On the Move in May

After months of hanging out in Kingston, it seems my mojo is on the move and May is a very busy month. To start the month out just right, David and I headed to Healdsburg to visit Kyrsa and Dave in their new home. What a wonderful vacation from the wet and damp of the northwest. California was beautiful in it's spring colors. We were able to enjoy it from the vineyards and botanical gardens of  Dry Creek to the whales at Point Reyes lighthouse and the sun-sprinkled waters of Tomales Bay.

This was our first visit to the house on Grove Street. Most of you have been there so know what a wonderful space it is. Kyrsa and Dave have worked hard to put their mark on it with a comfortable, clean and California-classic feel that perfectly suits the 1930's home. The "grounds" are amazing with wonderful plants and trees already established and new garden spaces beginning. I love that I can know think of them and know where they are sitting for dinner and where they are having drinking on the patio. I smile just thinking of it all right now.

We are so lucky that Susan and Colin are "kind of" in the area and they were able to join us for dinner and a slumber party. We played badminton in the back yard (I haven't done that for many years), drank Dave's famous Margaritas and ate some great food too- really the hallmarks of a family gathering. The best part is always relaxing, hanging out and talking about crazy stuff with my amazing children.

May really is Mother's Day month for me. It began with Kyrsa and Colin and ends with Erin. As I write this, I am almost finished packing for my trip to New York. This is the best month ever; time with all of my children! And in case I have not been clear, they ARE all pretty amazing, generous, strong, courageous and hard working people. I am a very lucky mom and I recognize that all the months of the year, not only May.

So, West Coast to East Coast and then in the middle. On Mother's Day I hung out at the lake with my mother, Anita Sarah Haspedis or ASH. We started the weekend right with a burn pile behind the cabin and a little clipping here and there. We ate clams and corn just like a summer day which it really was- 80 degrees and sunny was better than most of last summer! I even went into the water without cardiac arrest. It was under the guise of pulling in the dock from the middle of the lake but still, not bad at all.

The neighbor boys came over to catch up after the winter in town.Cam is getting to be a "cool" middle schooler and not as chatty as in past years. Good thing Jacob has taken up the slack! He conned Anita into playing Monopoly with him which was hysterical. Watching Anita play with Jacob made me realize how it was we girls learned to learn during all those years at the lake with no TV, phone or even a car much of the time. I still wonder how Anita survived but she always was a strong advocate of nap-time.

As I finish packing for the last of my May travels, I am thankful for the patterns and examples of living set for me by my mother and father. I see my children using many of those patterns, goals and values to take their own dreams farther yet and say : "We are one very lucky family."