A Running Collection

Forty came quick. I guess it’s normal to think I’m still just a spritely twenty something, but then again, there are several events that I might need to figure into that aging equation… Twenties - Absolutely adventure mode. I was on the road all the time. I played soccer all the time. I ran my first marathon, graduated from college, and moved to Montana. I met George -the best part of the adventure yet-and we moved into adventure mode together with marriage, hikes, education, jobs, a year in England, two masters degrees, a first house, a first dog, four more marathons, and we added sweet Amelia to the journey. Thirties - Only more of that adventure mode. Add three more kids. Add sheep. Add loads of chickens. Add a doctorate. Add two more marathons. Move to another state. Add a farm (a very old house that needs lots of work). Add pigs. Add gardens. Add bees. Add homeschooling. Add road trips with four kids and a dog. There was no way this adventure was about to slow d...

Amelia is consistent. She is constant. She is involved. She is thinking. She is experimenting. Amelia looks at her world and sees it as an opportunity to mold and create and move. She observes minuscule bugs marching through the sand and reports on their activity. She watches spiders prepare to catch their prey and move through their meal. She collects her eggs and knows which bird laid them and why they have their bumps and why they are enormous or miniscule. She plants succulents and ferns and bulbs and trees and veggies and herbs. Lots of them. She worked for months to get an avocado seed to sprout. After failing and failing, she kept trying. She has two avocado seeds sprouting. She sees personality in mother hens, in bossy roosters, and in awkward pullets and gives them names and calls them their meals. She calls chickens and they come. And then she hand picks the finest ones she’s raised to eat and helps process them.  She takes pruned vines an...