Day 265: Barefoot

Posted on September 22, 2014 by joshdaddy

My oldest child refuses to believe that “to snowshoe” is a verb. I’ll have to wait another 90 days or so to see if I have the opportunity to use that particular verb, but for today, with a tip of the hat to Robert Parker, I’m going to take a moment to sing the praises of barefooting the earth.

Every morning I’m up first, making breakfast and packing lunches. This morning was no exception, but with one minor hiccup: we had used my daughter’s hard case lunch box on yesterday’s hike to keep our sandwiches from getting crushed in a backpack–and now her lunchbox was still sitting out in the back of the van.

So outside I went, still in my sleeping clothes, and without any shoes on my feet.

It got down to the 40s overnight, and at 6:30am, it had not yet climbed above 50. The ground was cold under my feet–and wet from all the moisture in the air (have I mentioned that technically, we are living in a temperate rain forest?)

I love going barefoot, and even when the ground is cold and damp, I love to feel the earth underneath my feet. My sister once described walking barefoot on the ground as “plugging into the earth.” I’ve always liked that image.

So for a brief few moments today, I walked barefoot across the earth on a chilly fall morning–

And for the rest of the day, I’ve thought about the touch of the earth under my feet, and felt just a little more grounded.

Have I really made it to Day 265? Just a 100 day countdown to a full year? I find it hard to believe!

 

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Day 264: Limit

Posted on September 21, 2014 by joshdaddy

It’s been a good day, but as the hours have worn on, I’ve noticed myself becoming less patient, more irritable, and in general, less fun to be around.

I think the reason is pretty simple–I’m tired. And as I’ve noted before, I don’t always respond to being tired the way a “normal” person would. It takes an active effort on my part to slow down and take a rest.

So that’s what I’m trying to do now. I can think of three or four things that still need tending to–either work or home related. But I’m opting to call it quits today. Sure, it’s after 11pm, and maybe I should have drawn that line a bit earlier in the day, but there you have it.

So  better late than never: I’m calling it a day.

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Day 263: Change

Posted on September 21, 2014 by joshdaddy

I forgot to take the picture before the sun set today, so you are just going to have to believe me: one of the trees in our front is starting to change colors.

I’ve noticed other trees starting to change, but when I saw the tree out front it really struck me: fall is here. And oddly enough, it’s right on time.

Having lived in Georgia for the past 22 years, I’ve kind of forgotten what fall is really like. We have gone off to orchards for fall festivals in North Georgia when it’s been in the upper 80s, and I can think of more than one Thanksgiving when we were sitting on my in-law’s porch in shorts.

But up here in the mountains–fall has arrived.

So I’m trying to be attentive to the changes going on around me. The shortening days. The chill in the morning. And of course the leaves.

Change is happening all around me in the natural world–and of course, change is happening all around me in my daily life as well. And I’m no more capable of stopping those changes in my daily life than I am of stopping the seasons.

The challenge, then, is: can I remain aware of the changes going on all around me?

I hope so.

I can’t really take a picture of myself remaining aware to prove it… so you are just going to have to believe me.

 

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Day 262: Consolidate

Posted on September 20, 2014 by joshdaddy

Some days it’s all about the little victories.

I seem to be gaining back the initiative to dig into the last of those boxes from the move. Our master bathroom is the worst right now. I ended up leaving the old house with something like five or six boxes of bathroom closet goods–and that was after a considerable purge of both the upstairs and the downstairs closets.

But again–here we are, two months later, and we still have four boxes stacked in the bathroom.

Not that we haven’t dug around in each of them, looking for nail clippers, or antibiotic ointment, or cotton swabs. But we still have four boxes.

So tonight, I tackled two of those boxes–and made them one.

The useful stuff now lives on shelves and in cabinets in our bathrooms. The truly useless made its way into the trash or recycling. And the stuff in between? Well, it all fit nicely into one box.

I figure I can do the same thing with the other two boxes in the next couple of days.

Then maybe do it one more time, with those two consolidated boxes.

Like I said: sometimes it’s the little victories that matter.

 

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Day 261: Select

Posted on September 18, 2014 by joshdaddy

Tonight, my youngest asked if we could make cupcakes for dessert. That request sent me down to the basement to retrieve the last of the unpacked kitchen boxes.

I dragged the box upstairs and started to pull out stuff in search of those cupcake tins, which were stacked at pretty much the bottom of the box, of course. I took a moment to survey the contents of this final box, all of which–just two months ago–seemed like essential items that should not go into storage. Now I was seriously wondering: What was I thinking?

The cupcake tins? Absolutely. The two 9-inch cake rounds? Well, I’m not sure I’ll be baking any layer cakes anytime soon, but I’ll say those two tins are relatively “essential.” But most of the other stuff–I simply don’t need.

I went through the piles and tried to select out only those items that had a definite use–and a use I could imagine getting to within the next year. The batteries and the small flashlight? Keepers. The bag of twist-ties and random selection of business cards (all with Atlanta addresses)? Those went off to the trash.

And so on.

But then there were those mementos. The photographs that had been on our fridge back in Atlanta. That heart-shaped magnet with “believe” written on it. A query from the British Yearly Meeting, cut out from a pamphlet, that served as a point of reflection for me for the first half of this year, every time I opened the freezer door.

Most of that stuff I had to keep–for now, at least. I packed what was worth saving into a quart-sized plastic bag and tucked it away for the time being. And some of those meaningful keepsakes I decided it was time to let them go.

And a select few made it onto our new fridge.

I am aware that it’s an ongoing process, this shedding of unnecessary things. Still, it’s amazing to see just how much my perspective can on what I must hold onto, in just a few months.

I can imagine what those four pods are going to look like come next year!

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Day 260: Surrender

Posted on September 17, 2014 by joshdaddy

So I’ve had that old Cheap Trick song stuck in my head today.

I never like going into too many details when they don’t seem relevant, and I think today is one of those instances. All that I really need to note is that today I realized that I have been caught up in a bit of a power struggle without even being fully aware of it. And once I realized that today, I decided simply to let go.

And just like that, the stress that had been creeping into my daily life simply disappeared.

Oh, I’m sure it will creep back in. And I’m sure I will find myself tangled up in something soon enough–either the same knot, or a different one. But it’s always helpful to have a reminder of just how easy it can be simply to surrender the struggle, and then carry on.

I know it sounds like a bad word–fighting, struggling, persevering: those are the action verbs we champion and reward. Never surrender, never give up, right?

But try it some time–I highly recommend it. Especially at those times when the only thing you’re really fighting against is yourself.

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Day 259: Frame

Posted on September 16, 2014 by joshdaddy

I pulled one of those last, remaining boxes out of the basement today and got it unpacked. The box was filled with framed pictures–I intentionally brought those pictures up here to this house (rather than leaving them in storage with the majority of our stuff) because I thought it would help our new house feel like home.

But when I started to take out these pictures, I was a little surprised to feel that these pictures were out of place up here.

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad I held onto every one of the framed photographs that made it up here. But having seen these photographs in a very different house now sitting up here in this mountain house seemed to emphasize for me that our my frame of reference has changed a great deal.

So I moved the pictures from one room to the next, from one shelf to another, waiting for them to settle into the right place.

I’m looking at one of those photographs right now–my three children, standing on a snowy trail in Colorado, all smiles. I had this same picture on my desk upstairs in my old house. Now here it is, sitting by my computer on another desk, in another house.

As we used to say when we were kids: same difference.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this one tonight, other than to note that I’m still in transition, still settling, still finding a new frame.

 

 

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Day 258: Blank

Posted on September 15, 2014 by joshdaddy

Yup, I’m drawing a blank.

It might be a Monday thing. Or maybe I’m too tired. Or maybe I kept myself a little too busy at work–but when I reflect on what I focused on today, or how I challenged myself to live just a little more simply and deliberately… I’ve got nothing.

Oh, I suppose I could make something up–find some moment in the day and expand upon it–but the truth is I’m not sure how deliberate my actions were today, and how much was simply a matter of getting through the day.

But I suppose the real challenge of today is right now: to cut myself a little bit of slack (not that it’s the first time I’ve done so over the last 39 or so weeks) and accept my imperfections. I suppose I could have literally left today’s blog entry blank, just to force myself to confront this gap in my practice head on–but maybe I’m not quite brave enough for that challenge!

So that’s all I’ve got today–stated in 174 words too many.

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Day 257: Tinker

Posted on September 14, 2014 by joshdaddy

Nope–no Sunday Adventure for me and the kids this week. In theory, September and October are supposed to be our driest months up here. That has not been the case lately, though.

So this morning’s heavy fog and mist turned into a steady drizzle–just enough to thwart our plans to hike the Linville River in search of the perfect boulder. In the midst of my disappointment, though, my wife pointed out to me that there were a few projects around the house than needed tending to, and today might be a good day to tackle a few.

Not quite what I had on tap for today–but a point well taken.

I’ve never been super-handy around the house, but there were a few minor repair and assembly items that I managed to tinker with today. Real exciting stuff–like a toilet seat replacement, and a couple of “storage solution” assemblies.

So: what did I learn today, with all my minor tinkering? Well for one, I had to acknowledge that, for better or for worse, I would rather leave chores undone and head off into the woods than to do the “responsible” thing and get the job done.

But I also had to acknowledge that sometimes, knocking out little tasks like the chores I completed today goes a long way in restoring order in the house.

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Day 256: Reintegrate

Posted on September 13, 2014 by joshdaddy

It’s been a long day for a Saturday.

I was up at 5am, so that my oldest and I could make it to Chapel Hill for the first competition of his fall season. We’ve done competitions, and long road trips, for years–but during all those years, my son has been on the same team, competing against the same kids in the same region.

And now we are somewhere new, and having to build new connections.

Well–some place newish would be more accurate. There were some familiar faces at today’s event–other competitors that my son knew from Nationals, or from other events that spanned multiple regions. And there was at least one adult who recognized me as well.

But still–over all these years, I’ve made some very good friends through these events–honestly, some of my closest. I don’t expect those friendships to fade, but I am also aware that I will need to find ways to connect with this new community of competitors and their parents. And I’m sure that will take some time.

So today, I made a point of introducing myself to a few other parents and coaches. And I was warmly greeted in return.

Not a big thing, I know, to say hello and put out my hand. But in other ways as well, it was a big step into a new world of friends and acquaintances.

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