Wishing I were at the barn having breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe, taking a Mother's Day paddle, followed by massage at Balanced Bodyworks. Here in the city, we are heading to brunch at Half King, followed by a crazy adventure called Accomplice. I'll let you read for yourself but it comes highly recommended. We'll take pics.
Imagine an Accomplice ADK. Now that would be an adventure!
Too late? Can i still start them? Cmon ADK gardeners what to do. If i don't use the seeds this year, I can save them till next, right? I am coming clean with my limited knowledge of this seed world but want to give it a try. a
I just dropped off Clarke at his first bar mitzvah celebration. He had a new outfit, new shoes (he was already limping when I dropped him off -yikes), gel in his hair, and a nervous laugh. He never looked more grown up or handsome. He refused to let me take his picture on the street so I snuck my camera into the taxi and he reluctantly allowed it.
I just couldn't stop looking at him. When did he become this mini man? I want to tell him so much and protect him from so much. I want him to understand what it means to be a man...and what doesn't. I want him to be a person of integrity. I want him to love fully, not as a way to stroke his own ego or prop himself up, but as a way to transcend himself. I want him to face his challenges. I want him to appreciate his life, and not take anything or anyone for granted.
Tonight, I will settle for him just having a great time on his first real teenager night.
I'm really trying to plan my summer and all i keep reading about is the most excellent ski season that awaits us after the summer. This must stop. I need a summer music calendar , the summer yoga schedule at InnerQuest, the new Donnelly's ice cream calendar - KIDDING- has it ever changed, the farmer's market calendar. Can't believe it's May already! Who is more excited about the end of school, the boys or i?
Oh, and for those bloggers that rsvp'd for Bloggers at the Barn. My apologies on the cancellation. Rest assured it will be rescheduled.
This week was too needed and too fast. Today I puttered around the garden, raked, hauled some blown down trees, picked up debris and generally basked. The boys played golf, baseball, soccer. We visited at our neighbors and walked around the lanes. We ended our stay with dinner at Casa Del Sol, a family favorite. Sounding like a broken record but never meaning it more - this place speaks to my soul.
We'll start at the end of the story. The final leg of our famous Waterfall Hike involved a very precarious climb to Rainbow Falls. We were on a ledge with snow up to our thighs. It was slippery and our feet were soaked. I thought it might be a bad idea to continue until Oscar said "do it for the blog, mom". So I succumbed to peer pressure from my nine year old and we continued, making it another hundred feet to see Rainbow Falls in all of its spring glory - even felt the spray. We tried to get even closer but Oscar slipped (per Oscar "and almost died"), and we decided that we had made the most of the day.
The weather was perfect for the hike, and this was one of our favorites from last year. Unfortunately, both West River Trail and East River Trail were closed because of significant snow. We didn't have our snow shoes and might have soldiered on despite the warning but I do remember there was a lot of narrow climbing and the ranger looked alarmed when I hesitated. We then decided it was our first hike in awhile and it would be ok to just take the Lake Road. This would mean we'd miss all the falls, except the grand daddy Rainbow. We hiked for about 4 miles and reached the Lower Ausable Lake Dam. The boys took their shirts off and dived into snow banks. We let our socks dry out and hung on the rocks for awhile, before our fateful decision to climb the rest to Rainbow.
The way back was easy peasy, mostly downhill. We had some Naan for sustenance. The boys passed the trail for their all-time favorite mountain..Nippletop. The giggling lasted for about a half mile. We probably hiked around 9 miles total, a great first outing. The boys came back and had brownies and we had ginger flank steak and sugar snap peas for dinner. A great escape.
** pix shot with my bberry. excuse quality
Clarke Williams has made it to the next and final round of auditions for Jazz Academy at Lincoln Center. Cmon, you knew he would, right? If you'd like to send him a congratulatory email, he can be found at clarke.williams1@gmail.com
