Ecuador. The national slogan reads: Ama la Vida, Love Life.
I understand why the powers that be landed this slogan. It's hard to argue against when hiking the South American outdoors, cooking with fresh ingredients from your neighbor's yard, or wasting the day away with kids which really is not wasting it at all. Yup, loving life is not hard to do, even when (or especially when) there is nothing to do.
Today was slow. But only slow by comparison. Slow in the sense that the "pressure" of needing to be "productive" had been lifted. Fast in the sense that I never once looked at the watch I put on in the morning, and before anyone knew it, the summer sun began to set behind the foggy mountains.
After a hearty breakfast of chorizo and cheese omelet with slices of avocado and tomato over toast and a side of coffee, big sister and I took a long walk with our third oldest, Emile to see what we could see. Along the way, we decided to take it upon us to teach fractions to Emily. Have you ever tried explaining an abstract mathematical concept to a child outside of a classroom setting without materials?
So there we were, walking down the unfinished cobbled dirt road, kicking stones as we walked, trying to help Emily understand just exactly what "one third" of a whole is. Eventually we kept to the example of baking and sharing a pie with friends but we tired and discarded many other fractal analogies. Lots of metaphorical stumbling later, we had walked a good few kilometers and by the end of them, Emily could work out word problems using improper fractions. Of course, Simba followed us along for our walk, sniffing at flowers and leaving his mark next to unsuspecting neighborhood dogs who slept under what shade they could find.
I understand why the powers that be landed this slogan. It's hard to argue against when hiking the South American outdoors, cooking with fresh ingredients from your neighbor's yard, or wasting the day away with kids which really is not wasting it at all. Yup, loving life is not hard to do, even when (or especially when) there is nothing to do.
Today was slow. But only slow by comparison. Slow in the sense that the "pressure" of needing to be "productive" had been lifted. Fast in the sense that I never once looked at the watch I put on in the morning, and before anyone knew it, the summer sun began to set behind the foggy mountains.
After a hearty breakfast of chorizo and cheese omelet with slices of avocado and tomato over toast and a side of coffee, big sister and I took a long walk with our third oldest, Emile to see what we could see. Along the way, we decided to take it upon us to teach fractions to Emily. Have you ever tried explaining an abstract mathematical concept to a child outside of a classroom setting without materials?
So there we were, walking down the unfinished cobbled dirt road, kicking stones as we walked, trying to help Emily understand just exactly what "one third" of a whole is. Eventually we kept to the example of baking and sharing a pie with friends but we tired and discarded many other fractal analogies. Lots of metaphorical stumbling later, we had walked a good few kilometers and by the end of them, Emily could work out word problems using improper fractions. Of course, Simba followed us along for our walk, sniffing at flowers and leaving his mark next to unsuspecting neighborhood dogs who slept under what shade they could find.
We are a pretty artsy family, and I am enjoying my time with the kids here, showing them all the neat stuff I used to do when I was a kid, and some really cool stuff I've learned along the way. Here, the Gabster gives Tony a sewing lesson in art.
500 meters down the road from where we are living, the top crest of the mountain begins to cut down into the valley and town below. I wonder what little Tony is thinking about at this moment...
Emily climbs new trees to see new sights.
I get it. I grew up on City blocks, I get it. I love the hustle and excitement of living in a metropolis. But, there is something special about having a back yard garden to grow fruit, explore, play. You want an early morning orange? Go pick one off the tree. Or better yet, just grab the one that fell last night to the Earth, those are the ripe ones =)
After messing around at the house for a bit and playing with the kids, Gabi and I took
dad to the hospital for some short check ups. That we ran out of coffee that morning was unfortunate because as soon as we arrived at the hospital, we all wanted a nice dark cup to enjoy. The thing was that dad was to give blood that night, and caffeine in the blood threw off his readings. So, unfortunately therefore, we could do nothing but wait three hours until his system cleared.
We came home to a quiet house by the time the blood was analyzed and a second long scan was over. Gabi and dad chomped on some ox tail soup that was made ready for us, but I just went straight upstairs to read and write before my eye lids collapsed.
-A
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