Tonight the boys were out late with us at a church function. When I finally wrangled them out the door about 8:30, Colin stopped in his tracks as he stepped outside.
"Wow, Mom, I can't believe my eyes! It's so dark! And look at the moon - it's sooo beautiful."
Has it really been that long since Colin has seen nighttime? (Summer means going to bed while the sun is still up) But it was a beautiful, clear, crisp fall night with a gloriously shining sun. I think he has inherited my love and awe of nature.
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It was the neatest experience this afternoon to actually go out to the garden to pick carrots for the roast dinner I made. I popped the roast in the oven, peeled the potatoes, and then thought to myself: time to go get the carrots. Orange tops peeking out of the soil, green leaves reaching for the sky, slipping the large, fat carrots from the earth, being overwhelmed for the first time in my life at the real fragrant smell of carrots that hasn't been lost in transit to my grocery store. It was beautiful. I'm disappointed my tomato plants have died before I got a single tomato from them. The small, hard, green balls just sit there, taunting me, starting to rot. And I didn't realize that there is supposed to be a pumpkin already on my pumpkin plant, not just flowers. But the green onions I've been putting into my quesadillas were great, and these carrots have provided just enough inspiration to try again next year, under some closer tutelage from expert friends.
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If you ask Caleb what he wants to eat, he says, without fail, in the following order:
Mac and Cheese
Cereal
Sausage rolls
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I have just finished reading "The Question of God" - a collection of thoughts by C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud about their positions on theism (Lewis being the theist, Freud the atheist). I was astonished by the logical, intelligent and well-formed points of view of these two men. It was interesting to see Freud's dismal conclusion, that life sucks and then you die, so deal with it. He was a pessimist his whole life, but didn't see any other choice than to live in the miserable reality of atheism. With Lewis' writings, I was amazed to read such a logical explanation as to the existence of God. My own personal experiences are much more emotion-based, although I have a strong tendency to the logical side of things. It was neat to read how a "lazy atheist" eventually came to the conclusion that there must be a God. I hope to write in more detail about this book at another time, but in case "some day" never comes, I wanted to note that it is a fantastic read, one I would love to pick up again.
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My parents are currently sailing to Australia. They will be back in December for the birth of our baby, and so really it seems like just an extended vacation. But I do miss already how often they were around. Colin and Caleb still tell us that "Pa will fix it" when a toy is broken. Caleb still looks for "Ma's van" out the window now and then. Travel has always been a huge part of who we are as a family, and so perhaps their absence will always seem impermanent, that they'll be back again soon.
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The house is a disaster. Tomorrow should be cleaning day, but it's a PA day at school, so Colin is home, which makes it a lot more difficult. I am seriously considering calling a friend and inviting ourselves over for a morning playdate, while hoping a cleaning fairy stops by while I'm out.
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