Outside

When a new year begins, I basically like to make the laziest resolutions possible, things that I know I would've done anyway, such as: I resolve to have a lot of fun this year. I resolve to savor each moment with my babies. I resolve to at least try to exercise, sometimes.

But, I do pay special attention to the transitional time, in my secret superstitious way, to try to get a feel for how the new year is shaping up. The first few minutes, hours, days, and weeks of the new year have a certain auspicious feel to them. While tidying up from the holidays and busying myself with the January birthdays, making fresh starts and going about family life, I am also paying attention to what the rhythms feel like, what the days seem to naturally offer. Whether people are in good moods or bad, myself included, what people are talking about, what kinds of general hopes we generate as a species, as little tribes, as families. Traffic, grocery store tellers, words I hear, repetitions, stories. These are things I like to note all the time, but they have a certain quality of import around the beginning of January.

This year in the back of my mind I have it that I want to be outdoors as much as possible. Not just this year, really, but it's more immediate right now, like, even though it's January I want to spend as much time as possible outside with my girls every day. This isn't purely for a nature-mama-earth-inspired reason. The truth is, in part, that my girls sleep much better if they've spend a good bit of the day outside in natural light. I also want to spend time outside even if it's raining or cold, bundled up of course, because it's just fun for the girls and I want them to grow up feeling adaptable and excited by all kinds of weather. We'll see about that if it ever starts raining again. (please oh please)

January 1, the year starts with animals gathering round our tree out front for all the peanut leftovers and birdseed: deer in packs of three, four, five and more, a squirrel party of peanut-seizing, and sparrows, bushtits, and bluejays in hordes. We have such fun watching them.

Then another river trip, Darin takes a short run and we bring a picnic basket and my identification guide. Rocks and sand in hands and mouth, dirty fingers and running legs, making friends with swimming dogs.

Almost every day has been nice enough to play in the backyard. They get dirty, muddy, a little bit wet, but I don't care. We've gotten to soak in some nice fresh vitamin D.

One night we had a bonfire, Lucy's request.

January 10: at Utah's birthday party we spend most of the afternoon playing outside at Grandma Vickey's ranch. She has all the fun stuff. 

After cake and presents, we spend sunset outside with the donkey and goats.

Pumpkin the donkey is getting so very old. We toss her her carrots so she doesn't have to teeteringly and shyly approach us.

A perfect evening.

We let the last chicken into the coop and then Ryann plays with Lucy and Utah in the leaves until it gets dark.

January 12: on our walk downtown we pass a big beautiful dead raccoon that has been hit by a car. We love him and he hurts my heart and I happen to know he's been there two days already and I can't stand it, so I call trusty Pops to pick him up and bring him to bury him in our yard.

Lucy is fairly unfazed by the dead raccoon but very interested in digging.

Polly wears her mushroom shirt from Fern.

Later. Nana comes over with more birdseed and we fill pans of water for the deer and squirrels since it's dry now. 

A lot of fun indoor stuff has happened too, but so far I haven't been so great at another of my lazy, back-of-my-mind goals: read more. So I think that's what I'll go do. 

Hope your days are filled with nature, beauty, and happy prospects for 2015!