It had been weeks since I was last out to Ocean Shores! Summers in Northwest Washington are so short and so I have tried to take advantage of going on hikes and visiting friends on the weekends when I am not confined to my teaching schedule.
We got to the house late on Friday and I was really overwhelmed and a bit disappointed to see the house not so clean and the garden looking straggly, overgrown, and dry. We had guests coming over. In fact my sister-in-law, Karen, and her partner, Marlen, were due to arrive shortly after us. So tired as I was, I got to cleaning the kitchen and the bathrooms and then on to doing some kitchen prep work. Karen and Marlen arrived and assured me that it is no big deal if the house was a mess. They are family, after all, and it really did not matter to them. I guess I have it drilled in my head that a house should always look clean and presentable, or rather, it should look pristine and perfect when family and guests arrive. I went to bed past midnight exhausted.
The next day, Karen, Marlen, and Rick had a huge project going on. They were cutting into the forest and creating the “Zen Grove”. Cutting down trees with the chain saw, stacking wood for future winter woodstove fires, chipping wood, and making wonderful mulch to place around the fruit trees kept them busy for hours on end, two days in a row!
The garden is terribly overgrown and it was painful to look at it. And early on Saturday morning, while I was on the phone, I was admiring a deer outside on our path, chewing her cud, lying down with her legs tucked under her, rubbing her chin on the grass!!, relaxing as if she owned the place. Later we found her in our garden! How in the heck did she jump that high over the fence? She was so nervous when she saw us and she felt trapped (and maybe slightly embarrassed getting caught eating my roses and hydrangeas) that she tore through the wood fence, knocking out a piece of wood so she could make her escape. Wow. Action in the garden!
Christine, Craig, and Adelaide arrived around noon on Saturday. After lunch, we went to the beach. We had a magical time. The weather was perfect ( 70’s) and the sun was shining. Beautiful August weather. Here are some pictures from my walk on the beach with Christine, Craig, and Adelaide (photos courtesy of Christine!):
Adelaide and me:
I think Adelaide had the most fun! She is a dancing child on the beach. She absolutely loves to run and laugh and play. Being around her reminded me of how serious I can take life and her free child spirit is a great reminder to let the inner child within myself show more often.
