators, they were reminded of the power of the ocean (and its contents).

We met friends Donna, Gery and Phoebe at the beach and their friends also stopped by for a little bit to play. It was a lovely day spent with friends. Each day we have like this makes me feel more settled in our place. Peace. Life is good when you decide to just be who you are and let your kids be who they are. There is a place to fit in that feels good and is right for each of us. My old rebellious self would be proud. Not quite full circle, but I can see myself again. Hi!

The log that broke the boy's ankle.

Spectators.

Max and new friend, Matty. Check out that wave, and there were bigger ones.

These birds (which I could hardly see) were in the sky for quite some time, just above the water.

We saw an old WWII plane.

Our little crew.

Chillin' Coleman.

Our Monday in Photos

Hidden Beach, Santa Cruz Harbor and rock climbing today.

That's Coleman at the top, he climbed the crevice and went through the hatch.

The Boys are Back in Town

Friday morning Chris, Coleman and Max headed out for a camping weekend with Uncle Mike. It wasn't far away, but it was away. It was inland, so much warmer than at our place. They spent Friday night and Saturday night there, then returned home Sunday afternoon. I think they had fun and were happy to be home. Chris and Coleman were kind enough to take some photos for me:

Golden hills, photo by Chris.

Reservoir,  photo by Chris.

Reservoir, photo by Chris.

Not sure what's going on here. photo by Chris

There was a swimming pool at the campsite! Here's Max warming up on the cement after a dip in the pool.

Calf photo by Coleman

Sheep photo by Coleman

Photo of Bolt, by Coleman

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by amanda soule over at soulemama

Would Buddha Eat Twizzlers?

I think not. They are bad news on so many levels. I just had to buy a bag of them. The extra long ones, I think it was a two pound bag. I ate about ten of them and threw the rest away. Another thing Buddha might not do, but hey, I was saving myself from clogged intestines, wheat fog and a sugar overload, not to mention being found out by my children. I digress from the real reason I sat down to write tonight. Our mess. Buddha wouldn't struggle with our mess, he wouldn't really own anything, or certainly not as many things as we own and so he wouldn't really have a mess. Plus, if he did decide to own a few things he'd be in the NOW and clean up after himself as he finished with each item before he moved onto the next thing. For those of you who know me well, you know my NOW is several parallel  NOWs. I do a lot of multi-tasking. It's over-rated, this multi-tasking crap they sell you in our society. Sheesh, I live in Santa Cruz, you'd think some of this groovy chillin' energy would rub off on me.

Earlier today I was talking to my sister, MB about the stuff we do - meaning we, as mothers. She wondered out loud, with all the stuff we have to do how is it I find the time to tweak my photos in PhotoShop and write blog postings, etc. I told her I'd take a picture of my kitchen and it would make her feel better. Because, I tend to not do all that other stuff many mothers are so good at. Like keeping house, keeping order, keeping calm. It's something I really need to work at, I've needed to work at it for my entire life. More now than ever before, because if I lead by example and get into the habit of routines and structure we can all actually change my/our brains, neuron by neuron. And my boys will have an advantage I was unable to grasp early on. Alas, today was not that day, the day of routine, order and structure.

According to my trusty camera (and a wee bit of my memory) here's what our day looked like:

Woke, baked some from scratch blueberry muffins.

We then ate the muffins, brushed and brought Coleman to Karate. Max and I sat downstairs at the Ugly Mug and read Redwall and drank warm beverages, looked at their fish, talked. I pulled a couple ticks from his scalp. Ick.

Came home - then there's a big blank in my memory and no pictures. It couldn't have been that interesting.

Played in the yard a while, took a picture of a section of a Gladiola. It's pretty. We have no idea how it got there.

The boys rode their bikes around the neighborhood.

The boys built a camp stove together.

The boys lit a fire in camp stove together.

The boys cooked plum sauce for their desert topping for after dinner; they are forward thinking like that.

Kitchen before I started cleaning, but after I made the muffins.

Meanwhile I was partly doing the aforementioned campy stuff and cleaning the kitchen. Cooked a couple items. Made snacks. Did some laundry - because there's always laundry to be done.

The boys rode their bikes around the neighborhood without socks, shoes or shirts. Coleman wiped out. Skidded across said pavement with a bare torso and arms. It wasn't pretty. But I think he'll be wearing more clothes the next time he goes on his bike. I hope.

I tended to the wounds.

Injured boy and brother sat on the sofa and watched Johnny Quest. For a long while. Until they just had to go biking again.

I collected eggs at some point.

Still cleaning the kitchen.

Getting dinner prepared.

Chris gets home. Children jump for joy - he's been on a trip.

Boys go out on bikes again, dragging Chris to watch.

Chris begins to repair boys bikes - has to run to bike shop for a new tire and tube.

Me getting dinner prepared, Cleaning kitchen still, and toss in the dining room tidy up, too.

Kitchen after it was cleaned but before dinner was made...ahh.

Made Coleman an Uncle Dave special, A Croutonwhich. Eggs (4) Home made bread (3 pieces) dill, pepper, salt. Whipped up and fried into a delightful pizza shape, slathered with raspberry jam and cut into pizza slices. He ate almost every last crouton. Thanks Uncle Dave!

The Boys went out again and made another fire in the camp stove and more sauce, just because they could.

Chris and I had chicken, salad and brown rice. Max had Dino Nuggets. Because I'm a freakin' short order cook.

Then dessert eaten. Frozen Vanilla Yogurt and Campy Plum Sauce made by my delightful boys.

Then I did a little tiny graphic job. And that brings me here, at the end of this post. Time to go to bed.

Good Night All.