In Which We Realize We Have No Agenda

We seriously thought about staying at Springmaid Mountain for the next month to sit quietly and watch the leaves change and fall around us, only leaving at the signs of the first snow - but we decided to go.  There is always that push... to continue on... not to settle.  Not yet.  And so we debated about our next location.  Before we head south for the winter, I wanted to see the leaves change.  I wanted to visit a few other places - especially Kentucky, my mom's home state.  We went back and forth about what to do next... this was the first time in the journey we had no agenda.  No deadline.  Nothing to come back to.

After an hour or so of discussion, we landed on moving east to Asheville, NC.

Throughout our journey so far, many people have said we would love Asheville.  When we talk about "finding our spot" - Asheville comes up over and over again.  When I look up places to meet other unschoolers?  Asheville - and meeting other unschoolers had rested heavy on my heart since ARGH.  During the panel, all of the kids were well adjusted, happy, awesome people - but when we talked about connecting with others, many of the panel participants were brought to tears about how they longed for closer and deeper relationships with others like themselves.

I was pretty determined that Asheville would be a tourist attraction for us and nothing more.  I have no desire to live in the south.  I hate hot, humid summers.  I love snowy winters!

And then we got here.

We stayed in the cheapest campground around - right next to the highway.  It had horrible reviews on Google and no amenities (no bathhouse, no playground, no camp store).  A bike path ran directly through the grounds (which included about twenty spaces for RVs) and it was used heavily.

Immediately after we pulled in Maeryn noticed a few little girls playing at an RV at the end of the row.  She begged to be allowed to go over and play with them.  It's always a little scary to allow this for a multitude of reasons - not the least of which is the risk of rejection, which is always a blow to all of us.  I would rather just hole up in the bus.  We'll go and see the city, stay in the bus... there's no reason the kids should want to go out - no playground...

Michael took Maeryn over to meet the other little girls.

And it was good.  You'd think I'd learn my lesson by now when it comes to be social and open - but I really haven't.  The risk or rejection, ridicule, hatred, fear... it's so heavy on my mind.

Eventually, Jonah went and played with the little girls along with his sister and I really had no excuse anymore.  I went out and we talked with their grandmother and mother and they talked with us about the campground and the area.  They were nice.

After dinner Jonah wanted to check out the bike path.  I decided to accompany him.

We had a great ride along the French Broad River, stopping a few times just to hang out along the way.

When we returned and put the bikes away, we set up the dining tarp my dad bought for us as an early Christmas gift.  It felt amazing to have another room for rest and play. 

As we finished setting up the tarp and screen, our next door neighbors came over to introduce themselves.  They were full timers who decided to stay in Asheville and find permanent residence.  We chatted a long time before excusing ourselves to go on a drive through the city.

Downtown was busy, even on a weeknight, and the prominence and dominance of the arts struck me immediately.  There were studios and galleries on every corner, street musicians on every sidewalk, and living statues posing in front of every upscale restaurant. 

When it came time for bed I thought, in a sort of foreboding way...  I might have to reconsider this place.

Home Again. Acupuncture. Running.

After a LONG drive, we have now finally been home for three days.  Tomorrow we are leaving again to head to Idlewild Park with our best friends, Adam and Mandy, and their two kids, Sam and Ben.  I'm SO excited.  Idlewild is a place that holds lots of great childhood memories for me, and I'm hoping it can hold the same for my children now.  I'd recommend the park for anyone with kids.

In other news, I may or may not continue running.

I'm  not sure how to feel about this.

I went to the doctor yesterday for the pain I've had in my back for years.  I've seen a few other physicians, but this is the first alternative medicine physician I've ever seen.  He found the problem immediately: back spasms - TONS of them all over my back.  He recommended acupuncture - which makes me a little nervous, but I really think it will help me.  Unfortunately, he also said that my running is probably exasperating my back pain.  He didn't really say I shouldn't run anymore, but it was implied.

It makes me sad because I was carving out this tiny space in my head for part of my identity as "runner".

He's right though.  My back DOES tighten up intensely after my runs.  I get a great endorphine rush, but my back is extremely tight as I stretch and recover - always.

Lower impact stuff is good: cycling, swimming - but those things take more prep and more time out of the day and I don't feel that great about that.  I love cycling and swimming of course, but you've got to prepare for those things so much more than just jogging out the door in your running shoes.

I just don't know.

It should be obvious, right?  I should take care of myself for crying out loud.

There is some hope for the future.  Once the acupuncture gets the spasms to stop (which is WILL, while my body can't do it on it's own), I might be able to start running again, because there won't be spasms to exasperate.

I just want to be able to stick to exercising and not give up on my fitness because I'm taking a break from running.  I'm also sad about not being able to do races and such.  I really do enjoy a good 5K.

Denver: Day 2

Since I am writing this post on Day 3, I must admit that Day 2 seems like about a year ago in my memory.  I'm also super tired, so bear with me as I struggle to squeeze yesterday from my not-so-fully-functioning brain.

Yesterday morning we got up, and after MUCH adieu, we headed out for a 15 mile bike ride into downtown Denver.  We took a system of trails all the way to an REI so we could take a look around.  The ride was fun, minus a trailer accident that gave the boys (Jonah and cousin, Jeremiah) a bit of a shake-up and some nasty scrapes and my flat tire - oh, and several water bottle losses and retrievals... oh, and I ran over a squirrel...it survived...  It was cool to check out the trail system, the prairie dogs (that run all over and back and forth to and from their holes), and the parks along the way.

We made a stop at Confluence Park and the boys got to wade in the water (Maeryn stayed at home with Grandma and checked out the local playground scene).  I really liked the fact that streams and rivers ran right into the city center.

I understand that this happens in other cities, but the water is often hidden somehow or beneath large concrete barriers to prevent flooding.  This particular body of moving water is a part of the landscaping in Denver, not something that is to be hidden or a pit for waste or a hub for graffiti artists - around it they've made parks for kids to splash, they've set up a traffic system for kayakers so they can route right into the city if they have access to the river, etc.  I think this is awesome.  I approve.  As though it were remotely my place to do so...

The afternoon was relatively lazy - we grabbed lunches and hung out while the kids vegged or napped.  I started reading The Story of Stuff, which I highly recommend, as anti-capitalistic as it may be...  and as evening came we headed out to Lookout Mountain to well...look out.

The evening ended with a trip to Golden  where we were treated to ice cream by my mother in-law.  I had chocolate chip and it was everything I thought it could be.

Heat.

It's one of those days I hate.  It's 93 degrees outside.

That is simply too hot for functionality on a human level.

Today I went to the drill hall and ran three miles on the treadmill and still felt like crap when I went outside because it was so darn hot.  I have the kids downstairs watching movies and eating marshmallows with raisins and drinking water instead of playing outside because it's too darn hot.

I am grouchy about it.  I admit this.

I am also grouchy about the oil spill in the Gulf - but this is not a political blog - nor do I think I wish it to be - so I'll just leave my thoughts at:  Dear BP, Clean up your mess.  Check out your personal copy of All I Ever Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and get to it.  Fix the problem.  Quit worrying about your bottom line and the money that you're ultimately losing by the second anyway, and get 'er done.  Okay?  Oh, and Dear Obama - you can take responsibility all you want, but the ownership is still on the company that owns the well.  Period.  When you do something you should do it right, if you must do it.  Period.  OH, and another thing... Dear Obama - please stop giving lip service to changing the way this nation views power and actually do something about it.  We're spending trillions anyway, let's get some new bike lanes up in here!

Okay - I will stop now.

But it has got me thinking about how to be more environmentally friendly and less oil dependent as a family.  Our car is the first easy answer.

I need to stop being frightened of public transit and just try it out one of these days.  I also need to stop being frightened of riding my bike places and using the bike lanes.  This is hard to do around here, however, for obvious reasons.

Regardless and aside from all that - I'm putting things into better perspective, and somehow it's also got me focusing a little more on my own mortality.  Not in some morbid way, just thinking about it and realizing that everything is so much bigger than my little life here on this little planet.

So I guess I should stop complaining about the temperature outside and be happy I'm alive, and not covered with oozing "black gold".

First Seasonal Cycling Excursion - Family Style

Last week the weather was lovely, so Michael and I decided that we'd venture out for our first bike ride of the season.  We didn't want to have to pay a babysitter, so we decided to take the kids in the trailer.  This is a risky endeavor to say the least.  At about seven miles in, they usually begin to get on one another's nerves - and now, almost an entire year since our last cycling excursion, Jonah is much bigger than before, as is Maeryn, so they will definitely be taking up more of one another's space.

And so it was.

After a twenty minute parking lot preparation, during which the kids frolicked through the parking lot, the public garden, and pressed their grubby noses against the MWR window on our local naval base, we were ready to head out.

It had been awhile since I was on the bike, but it felt amazing to be back. 

Michael, on the other hand, rides his bike to work daily since we cut back to one car.

We averaged about 16 mph and did the ten miles.

As I suspected, around mile 7 the kids started screaming at and about one another.

I am not sure why they can't just keep their hands to themselves and share toys and books nicely with one another - but this seems to be an utter impossibility at this time.

I'm hoping that somehow money drops from the sky and we can get Jonah a new bike of his own and get the training wheels off asap so he can ride alongside us when we're on slower rides. 

The trailer is neat...for one child.