Monarchs

There is something magical and mystical about butterflies. Here in the Bay Area, we are fortunate to have Monarch butterflies, migrate to various locations each Fall. 

For the past four years, I have unsuccessfully tried to take my Girl Scout troop to see the these powerful yet graceful little critters during their annual visit.  

I love having my girl scouts get up close to things in nature; hopefully planting seeds of awe and respect for our non-human kin.  But each year, the Monarch butterfly event has filled up too quickly, even for my New York self, to get us there. And each year since our troop started I have wanted to kick myself for not getting us in.

This year I knew I couldn't let the event pass us by yet again.  Determined and with a post it note to remind me, I finally got us signed up.

Once we got there I realized it actually turned out for the better that it took us so long to get there. With the girls to a bit older, I think they were able to better appreciate what they saw.  Most of the girls seemed to truly enjoy learning about the two thousand mile journey that the Monarch's make each winter, were shocked that Monarchs can lay hundreds of eggs each day along their way to California from Idaho, and that approximately four million made the Bay Area their home for the winter. Wow! And then, to look up and see them all flying in the sky and hanging from trees left us in awe and amazement. 

Butterflies are sacred, symbolic little beings; they represent transformation. They are beautiful, powerful, determined and inspiring. I hope that the Monarchs also planted seeds; of the qualities they possess and perhaps others, into those girls who were blessed to get up close and personal at long last.

Halloween 17

It hasn't yet been a month since we were Trick or Treating. Not even thirty days since were with friends up and down Pinole streets amassing huge amounts of sugar. Yet it feels like so much longer! I just can't get a grasp on how the year has just flown by.

It feels sad that the days are passing by in a blip. I am thankful we had the foresight to set up our decorations at the beginning of October. That allowed us to enjoy them for a time before we started in on the Save the Turkey Day festivities and now it's Christmas/Hanukkah hooplah.

But my mind is still on Halloween. I loved the skeleton heads that decked our lawn and made creepy sounds when guests walked by. I loved the fake cobwebs Don decked out across our small porch, complete with realistic looking spiders!  And of course, there on the porch also sat the two pumpkin Don grew along with several more we collected as the 31st approached. And as always, our sweet Halloween flag hung in the front of house. Not sure what it is about Halloween time but my inner-child sure enjoys it! And my outer, real life kids do too!

This year, when it came time to decide "what to be" for Halloween,  Havana opted to be a character from the Descendents movie (we had a D2 movie party over the summer where she wore the outfit as well.) Havana's custom then was super easy, a no brainer that was also super cute!

Amara wanted to be a bat and her costume was not so easy. She and her dad came up with the idea to make the costume themselves. Amara and Dad went and got the pattern, the material and got to work on a used non working sewing machine that Don managed to make new and working again.

It turned out that making a bat costume was a lot harder and much more time consuming than either of them realized. Thankfully, they started many weeks prior. Don finished just in the nick of time, the night before Halloween. I must say, he did a great job with his first (and maybe last!) sewing project.

As in all the years past, we gathering up on Halloween night and set off with friends. We met up with some other friends along the way, some planned, some unplanned, making the trick or treating all the more exciting! When the night was over, all the kids went home with enough candy to keep them buzzing for weeks!

It was a Happy Halloween for sure!

Pumpkin Season

                        

                           

This year has flown by. Despite many ups and downs, births and deaths, transitions and transformations, Fall has arrived in what seems the blink of an eye.

This year, our lives often seem like we are bursting at the seams. Between new work hours, school, kids -and occasional adult- social lives, we have made efforts for quiet, unscheduled time at home in between. We have yet to find the perfect sweet balance spot but one thing we did recently that was busy yet relaxing was our annual pumpkin patch visit. Don had grown two in our garden this year but there is something about pumpkins that brings us/me happy. We didn't get to Larry's until almost Halloween yet it was still and sweet and peaceful as ever.