Day 319 - Train Game

Thought of the day: I have been looking out of the window at the bright half moon for a little while. There’s something about watching the moon floating in the air above us - it seems so remote yet so near, so nonchalant yet so relevant, so ancient yet so present. Lots of beautiful Chinese poems have been written about the moon and tonight I am recalling a few of them. For millenniums, people have looked into the sky at night and felt drawn to it. The universe around us has the strange power of unleashing your imaginations yet grounding you at the same time. I think I will have that mythical power in my dreams tonight.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine was playing a train game with daddy while Lila was taking a nap. It was difficult to put her down for a nap these days even when she really needed it. It's easier at night. When Lila is too excited to sleep at night, I just need to show her the dark sky and mountains outside of the window and that has the effect of calming her down. I wonder if kids can feel the mythical power and rhythm of universe more than we do.

Day 214 - Mossy Rock

Thought of the day: This afternoon, when I was cleaning up the aspen catkins in the backyard, suddenly I felt the familiar urge to travel.  Oh, the care-free traveling days, when you can just leave all your worries behind and enjoy new adventures every day as they come.  I am sure this over-romanticized view of traveling is somewhat faulty and there will be times when I will miss my home dearly, but at least I will no longer need to worry about those nasty catkins (aren't they pretty as they are?), dusty floors (isn't that part of the charm?) and dirty laundries (they can wait) every day.  Going to travel is like pushing a giant pause button on your real life and start a new life every day in a different place - a life that's ungrounded and without consequences as it's fleeting and temporary.  I will welcome the lightness of being for a while.  Yes, in just one more week, I'll be there.

Photo of the day:

Lila was a huge help in cleaning up the backyard today.  But of course, she mostly played.  Here she was trying to climb up a mossy rock near the play structure.

Day 196 - Ice Cream

Thought of the day: We are going to spend a couple of days in Greece next month and I am already looking forward to it.  There are tens of thousands of online photos of the village that we are visiting and I really like what I have seen so far.  Of course, having such a high expectation before a trip is probably not a good thing.  Last week we made a last minute plan and visited Stanley Hotel in Estes Park over the weekend.  I had not expected much but we all ended up having a marvelous time.  Come to think of it, the hotel and the locale were certainly important, but it was really the people who came along in the trip that made it so special.  For the Greek trip, I am reassured of the choice of location after seeing the photos and reading the reviews, now I just need to make sure that the other part works out well too:-)

Photo of the day:

Girls enjoying their Wednesday evening sweets.  They are the enviable creatures of the moment carrying very few memories from the past or plans for the future.  We, as adults, alone carry the burden of regrets and anxieties that are often unwarranted.  Wouldn't that be nice if we can unburden ourselves and treat life as a simple ice cream cone and just enjoy it one mouthful at a time?

Day 140 - Sandy Hands

Thought of the day: We went to a beach at Half Moon Bay today.  As it was a workday, we had the beach pretty much all to ourselves.  We had a picnic while enjoying the sound of the ocean and the company of seagulls and many other birds.  It was a little windy and a little chilly, as often is the case on that beach, so we didn't stay for very long.  We occasionally see seagulls in Palo Alto, but there's nothing like a trip like this to remind us how close we are to the Pacific Ocean.  On the way home, I made a mental note to visit the ocean more often in the future.  Coming to the bay area and do not visit the beach is like going to Colorado and do not pay tribute to the Rockies, the trip would have been incomplete.

Photo of the day:

Lila showing me her sandy hands after playing on the beach.

Day 138 - Dessert

Thought of the day: Today I biked with my dad to their old townhouse which was for sale.  The realtor did quite a bit of work before putting it on market.  We were surprised when we entered the door - it felt as if we had just stepped into an Ethan Allen showroom.  It even used my favorite color palette.  But it didn't feel like home any more and it made me really miss the simplicity and familiarity of their old home.  Moving can be difficult because you will inevitably leave a part of your history, and a part of you, behind.  It's hard to reckon with the fact that some things that you have gotten so used to and taken for granted are not yours any more.  It could be a tree that you climbed on, a pool that your kids swam in or the view from a window there was special to you.  It's even harder to move when you grow older.  Luckily for my parents, they didn't have to move very far this time and their old friends could still visit them in their new home.  But I know that they are not interested in moving again any time soon.

Photo of the day:

Lila got a special treat after eating dinner well tonight.  She really, really, I mean really, enjoyed the apple strudel from Ester's German Bakery and devoured it within a minute.  She demonstrated to us the reason why we humans came equipped with ten fingers.