Herons' Return

This morning pottyparty went to the Y to work out, which meant it was a daddy morning!!! A couple of days ago I was enjoying the sun on the deck in the morning for the first time in many months, and Raelin came out to join. She just thought that was the coolest, and spent a bit of time toddling around the deck, looking over the bench, throwing bird seed over one kernal at a time, etc. She made sure not to step on any of the cracks though. Not sure why, though I know when I was young I was always afraid of falling through the cracks on decks and piers. And yes, I did spend a fair amount of times on the latter on various walks, etc.

Anyhow, so this morning, just after I've gotten up, Raelin says "Raelin want go outside" (she always talks in the third person, which is very cute). I still needed to eat and have some coffee, so I did. After that she repeated the request, so out we went into the not-so-warm-though-lots-warmer-than-it-was-last-week sunshine. How cool is that to have a kid that just wants to go outside and hang out? We brought the dog and threw her ball, and she didn't watch it and couldn't find it. Raelin and I walked down and Raelin found it right away...twice. She also spun in circles lots, ran around, and called and clapped for Jasmine to come back.

While we were waiting for Jasmine to return with the ball, 3 great blue herons flew over a little ways off. Now, if you haven't seen a heron in flight, that's something else. Long lines of elegance and flow. They are truly stunning birds, and to see three of them at a time, haven't seen that since the fall migration south. There's still not a lot of open water for them, so I think they landed over where the lake flows into a creek. We came home a short while later followed by pottyparty. I went back out on our deck and spied what I thought was a northern goshawk though turned out to be an immature coopers hawk. It was very cooperative and hung out while I ran inside to get and set up my spotting scope. So stunning to watch it circle and glide so close up. No sooner had it flown out of sight then an immature bald eagle came by for a visit and spent some time circling over the lake.

Of course, the whole time all this was happening the air was full of song birds' singing. Still have a long ways to go before I know all the songs and who sings them, though learning a little bit at a time. I also think I heard a pileated wookpecker out in the woods again. Had one out there last spring, though it took off by the summer for somewhere else. Hoping to watch it with the scope, though we'll see what happens.

On other Raelin fronts, when she gets excited she has a hard time getting the words out. The other day she had her dolly and the conversation went something like this:

r: daddy change dolly diapee

me: raelin can change dolly's diaper

r: (getting more excited) daddy get, dolly get, daddy diap, dolly pink, dolly get, daddy get pink diapee!

me: ok, daddy will go get the pink diaper for dolly

Tunes Update

If you're reading pottyparty's blog you know that we went and saw/heard Richard Shindell last night. It was awesome. Totally awesome. 4th row seats, right in the middle, close enough that I could study his picking style. Doesn't hurt that the guy just kicks ass either. Going from the local guy opening act who was would have fit a coffee house open mike better than opening for one of the contemporary great folk artists, to said contemporary great folk artist was indescribable. Ahhh. He's just great and I could gush on and on about it, but I won't. Oh yeah, and tickets were only $18 each. Alison Krauss and Union Station are coming to Augusta to the big venue up there. We could throw down $60 a pop for good seats, but when it comes down to it, it just ain't worth it.

Now, on a very different musical trip, I got turned onto a hip-hop/rap artist named Litefoot. Stumbled across his music while trying to track down some details on another artist named Jerry Alfred that I've really enjoyed for a few years. Anyhow, if you're in to hearing some charged up lyrics about being an American Indian in today's world and some seriously inspired and poetic rapping thrown down over some hard charging beats, check out Litefoot at www.nativestyle.net. If you're down for some really well done more traditional Indian/rock fusion, check out Jerry Alfred and the Medicine Beat. They also kick ass...

Don't Really Know...

So the days are clipping by faster and faster. I just looked at my last entry and realized it was over 2 weeks ago. How'd that happen? Let's see...2 weeks ago we were still in winter and I was still boarding weekly. Today the last remnants of snow are almost gone and the grass underneath is still green (more or less).

2 weeks ago was before we started having Raelin sleep in her own room with me going into snuggle her back to sleep. And I've gotta say, if there's nothing else that is the full sweetness of parenthood, it's getting to cuddle up with one's toddler to sleep. The other night she was feeling a little under the weather so I went in earlier than usual. She woke up a little bit as I got into bed and looked at me with sleepy eyes and said "daddy lay down, please." A couple nights ago she was sleeping with her head on my arm, which isn't unusual at all, though after many hours starts being a bit uncomfortable for me. I eased my arm out from under her head, then she woke up with a cry and sobbed "put it back!" No rest for the arm that night...

Since late fall I haven't picked up any dog poop in the yard, or at least until last week hadn't. So I was out there with a 5 gallon bucket picking up a mixture of snow and frozen shit in the rain and having a moderatley low point. I was in a funk and found myself wondering "is this it?" I mean, the mortgage, the car payment, insurance. the parenthood grind, marriage grind, the work grind. There are certianly days like this one where I find myself looking at it all and thinking: "is this really what life is about?"

That night pottyparty and I found ourselves lounging on the couch together since Raelin had gone down for bed early. I told her about it, and that while unfulfilled was too strong a word, though perhaps over drawn. We talked about how the more one tries to do in life, the faster the time flies by. I thought about the alternatives, about what other paths we could be walking. I'll take this one. Sure, we've made some dumb choices, though we've also made some good ones and are deeply blessed.

Plus spring is here, and it's amazing what walking outside and not having the air bite at me does. I mean, we're talking high 40's here and I'm stoked beyond belief...