I've Moved the Blog

I'm now blogging at http://vermonthapa.wordpress.com/

Check it out when you can.

love,

elena

Today's Fortune

Oh Sandy

Sun has set...or has it? The sky is so dark.

Even though we are hundreds of miles away from Hurricane Sandy, a "Frankenstorm" of historic proportions that is just now coming ashore in New Jersey, this part of Vermont is expected to get hit hard with gale force winds.

Things are picking up too. Not sure how long we'll have power. Tied a jump rope to the porch door as it kept banging around, making the dog start every time it hit the jamb. Seems to be the only sound Chuck can hear, poor old guy.

Did I mention the moon is full? Even the full moon is contributing to the weather events.

I know nothing, really, about weather or astronomy, but tonight, with the thick, ribs of black clouds giving way to bits of darkening sky and the whistle of the wind coming through the cracks of the house, it's hard not to feel a bit unsettled.

Tonight, making a barley risotto, baked squash and searing a sirloin of local, grass-fed beef. Kids are listening to an audio book and I am drinking red wine.

Three cheers. To family, to nature and to learning how to bend in the wind.

Cleaning up and Cleaning out!

I am now in the vice-like arms of a particular bug...the neurotic-must-clean-my-house bug.  I've adopted an 8 yard dumpster which I've filled once (and is almost full again) and have a truck load of clothes and toys to take to Salvation Army...and I still have three more rooms to clear out!

In the meantime, to keep my creative juices flowing and give myself a tangible reward beyond a less-cluttered house, I'm working on my attic room - a sweet, crooked little space off my bedroom with dreamy morning light and a cool, private staircase into the kitchen. I've been scouring pinterest and design sponge for ideas and although I'm short on cash and time, I'm determined to make this space my own before teenage goddaughter C. and her friend travel here from California for a two week home stay in Vermont.

So here's a bit of video, to give you an idea of what I'm working with:

And a few still shots:

Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!

2012 - 1972 = 40

I am going to turn forty. Soon. A year ago, this reality hit me in the gut. Literally. 


At first, it wasn't too big a deal, as I was running most days a week, doing yoga, eating well, but a temporary medical issue cropped up and I had to take it easy. After awhile, my work schedule got more crazy, I got really stressed and my preventative health took a back seat. As cold weather hit, I decided to make an exercise schedule on my Google calendar, determined to shed those last 10 pounds to hit my ideal-ized weight and panicked when I realized I was a lot farther than I was a few months before. 


This spun off into joining a gym, looking at super foods for youthful skin and increased metabolism, reading articles about healthy aging, and even some late night web surfing inspiration about famous forty-something celebrities (yep, I went there).  I started eating quinoa and kiwis, bought a $30 eye cream and as I squinted to read the tiny print on the back of the tiny bottle, tried to squelch the dread that I may need reading glasses.

39 on the left, 17 on the right. Ack!

I did not totally freak, but yeah...I did freak a little.


Then, I started spending lots of time with a new friend and found myself too busy to think about proliferating gray hairs, sagging necks, creaking bones and spotty memory. Work and life are still insanely busy, but it's been a really good few months.


Now, 7 months later, as I restart my exercise routine and seek balance for my full and happy life, I realize that I really do like myself, and although I'm a work in progress, I'm in a good place.


I want to be healthy and fit, but not at the expense of a healthy psyche and perspective, so it comes back to this never ending and joyful pursuit of life in the present. Besides, there are real benefits to being older and to being this wonderful age and I intend to seek them out with gusto. 


So yes, I admit it. I bailed on my yoga and running (although I've started them again!), and my diet is back to normal with the added benefit of incorporating some pretty damn yummy "super foods", (that's a separate posting!) and I am still figuring out the time thing, but my Dad's voice often pops up in my head "It will work out one way or the other". 


So...I'm gonna throw a party and clean my house instead.


Stay tuned!

Fireflies are BACK...

...and may I always feel the same leap of joy when they appear.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096687/Lighting-night-Stunning-time-lapse-images-fireflies-blaze-beautiful-patterns-dark.html

Memorial Day

In memory of those who served and died in battle, a poem written by a man who was a poet, an artist, a surgeon and foremost, a soldier. Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem, In Flander Fields after the death of his friend and former student, Alex Helmer, in 1915.

Col McCrae died three years later of acute pneumonia, while commanding a military hospital in Europe.

In Flanders Fields

by Col. John McCrae

1915

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.