Savoring time together!

I returned yesterday from my THIRD trek to the Mountain House in a month. It was a different configuration of loved ones with me each time, and this final summer visit was a precious two days there with Tala!

On either end of our trip was food harvesting and processing because, after all, it's July! The day before we left, we processed sweet corn. YUM! What a fun and sticky job. With many hands and good help, we were done by early afternoon. There are 38 bags with 5 generous cups of corn in each tucked away in the freezer to date. We kept a bunch out for fresh eating, which we are still working our way through. We'll see if the season affords us another corn freezing day or if this will be it for the year. At this point I imagine we'll need the remaining freezer space for other things!

While our trip to WV was intended to be a chore-free farm break for us to just focus on spending time together, we still managed to do a bit of harvesting! Along the road after the second mountain, Tala spotted a whole bunch of wineberries on the bank. We passed a lot before we finally could not resist and pulled over to check it out more closely. There were SO MANY gorgeous ripe berries. We weren't prepared with containers and I was wearing flip flops, but we managed to fill the one container we had and a coffee travel mug in just a few minutes. And we made a plan to be prepared on our return trip to pick more!

We crossed another mountain where we made a second stop at Seneca Rocks. I wanted to introduce Tala to our favorite swimming hole there at the base of the mountain. We took a quick dip (Tala's first swim in 3 years) and then made our way over the forth and final mountain. 

After cooling off in the chilly river water and working up an appetite, we were ready to make our little outdoor fire. That meant going into Mom and Dad's shed where we knew multiple snakes lived. We safely acquired enough wood for the evening with only a few jitters and got the fire rolling. While Jason and the girls made s'mores and roasted corn over the fire at Tangly Woods, we did the same at the Mountain House! Unlike if I was at home, I then was able to linger at the fire as long as desired rather than needing to attend to bedtime routines for kiddos! We sat outside for hours until a sound akin to someone screaming came out of the woods. It was followed closely by an owl-like sound, but not before our adrenaline was pumping! It was soon thereafter that we decided to call it a night!

Probably the most notable things from our time there was that I did not get out of bed the next morning until after 9 a.m.! It has been years and years since that has happened. We enjoyed a slow morning with coffee and conversation and then watched Ms. Saigon together before taking off for an explore around the area. Some fresh air and a reminder of all the beauty in the natural world around us was welcome after the intensity of the musical. Watching it had me thinking so much about the impossible decisions so many humans are faced with every day. 

For the next few hours we explored Blackwater Falls State Park, Davis and Canaan Valley. We mostly retraced my family's steps from the week before - hiking out to Lindy Point, going to see the falls, eating delicious ice cream in Davis, driving through Canaan (with lots of deer spotting along the way) and hiking part of the Blackwater River Trail. We were nourished by rhododendron, ferns, trees, colors and textures in abundance, laughter, water, rocks, hugs, and each other. At one point I mentioned wishing that, like in food preservation, it was possible to "can a moment." I guess tucking away memories in our "memory banks" is the closest thing we can do.

Back home, we watched Yellow Rose (another emotional, beautiful, heart wrenching story of trauma and resilience, brokenness and beauty, impossible decisions and making music) and then talked (and cried) late into the night. We feel August coming and the pain of goodbyes often seems to match the depth of love shared - this parting it going to hurt deeply! 

We savored a final morning together, with coffee on the porch in the cool mountain air. 

And then, as planned, we got off in time to stop at "wineberry paradise" on our way home. My parents, headed in the opposite direction as us, stopped to pick a few too (but I was not eager for them to climb too high - we didn't need another ankle break and I knew the wineberries were going to be oh so tantalizing for my mother!).

It felt good to be safely home and to see Jason and the girls again. On a spin around the gardens that evening, I tasted the first tomato of the season and noticed so much growth just in the 48 hours we were gone! Harvest days are expanding and today's included blackberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, trombone squash, and a bunch of parsley and basil for several batches of pesto. There are peppers ripening and the plants look happy, which is very exciting!

Feeling grateful today for fruit and friendship, fresh veggies and nourishing connections, mountain air and valley breezes, children hula hooping and conversations around the dinner table, and hugs when my heart is hurting.

Our week at the Mountain House!

The 5 of us returned home Tuesday evening from nearly a full week in wild, wonderful West Virginia. My parents and Tala went above and beyond in treating us not only to a week away while they tended to the farm, but we also returned home to a house that was much cleaner than the one we had left. I think I'll likely be finding their touches for days to come (e.g. when I walked into the garden shed for the first time I wondered where our whey buckets had gone for a split second until I realized that someone--Tala gets credit for this one!--had washed them all so they were almost unrecognizable!). We even arrived home to a delicious Tala-cooked meal and Mom's extra arms to help unload the very full trunk (Dad was on chicken-watch duty). We are so grateful! For anyone interested in taking a meander through our week, here's some of the highlights we jotted down as the week went along.

Wednesday, July 7

After a whirlwind morning of chores, garden harvests and stuffing all our things in my parents' vehicle (SO glad for the extra space!), we were off! We had a few stops on the way out of town, most importantly one to purchase some additional hula hoops and another for some snacks. We purchased some snacks at the co-op but then stopped at friends' for the best snack - fresh plums from their tree!! We savored that gallon of plums all throughout the week (finishing them up on the eve of our return home, when we were invited to stop on our way home to fill up our bucket once again)!

It wasn't long after we arrived and unpacked that we were googling "nose hooping" and then, as we often do, got side tracked watching other things (our recent subscription to Hulu gets us access to the current season of America's Got Talent). But then the storm rolled in and we lost electricity (including internet connection). So we were left to entertain in more rudimentary ways. :) 

When electricity didn't look like it would be restored in time for cooking anything inside, we made a little fire in the driveway and made s'mores. We had gotten mini-marshmallows at the co-op on a whim to try roasting. I would say it is not worth it for s'mores, but Alida got into trying to throw them up and catch them in her mouth so they had a decent amount of entertainment value. We also toasted bread over the fire to have with cheese, pesto, etc... I hadn't exactly packed thinking of cooking over an outdoor fire, but we made do and the power outage added a little extra adventure to our first evening there.

Kali and Jason sat out by the fire until the power came back on sometime around 11 p.m. The younger gals and I went in and got ready for bed by flashlight and snuggled and read together (I was probably the first one asleep!).

Thursday, July 8

Alida successfully got up in time to crash our morning coffee/reading time. She was very pleased about that and tried some mini marshmallows in coffee. I think she determined that she'll take her marshmallows plain. For brunch, we made 4 kinds of quiches (corn, sausage, mushroom, and herb) and had our first dill cucumber salad of the season to the side (thanks to feathery dill in Mom and Dad's garden and cucumbers we picked prior to leaving). While brunching, we played our first game of Upwords. Thankfully, I won so all attitudes remained positive!

We then hunkered down for some more family screen time where we watched an old movie (The Cutting Edge) and then 2 of 6 episodes of the Netflix series We are the Champions. The first challenge was "cheese rolling" and the second was "chili eating." We watched the remaining 4 episodes throughout the week, which included fantasy hairstyling, dog dancing, yo-yo, and frog jumping. Entertaining and educational for sure! The younger gals pulled our yo-yo out today and asked if I know any tricks. Not a one!

At some point in the day Alida snagged Jason for some undivided daddy-time and that gave Terah the idea to snag me for some mommy-time. Kali graciously and contentedly communed with one of my parents' old newspapers out at the swing set. Terah and I took a stroll to the labyrinth and picked a bouquet of flowers. There was some music jammin' time for Jason, Alida and Terah and then we had a family favorite meal, which will be the only time for this year - I squirreled enough peas away for one small round of rice, peas and cheese sauce. We savored that and I am already eager for peas next year (didn't get our fill this year for sure).

By evening we were ready for an outing so we headed to Davis for ice cream (which we thankfully had just enough cash on hand to each get 1 scoop). I was thrilled they had a coffee ice cream option. We sat along the side walk and took in the main drag in Davis before driving on to Blackwater Falls State Park where we hiked out to Lindy Point through blooming rhododendron. We also did two short walks out to two look outs for Blackwater Falls - at the one closest to the falls, Terah was covering her ears the whole time because the falls were so loud. We had both observation decks all to ourselves and it was getting dark as we headed back to the car.

Friday, July 9

We must have tuckered all 3 kiddos out enough that no one woke before Jason and I enjoyed coffee and a chapter of Raising Free People on the porch. Alida then joined us for a game of cribbage prior to Terah waking and joining us in pouncing on Kali. We enjoyed a pancake brunch with all sorts of fun additions - the most popular being to sprinkle rye grits on the batter while it was frying for a toasty crunch! Once we were all filled up on pancakes and bacon, we were ready for our next adventure. It looked like our best weather day so we took off for Seneca Rocks.

For the record, Terah hiked all the way up and back without being picked up once (even when several dogs passed by us on the trail). I got inspired by some of the graffiti at the top. The river felt great following our hike. We tore ourselves away to have a picnic and play some Rook before heading home.

Saturday, July 10

Kali slept in even later than usual after being up until 1:30 a.m. with Jason watching, and then talking about, the movie Seven Pounds (one Jason had started while donating platelets but didn't get to finish). 

After a ponhoss, eggs and collard greens brunch we took off for Chip Shots Foot Golf. How fun! It's a 9 hole "golf" course where you use soccer balls and try to get your ball in the hole in as few kicks at possible. We played one round individually and then did a second round collaboratively (they gave us the local discount - allowing us to play as many rounds as we wanted for the price of one). By taking the best kick each round, we made or beat par all except for the last hole. Lots of laughing (especially on the first round when Jason was notorious for kicking his ball into the weeds or onto another part of the course) and enough sweating that we were ready to move on to some shade and a cooler activity. 

We headed through Canaan and did the Blackwater River Trail. Thankfully it was less than a mile long trail (we probably should have focused on more of a rest/snack break before trying a hike). On to Davis to the ice cream shop for a second time WITH more cash on hand!! We got our ice cream and walked to a little park where we ate and played some Rook rounds. While at the playground we called and ordered pizza. You would think we had learned our lesson but this place also didn't accept credit cards. Thankfully the girls had brought their purses this time and Terah spotted us one 20, three 10's and two 5's (yes, we are required to reimburse her with the same bills!).  It was a 1.5 hour wait so we decided to play 7 Up 7 Down (or Up and Down the River, which we played by the river!). Kali won, only bidding incorrectly the first and last rounds of the entire game. 

We took our pizza back to the Mountain House to enjoy there (and we negotiated to play ONE more round of Upwords).

Sunday, July 11

Terah was noting how we hadn't spent a full day at the Mountain House, so today was the day! No kids showed up downstairs until about 10:30 a.m. Jason and I had enjoyed coffee (with cold pepperoni pizza for Jason, which I tried once and decided that was enough for me - but I did move from hot coffee to iced coffee as the day wore on) and reading on the front porch. We then transitioned to the recliner and couch where we read and took a snooze before any kids woke for the first time! I guess reading Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown was a good choice for the morning.

We had leftover pizza and quiche for brunch before some playtime outside with frisbee and bubbles. Kali, Alida and I played Rook on the porch for a bit while Terah got to fulfill her dream of climbing out onto the roof with her daddy. 

More games, watching We are the Champions and a bite to eat and we were ready for some stream fun. We walked down to the labyrinth and then on to Horse Camp Run. We spent hours damming the stream and were able to get the water level high enough that Kali and I managed to float and kind of swim for very brief moments in a very small area. It was so refreshing (ok, cold!) and very fun!! 

We found a heart rock to be our dam spillway. It reminded us of Nora!

We warmed up around our second fire in the driveway. Some of us were chased into the garage during a short shower, but then the rain held off until we were snuggled in bed together. The hit of the evening was roasting pieces of leftover pizza over the fire. It truly made the mostly ordinary pizza into really yummy pizza. 

Monday, July 12

Our last day at the Mountain House ended up being really low key with our one planned outing/visit with family sadly cancelled due to illness. It was a day of some repeat activities - watched some things together (including another old movie, Cool Runnings), played a bunch of games (finally got in some Boggle), went back to the stream to break our dam and have more fun with paint rocks (I got my face painted by Alida), ate leftovers, popcorn, ice cream and a pasta dinner (some with pesto and some with sausage), more snuggling and savoring time together (probably a good dose of wrestling with daddy in there somewhere). We played Farkel Party in the evening and Terah creamed all of us. She didn't lose her score on any round in the entire dice game!

Tuesday, July 13

It came too soon for most of us! Alida and I had mixed up cinnamon rolls the night before so that scent was wafting through the house as we started packing. At one point Terah was walking around and she piped up, "I just can't stop sniffing!" We scurried around doing laundry, cleaning and packing up with the whole array of emotions that come at the end of a special week together and a transition back to "normal life." We spent some time looking over pictures of our week since we knew the land home might not allow for that at a more leisurely pace. I enjoyed one more round of iced coffee (which I enjoy so much more now knowing that it was a treat that my Grandma Bucher also enjoyed!).

Now we are back here at Tangly Woods! 

I didn't get much reading in while in WV, but I did manage to read two The Sun magazines (still not caught up, but closer). From the Correspondence section, one contributor shared the perspective on life they were gifted from loved ones they journeyed with through the dying process. I'm rolling it around within me as I got about my days: It will end. Enjoy it and be grateful for what it is. You are a tiny speck in the scheme of things!