All the same, we have survived and made it into the fall. Mythili began kindergarten this year, and has adapted well to only listening to Spanish all day long. She is already learning some new phrases and repeating them at home, though she did admit the other day, “My teacher finally understanded me when I told her, ‘I have Girl Scouts.’” (Her teacher doesn’t speak English–ironic, right?). While she is a bit tired at the end of the day, she seems to like school, and has also enjoyed joining our Girl Scout troop.

Meanwhile, Riona began her one and only year of preschool. To say she loves it would be an understatement. She knows details about her teachers’ interests and lives and has made a few friends already, though at first she was a bit shy. Bruce has also been taking her to Prairie Preschool at the Plains Conservation Center, where she gets to ride the wagon, feed the chickens, pick vegetables from the garden, and pet the snakes!

Isabella is a full-fledged school girl, delving into complicated subtraction and word problems, reading short books in Spanish, and longer chapter books in English. She and Mythili both participate in a once-weekly after school activity: for Isabella, dance class, and Mythili, art. Both girls are enjoying their school year.

In addition to the usual day-to-day activities, we went troop camping this year at Twisted Pine Girl Scout Camp just outside of Genessee. The girls had a blast creating survival bags, hiking and observing nature, learning about and searching for constellations, singing songs and telling stories around the campfire, and playing outside in the homemade tee-pee. The lodge was amazing, with three large bedrooms, a decent sized bathroom, and a huge, fully stocked kitchen! We can’t wait to try out all the Girl Scout properties and have already booked a different camp, Meadow Mountain Ranch near Estes Park, for some winter fun in January.

In addition to working with new teams this year and teaching a computer class (ACK!), I am also very busy teaching three University of Phoenix online classes back to back until December 20th! In addition to cramming in bike rides to school and walking thousands of steps for our district’s pedometer competitions, busy is the only way to describe my life right now. Fortunately, Bruce has been amazing, taking the kids to and from school, doing all the shopping and errands, cooking delicious meals every night, and dealing with our breakdown-central van. Thank goodness for some stress relief!

On the weekends, we’ve been enjoying the glorious Indian Summer weather in Colorado with long bike rides, hikes, and trips to various farmers’ markets to pick up fresh eggs, vegetables, and Colorado peaches and apples. And of course we made our annual visit to the Aurora Jack-o-Launch, watching the pumpkins fly through the air from their catapult and rifle-like contraptions, enjoying some Dry Dock beer, and watching the kids create crafts and play in the corn box (rather than sand box). Now that autumn is upon us, we’re hoping things will settle down a bit and we can r-e-l-a-x!

Victory

I have made it to the top
I know you didn’t think I could
but I always knew
with open arms I waited for this moment
and now with a tickle
of cloud-licked wind
I have arrived

to put it all behind me would
be to forget why I came
to abandon the snow that
stung my toes as I kicked in steps
to let loose the hazardous
boulders that I had to scramble over

no, that would be betrayal
to my soul
who has waited for this moment
longer than the rest of me

so I will remember the cramped stomach,
the aching calves,
the harsh, alpine wind
that not for one moment would allow me sleep
and the longing that
carried my heels up this mountain
because without the pain

of memory,
I would never truly be able to live,
to breathe,
and from within to thrive
in this glorious moment of victory.

Bikes and Apples
or, First Loves

It is a cold ride
but an exhilarating one
while the book plays in my ear
I stop momentarily
to listen to my three-year-old
who calls to me from
the trailer
where she is tightly wrapped,
double-hooded,
and playing with her new Barbie

She never complains
and is the only one who still
basks in the glory of the ride

We pedal across town
over wooden bridges
down curvy hills
splashing in puddles
and zipping past the slow pokes

because, as Bruce says,
I ride my bike just like I drive

I try to argue that
it’s the only way to burn enough calories
that I have to beat my last time
but really, it’s the thrill
of speeding past Mr. Spandex
and hearing Riona
squeal, “Wheeeee”
all the way down the hill

And then we are surrounded by
my old neighborhood
filled with brick ranches
and tiny yards
and trees as gigantic as back east

I stop the bike and
the others meet us there
carrying fresh-baked scones
that the girls crumble and munch
as we meander amongst the white-tented stalls

and even though I am still shivering,
the sun is coming out,
I can no longer feel the wind,
and they have the
pungently sweet Swiss gourmet apples
that traveled from the western slope
and whose crisp taste
has lingered in my mouth all morning.

I buy a bag from the vender
who tells me she rode her bike here too,
knowing that soon
there will be warm pie in my oven
and three girls fighting
over who gets the last piece,
and I think, my legs
aching and hot now,
it doesn’t get any better than this.

After breakfast, we headed to the farmers’ market and King Soopers and bought thirty pounds of tomatoes, eighteen pounds of peaches, broccoli, corn, carrots, and red peppers. The girls just love running through the fountain at Southlands, even though it was only about 75 degrees!

When we got home, Isabella and Mythili helped wash jars and peel the skins off of the tomatoes. I stemmed them and squished them into their jars–twelve in all–and then we sat down for a quick lunch while the water boiled for the peaches. I was about to smash those peaches against the wall, because they weren’t quite ripe and the skins didn’t slide off as easily as the tomatoes, forcing me to use the peeler where the juicy skins stick like glue. But I still managed to get them all in the jars, boil enough water to fill all twelve, and Bruce just now, seven hours after arriving home, pulled the last jars out of the canner.

In the meantime, the girls helped me shuck corn, and I cut up one of our multitude of garden squash for our squash casserole, mixing it in with ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, spices, and tomato sauce ( I just can’t get away from my favorite food in the world–tomato sauce!).

Why do I do this? I could spend my Saturdays lazing around the house, watching TV, reading a book, or just watching the girls play their endless imaginary games. But even though it’s time consuming and sometimes tedious, there is something quite extraordinary and beautiful about a storage room filled with brightly colored jars of jam, tomatoes, and peaches. There is something about showing my girls that food does have a season, a harvest, and there are ways to preserve our food, and our health, without shipping it from thousands of miles away. Between the jars we’ve canned this month and the twenty loaves of zucchini and carrot bread we have baked and frozen for holiday gifts, I hope that my girls have learned that food is not just something that magically appears in front of them at meal time: it’s grown, it’s steamed, it’s handled and cooked. It’s made for us to enjoy and cherish, just as we are made for it.