Happy as the Sun

Nothing better to get one back into blogging than a few children-filled, activity-filled (redundant, I know) weekends.  For now, I'll just muse about the Fourth of July weekend spent at Loon Lake with family, mostly the new Keegan family with which my sister and I have been blessed since mom's marriage to John a few years ago.  Nothing profound will be written in the next few screens, but that doesn't mean that anyone reading this can find their own profundity in it somewhere.  Such is it always, in all things. 

Getting these photos posted and a few snippets written is a practical necessity, and a good way to restore the broken relationship that has existed between blogger.com and I for the past several weeks.

So, here we go.  Starting off with summer vacation's four basic needs:  sand, water, sunscreen, and "the cousins."  


Jake, Jenna, Maya, Maddie, Ian, and Emma, or, as they refer to themselves, "The Cousins."



Buckets, shovels, swimsuits, and lifejackets?  Bonus. 

Welcome to the "Rest In Peace" Spa, aptly named given the kick board providing a nice head rest for your comfort while you have your feet washed.

                  

And, in my opinion, a summer vacation isn't a vacation unless it is shared with (well-behaved) dogs.

Even when the dog is relentless about playing fetch:

        

I am thankful for the wonderful parents and grandparents of the six bundles of energy that remind me, whenever I see them, how much I've changed, and how much we all change, for better and for worse, as we tiptoe, march, and often run through school days and summer vacations.



Naptime...with snacks!

Planning the evening talent show.

Tie Die Party.

My favorite part of being at the beach with family is always the evening walk before sunset.  That lazy, end of the day feeling where you are at the same time fully relaxed and completely exhausted.  The sun feels like warm golden honey, but without the stick.  Beachgoers are shaking out wet, sandy towels, packing up coolers.  Children balance against one another, with one foot in the water and the other in a flip flop, attempting to get their feet clean before the walk to the car (through the sand).  (It never works).  The setting sun bounces off aluminum trash cans, casting shadows, and exerting that last burst of energy before it settles under the covers.  It makes for a photo atmosphere nearly as bad as that which existed midday when I took the others, but, it doesn't phase us.  (Yes, I am just making illegitimate excuses for my still developing (tee hee, developing) photography skills).

 

Nancy Jo, Jacob, Emma, Maya, Maddie, Jenna, Ian, Carla, David, John

Of course, no Fourth of July vacation would be complete without sparklers.

And, this year, Uncle David, Maya and Ian shared a bit of Chinese culture with us.  Each of the cousins got a sky lantern.  Each cousin, one by one, made a wish that, if carried skyward in the lantern would eventually come true.  Then John, David, Bryce, and Terry (yes, it took four of them to make it work) would light the sky lantern and set it free over the lake, watching it go up, up, up into the sky until finally it disappeared.  Or, in some cases, watching it plummet quickly, a few feet out, over the lake, disappointed that the wish was not going to come true.  (These are wire free, biodegradable sky lanterns).

According to the elders of Pingsi, the tradition of setting off heavenly lanterns began during the Ching Dynasty. At that time, bands of outlaws frequently raided villages around Pingsi, forcing local residents to seek refuge in the mountains. The heavenly lanterns were signals used by the village watchmen to inform the refugees that their houses were safe again. When those hiding in the mountains saw the lanterns in the sky, they knew it was time to go home.  (Excerpted from Taipei Times (Feb 21, 2005).  Nowadays, people write wishes on them, then send them up into the sky.  The Sky Lantern Festivals in China, they say, with thousands lit and ascending in unison, is magnificent.  Ours was pretty magical though.

Here's to believing, like the five, six, and seven year-olds do:
...in friends forever
...in spa treatments consisting of chilly water, scratchy sand, and a kick board
...in summer vacations at the lake with the cousins that will only get better
...that wishes come true.

Today's new music additions:  two songs by Tyrone Wells, whose music I just discovered: "And the Birds Sing," and "Happy as the Sun."  The complete Life Half Full playlist inspired by/inspiring this blog is at: http://pl.st/p/21722976523.

Blah, Blah, Blog.

I haven’t posted a new blog entry for awhile and, despite the purpose of this blog being to journal and organize photos in a logical fashion for my reference, rather than to convey interesting or valuable information to others, sometimes my innate and persistent propensity for public approval gets the best of me.  A few nice comments from even a couple of people leads me to feel like I need to post, and worse, come up with a decent post, in order to keep your interest or approval.  So, each day for the last few days, I’ve found myself thinking, “I should blog today.” And each day I think, “I don’t have anything to say.  I haven’t taken any photos.  I don’t feel like writing anything, and, as much as I love capturing moments in “film,” I don’t feel like taking any pictures.” 

I knew I was really crazy when, about to cut into the chicken pot pie that I made for dinner on one of these chilly summer days we’ve been having in these parts, I stopped, and thought, “wait, I should grab the camera and take a picture for my blog!”  Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that, but, it doesn't sit right with me.  I want to take pictures because I am moved or inspired or experimenting, rather than set out to take photos for purposes of the blog.  Cart before the horse, or “blog” before the blog type of thing. 

But, I did take a photo.

So, I'll share it.  It tasted even better than it looked!  The recipe is in Pioneer Woman Cooks or here.  Highly recommend it.  And, it’s super easy, and still super, with a premade pie crust.  I used up a generic brand pie crust that had been in my freezer since I swore off of premade piecrusts years ago! (WARNING:  Do not take this as an endorsement of using premade pie crusts for anything else…ever…unless you are really sure about it.  (My favorite recipe for pie crust: 2 cups flour, 1 cup chopped up butter, 4 T cold water, 3 T sugar, tsp salt) (leave out the sugar if using it for something savory!)

As I dug into my half of the chicken pot pie, I thought (after thinking, "mmm, this is so good!"), “Why on earth am I feeling like, by failing to write, photo, or post, I am effectively cutting class or neglecting my responsibility?"  How delusional and egotistical, and, how plain crazy of me to fall into the same trap I too often set for myself.  See, I took up this whole "blog" thing with the deliberate objective of doing it without regard to the fact that anyone may or may not read what I write.  It was basically a personal convenience.  A way to collect photos and words in an easy to find place, and, enable family and friends to keep up with me a bit.  And yet, just a few months into it, it seems that something that I made such an intentional, concerted effort to do solely for myself and for my own benefit, so quickly turned into yet another endeavor in which I am seeking or motivated by, success or public approval.  I found myself feeling that I should blog, rather than that I wanted to blog.  Sometimes "should" things are good things that need doing, but other times, "should" things are things that are based on doing for the wrong reasons. 

This whole blogging thing was intended to be something I was doing for myself, for my own enjoyment. It was my big chance to show myself that I could pour time into something that I was doing just for me, and without a care about what anyone thought of the way I think, the way I write, the product I produce, the photos I take, who I am.

Suffice it to say, I have been second guessing my foray into blogging.  Making things worse, in the days that followed, I fortuitously landed on a the most lovely, perfect little blog of Flower Patch Farmgirl.  I’d heard of "blogs" and "blogging" before I started, but never really knew much about blogging, and only called my blog a blog because I was using the free template and storage space from blogger.com.   I never realized there were blogs like mine, but far prettier, more interesting, and more sophisticated (ah, such is the story of  life!), that people actually follow by the masses, and that I would actually find myself envying.  I'd checked in on the The Pioneer Woman from time to time, and taken quite a liking to her and her recipes.  But, I've never really thought of her as a "blog," but rather a a professional businesswoman with an amazing and fun website.  

Flower Patch Farmgirl showed me a whole world of blogging that is just lovely.  Flower Patch’s blog is beeeeutiful.  I love this farmgirl and I am inspired and awed by her blog and the stories she tells.  It's everything I would want my blog to be!

The poppies have gone wild.  I think Flower Patch Farm Girl would like this pic.  I do!

She had some links on her site to blogs that she apparently follows.  In a very short period of time, I discovered a handful of blogs with words and photos and ideas that I wished I had strung together.

Reading these other blogs—links to which I have now posted on my website—brought out the competitive tendencies that have both served me well and harmed me greatly over the years.  I jumped from one blog to another, and for a moment, found myself determined to figure out how to add "buttons" and “badges” to my site, to buy Photoshop and spend time editing my photos, to tag and organize my photos into neat little categories wrapped up in adorable little photo buttons (visit Flower Patch Farm Girl  or Enjoying the Small Things and you'll see what I mean), to get my name in the “Best Mom Bloggers” (albeit I'm not a mom). 

The honey bees were also going wild in the few hours of warmth the other day.

After the two hours spent figuring out how to make buttons and favicons, I escaped from the grip of the blog world and realized that, my competitive and ambitious spirit aside, focusing the sort of time and energy on my blog that earns followers, accolades, sponsors, just isn't going to happen.  For starters, I don’t have the passion or desire to make the time for blog beautification and to give what it takes to compete in the blog world!  (Key phrase, "make the time", meaning prioritize and move blogging to the top.  I don't believe in or like the "don't have time" lingo. If we're honest, it's about where we want to spend our time, not how much we have or how busy we are.) 

For a few moments, I tried to make excuses for myself not entering "the race" so I would feel less inadequate.  I speculated that these awesome bloggers (turns out most of the really good ones are by moms) hired someone to design their websites or help them out, they had money or people that helped them, they didn’t have professional jobs and had a lot more free time on their hands (then I acknowledged they were in fact moms), they had backgrounds in writing, photography, or webdesign. 

Then, I buttoned up, was honest with myself, and acknowledged that these gals who weave together these fabulous photos, and words, and useful bits of information quite likely have no greater time, money, or benefits than do I.  They do, however, have a passion, purpose, and commitment to it that I don't have. (From the looks of it, they also have inclinations towards crafts and scrapbooking, the antithesis of yours truly).

If I were entirely practical, rational and selfless, then, in light of the far superior blogs out there that effectively say things I would like to say far better than I would say them, I would conclude it is an irresponsible use of bandwith and time to continue my blog.  But, I actually do like "blogging" (or as I think of it, keeping some thoughts and photos in one place for organizational purposes) even though, I am not going to win any awards, be able to put a "Best Mom Blogger" or a syndicated "BlogHer" logo on my page, much less paid advertisements of trendy, hip little businesses.  Some might say I’m a bit of a Type A, so it is hard to just carry on with my blog, resigned to be mediocre and unknown, after this newfound knowledge of the blog world; but, I am determined to do so.  So, all of this is to say that I am retaking my pledge to blog only when I want to, to take pictures because the subject inspires me, and to string together words, photos, and music on this blog as if (or, perhaps more accurately, "even though”) no one is watching, reading, or caring.  Posts may be infrequent, photos will continue to be amateur, but hopefully show improvement.  Most importantly, given my personal goals at this period in my life, my heart will be in it.

Now, then.  I am SO excited to share with you some of the links to super fun, usually inspiring, and often informative, little blogs from women with whom I am greatly impressed and enamored.   Enjoy!  And, I won’t for one moment blame you or be disappointed if you abandon my blog to follow one of these.  I feel comfortable letting these lovely ladies speak for me!

Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag?

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Me too.  (And if you don't recognize the preceding line, along with those to follow, let me remind you of their orignal author, Katy Perry).

Sometimes, I even feel like a plastic bag that is being chased by a dog.

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin, like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?


But, so the song goes, "there's a spark in you.  You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine. 
Just own the night like the Fourth of July." As you shoot across the sky, let your colors burst.

You don't have to feel like a waste of space.  You're original. You cannot be replaced.
If you only knew what the future holds. 
After a hurricane...

Comes a rainbow.

Maybe the reason why all the doors are closed is so you could open one that leads you to a perfect road.  

It's always been inside of you.  Come on; show 'em what you're worth.

Familiar words?  They're from Katy Perry's song Firework.  I suspect that this song, in its unedited version, will get a lot of play as July 4 approaches.  So much so that we’ll probably all be sick of it.  Yet, some of the lyrics in this song really resonate with me, and I suspect they probably resonate with many.  So, before that time comes when this is the most overplayed song of the summer season, I thought I'd capitalize on it.  I’ve added the song to my playlist for Life Half Full.  You can also find the song/video (which is great), along with full lyrics here. 

Now, please, go fly, boom, and ignite, all you fellow plastic bags out there!

Today's addition to the playlist, of course, is Katy Perry's "Firework."