a very rainy day

It is dumping rain here today. Rosie just arranged her office bed into
this little tent and crawled inside. What could be better on a
blustery wet day? My thoughts exactly!

solstice

Today is summer solstice. With our very short summer season, it's always a shock when solstice arrives. The marking of the first day of summer and the peak of our long days, also means the slow loss of light and always sort of feels like "what, summer is almost over?" It's not of course, but it isn't uncommon for it to rain all of August, the earlier months always more likely to be dry and brighter.

This time of year our forests are filled with the bright greens of Devil's Club, Skunk Cabbage and sprinkled with white Dwarf Dogwood. The ferns are huge and the ground is covered in bright green moss. Everything seems to be glowing.

So, happy solstice. Enjoy the light. Enjoy the blooms and the greens. Here is Rosie on our hike into the cabin this past weekend doing just that!

retreat

We just got back from an overnight at Peterson Lake cabin. It's a drive "out the rode" here in Juneau and then a hike that's a bit over four miles. It's peaceful and quiet there and there's a little row boat on the lake that we spent a lot of time playing with. It was, as the cabins always are, a perfect retreat from the worries and stressors of every day life.

For me, there are few things more satisfying than a walk in the green woods w/ my husband, my dog, and a correctly fitting pack. The lush colors and chirping of song birds just can't be replicated. We are so lucky to have places like this in our backyard. Places where we can listen to the silence and breath in the crisp smells of the earth.

Rosie and I went for a row early this morning. We listened and watched as a loon cried her haunting song on the lake and the other birds chirped and chattered in the stillness of the new day. It was the quietest and most settled I have felt in quite some time and I found my mind NOT wondering! Rosie and I just sat together and enjoyed the moment. Perfect.

gathering

Rosie and I are both learning about gardens and yards this summer. I am learning how to plant and care for them, Rosie is learning how to stay out of them and in them respectively. It has been so fun and unbelievably therapeutic.

A really great trick I learned from another "dog person," is to tie a long cord to Rosie while she's out in the yard. We don't tie her up, but if she starts to go somewhere she shouldn't we tell her no and reel her back in, giving her a treat when she get's to us, and lots of treats when we don't have to reel her and she does it on her own. It has really helped teach her the boundaries of our yard (which is not fenced) and we rarely have to reel her, but we can in a pinch and that is great. She has freedom and we have a safety mechanism to keep her from going where she shouldn't.

This has allowed Rosie and I to spend a lot of quality time in the yard this summer. I am amazed at how good I feel mentally after digging in the dirt. The excitement of harvesting our first salad from the garden filled with lettuce, mustard greens and arugula was about the coolest thing ever! Since then we've harvested broccoli and radishes and are patiently waiting on beets and carrots. So fun! Truly I don't really know what I am doing, but I am learning and hopefully, over time I'll figure it out bit by bit and the process is definitely as yummy as the salad! Here is a peak at some of the garden.

simplify

Well, we aren't going to be able to hike the Chilkoot Trail this summer. The reality is that we just have too much to do on our house over the next two months. The thing about being a grown up, I suppose, is that sometimes you have to make the responsible choice, not the fun choice. Bummer. We are committing ourselves, for that time frame anyway, to be grown ups. Which is probably a good thing, given the heating situation in our 100+ year old house.

We needed to simplify, to take something off our plate. These days everyone seems so busy. Two year old's have "play dates," a term that clearly has developed out of our overly packed schedules and the need to "pencil" it all in on a given date and time. As I am working to not freak out over little things, simplification is becoming more and more integral in the way I strive to live my life - and mind you, I am not there yet!

One way I notice if my life is out of control is when I get too busy to take Rosie for a walk. That's when I put on the breaks and try to regain control. I need those walks just as much as Rosie does and that's the truth. Those of us with dogs get the added bonus of religiously getting outside, rain or shine, to walk our four legged family members. What a joy! When all the responsibilities of being a grown up hit me over the head, going back to the simple task of taking Rosie out for a walk lightens my load and refreshes my brain.

We won't get to hike the Chilkoot Trail this summer, and that is too bad. We will however, make strides toward the long journey of making our home into what we envision it to someday be. We will take long walks with Rosie, harvest fresh greens from our garden and do our best not to pencil in all our spare time. The Chilkoot Trail will have to wait.

faith

I just started a great local book that I'll tell you all about when I am done reading it. It's called "Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs," by Haines author Heather Lende. She references a lot of traditional prayers in the book, including one I have always loved.

"Dear God, have mercy on me. The sea is so wide and my boat is so small." It's a fisherman's prayer of course, but it fits for all of us. Our lives are so wide. Some days are easy and the wind isn't blowing and some days are a storm. Either way, it's nice to have faith that God (whatever we perceive God to be), will take mercy on us in some manner as we all try to stay afloat.

I think sometimes about the faith that dogs have, that they must have - in us. Faith that we will keep them safe, faith that we will treat them well and meet their needs and I wonder if this is related to the general happy state of dogs who are given reason to have faith that we will do the right thing for them. A bit of faith is a good thing for all of us I suppose. It certainly helps to weather the storm.