March Twenty-Twenty-Two

 

"If today gets difficult,

remember the smell of coffee,

the way sunlight bounces of a window,

the sound of your favorite person's laugh,

the feeling when the song you love comes on,

the color of the sky at dusk,

and that we are here to take care of each other."

-Nanea Hoffman 

"See all human behavior as one of two things: either love, or a call for love." - Marianne Williamson

"Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart." - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

"Do we really need much more than this? To honor the dawn. To visit a garden. To contemplate a cloud. To bow our heads before the mystery of the day…Are those not enough?" -Kent Neburn 

and here's a post I wrote for the Godspace blog this month in light of passing the two year mark of Covid in our midst and difficult news that continues to swirl all around us: 

https://godspacelight.com/2022/03/23/keep-watch/

"While hypervigilance has become the way of the world, I believe that we must find tools to keep our hearts open and soft. In order to do this, we are called to a different kind of vigilance as the words “keep watch” are given as invitations throughout Scripture..."

Heart Lens

I looked out the window yesterday on the plane and was so delighted by this view. Look closely for the little gift I saw in the mountains! 

Goodbye Palm Springs!

Every good thing must come to an end.... Too bad to have to leave the sunshine today, but happy to get to see Taylor and Jason!  

in Palm Desert for a late lunch yesterday 

This just begged to be photographed on a walk this morning. 

Just outside our gate waiting to board at the Palm Springs airport... 

This is the best waiting area we've ever been in at an airport! 

Desert Run

We seem to have a penchant for picking the hottest time of day to start our adventures, and today was no different for a trail run in the East Indio Hills Badlands. But these are some crazy ladies with whom I'd choose any day to go on an adventure, so come rain or hail or heat or snow- sign me up. 

Adjusting Expectations- This is 50!

What a fabulous day yesterday! I came down to Palm Springs this weekend to do a crazy hike with my crazy running friends to celebrate Della who is turning 50 this week. The original plan was to do a very intense hike called Cactus to Clouds, but then with some of the snow conditions at the top, we decided to adjust and go on the Skyline to Aerial Tramway Top Station Trail.  But then, Maegan's flight plans changed and she could not get here until yesterday morning which delayed our start until 10:30 am on the trails which made it a super hot hike. Instead of a point to point hike, we chose to do an out and back to play it safe due to the timing. But, this was still 4500 feet of elevation and over 10 miles of hiking so it was no small thing. We joked that the number of times we adjusted expectations on this trip and on this hike is such a sign of the times and of this stage of life. This is 50! 

What a wonderful way to celebrate Della on the trails and to start the week off with some great memories of our hike and some sore legs to prove it. 

first water stop- 

(with a photo we brought of Elizabeth since she could not be here with us!) 

We drove over to the tram and had a blast taking it to the top after our hike. We put on all of the clothes that we had hiked with as it was pretty chilly up on top and laughed at how we looked like we had just put on a yard sale with the random assortment of gear. 

Soccer Season

We went to Taylor's soccer game on Friday afternoon, and his team played Asher's team (Roosevelt vs Lincoln). It was fun to see Taylor, Markus, and Asher all on the same field together given that they all have grown up within a stone's throw of one another. 

and just for fun... here are a few from 6 years ago to see how much they've grown! 

August 23, 2016

October 7, 2016

Cherry Blossom Time

 

I can't get enough of the cherry blossoms each year, 

and I love trying to go almost every day when they are in bloom.... 

Sunday morning running group- Elizabeth, Elise and Paula 

Anna, Helen, and Lucy (friends from Scripps who were in town for spring break)

our placement team meeting (with Rachael and Mayra) was a walk through the cherry blossoms this week :) 

belated birthday walk with Laura 

Tamara Time :) 

and a fun visit with Rachel and Flynn who were in town from Missoula for their spring break IV trip