“If someone asked you what meditation is, what would you say?”

i posed the question in the car. we have been “doing meditations” together daily for a while now. sometimes, several a day. they feel good. so we stack em up. they like it best when it comes from an app on my phone. weird little iGens. they are 6-15 minutes long. some are seated, some lying down, and some walking. some to chill, some to focus, some to practice gratitude. some to send friendly thoughts and kind wishes to people we love…and people we don’t.

“it’s like breathing and relaxing. noticing things and paying attention closely. thinking and concentrating. focusing on good things. it is like what yoga feels like.”

they said all that. and something more profound, but i cannot recall it exactly… they nailed it.

last week, tinker.com (Debul’s new road-scholar name) was struggling with a writing assignment. we took a break from it and went outside for recess. we tisked and tasked an hour or so away before we returned to it. This time, they closed their eyes once they sat down before they even picked up a pencil. We took slow deep breaths together as we remembered the sights and sounds and smells and feels of the bike ride. As soon as his little eyeball saw light, he picked up his pencil and got to work straightaway. He cranked out three sentences with ease. He chose “tuckered” over tired to describe how his body felt, and was pleased with himself for the choice. Once our exercise was completed, he said “that is what i need to do. that was so much better. i could do it after we breathed like that.”

felt like a parenting win. and an educator win too. it was the most important thing he learned all week. cause once you know, you can’t unknow.

similar to “to know and not do, is to not know.” another big lesson we have been challenged with this week. we gave gluten-free dairy-free another trial run. Tinker.com expressed some interest in getting his red-cheek situation figured out. we started just after Labor Day. it was tough to tell if there was a significant difference or not after the first week…until we introduced wheat back on Wednesday night. Tinker.com’s cheeks flushed red-pink within the hour and Peacock Quill felt awful and terrible by bedtime. no one wanted it to be true, so there were a few tears shed. it seemed appropriate for a daughter of mine to grieve the loss of bread products, even if just temporarily. keeping our fingers crossed for the dairy reintroduction…

this week we have had fall temperatures and cold rains, with snow in the mountains we can see from our windows. the temperatures dropped before the aspen leaves went through the change. i’m afraid they will just fall right off the limbs of the tree without the chance to manifest their destiny. poor leaves. coulda really been something. suppose the green leaves that are severed from the brittle break of the stem connecting them to their source could be resting on the laurels of their summer. when they were in their prime, spreading their whole selves out each and every day for the sun to nourish. in gracious tribute to the sun, and with the aid of the wind, they quaked and clapped together enthusiastically. i suppose turning golden might not necessarily top that. i shouldn’t project onto the leaves.

we met up for hugs and a lap in the park with my good buddy who was quite literally rolling through town. we had several meals with work-friends visiting from North Carolina. we went for a stroll about in the fireweed now wearing it’s autumn colors up by the eclipse spot. we multiplied recipes and made food together. we went to Lego Club and hung out at the library. we played Rumikub after dinner. and we began reading James and the Giant Peach before bedtime. there was reading and writing and math facts in there too. and driving matchbox cars all over the carpet map of the USA. there was shadow yoga. archery practice. we harvested all the kale and ate crisps, and dug up most of the beets too. a scenic overlook trail hike with Shank, and another Little House on the Prairie.

bedtime is 8pm. Tink gets up anywhere from 6:30-7:30. Peacock Quill, 7:00-8:00am. i love not waking them. they slept together last night so woke-up on Tink’s schedule. they were out the door in their puffy coats, boots, hats, and mittens by 7am. just taking a walk-about to see if they could collect enough frost to make a snowball.