We spent yesterday afternoon sitting around a backyard campfire with a group of friends from Aidan’s Junior Great Books club. They had been reading folktales and recently read the classic folktale “Stone Soup.” You know the one–about the pilgrim who comes to town and tells the hungry town folk that he can make soup-enough-for-all from a
stone. He begins by boiling a single stone in water, and as the people ask him if it’s ready he says, “Not quite yet. It would be a bit better if we had some salt…” And so it goes, the town folks one-by-one contribute the very little each of them has to the stone soup–one person celery, another carrots, yet another sage, then lentils, potatoes, garlic, and so on. A true lesson in the power of cooperation and coming together as a community. So we thought it would be cool to reenact the story in the beautiful fall weather over a warm fire–each child contributing one ingredient they prepared and brought with them.
As the soup cooked, the children moved inside to kneed some dough prepared by Dawn, the host of our get-together, and shape it into delicious loaves of their own creation. There’s nothing like fresh baked bread hot from the oven with homemade apple butter oozing over the crust to accompany delicious soup. Add to that hot apple cider and it just doesn’t get much better.
We danced, made painted leaf crafts, played, ate good food, and talked. Easy-peasy good times.
Tags: books · family fun · food · photos · socializing
This past weekend, we drove like crazy people eight hours north to take care of some details as we edge ever closer to realizing our dreams of a northwoods retreat. We’re almost there now. After more than a year of searching for land, and over a hundred days of trying to secure ingress/egress easements before we can close on the 40 acre parcel we’ve fallen in love with, everything is finally in place. We should be closing by the middle of this week.
After a meeting with surveyor, excavator, and realator, we managed to save ourselves a few hours to hike and just enjoy being outdoors. We spent time hiking around Harlow Lake, which is just 20 minutes from the 40-acre parcel. Despite our many visits, we never took the opportunity to really look closely at this beautiful lake. So, we spent some time there. We also took the opportunity to hike the much talked about Sugarloaf Mountain. I can’t believe we haven’t done this sooner. The hike wasn’t too difficult, but the views were wonderful. We spent a lot of time just hanging out at the summit, lounging on the rocks, talking, sitting quietly, and gazing over the treetops at the big water that lies beyond.
I feel like this fast weekend trip was the first in which we really relaxed–without the pressure of a packed agenda, looking for that perfect piece of land, rushing against the time and the seasons. This trip, everything seemed more at peace, more present, aligned with the dream and filled with the promise of what’s to come.
Tags: family fun · michigan · nature · photos · travel
Bono and The Edge of U2 appeared on Letterman a couple weeks back. These guys deserve every accolade they’ve received–absolute consummate musicians. Hell, they don’t even need to get off the couch to move an audience musically and lyrically. I love this song and this performance. Check it out.
Tags: music · performance · television · video
stone. He begins by boiling a single stone in water, and as the people ask him if it’s ready he says, “Not quite yet. It would be a bit better if we had some salt…” And so it goes, the town folks one-by-one contribute the very little each of them has to the stone soup–one person celery, another carrots, yet another sage, then lentils, potatoes, garlic, and so on. A true lesson in the power of cooperation and coming together as a community. So we thought it would be cool to reenact the story in the beautiful fall weather over a warm fire–each child contributing one ingredient they prepared and brought with them.
