tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73946044292977475782024-02-18T18:24:29.995-08:00plums in the pathand other things I encounter on this journeyAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.comBlogger393125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-12120996418465059512023-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:002023-12-15T17:54:34.819-08:00Solstice 2023: PracticeMy sister often says, "it's all practice." I like this idea. Her words remind me that nothing we do is meant to be perfect. When we view life as practice it means (if I am remembering piano practice accurately) we give ourselves permission to learn, make mistakes, improve if we can, and, in any case, move on. One of my favorite artists has a wonderful print that states Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA 98117, USA47.6913332 -122.382432119.381099363821157 -157.53868210000002 76.001567036178841 -87.2261821tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-90117819009091580372023-12-15T11:54:00.000-08:002023-12-17T00:09:57.601-08:00Solstice 2023: AbandonI recently learned that one of my friends is becoming a Hakomi practitioner. I’d never heard of this practice until she told me about it. And I’m intrigued. As I understand it (and I am in no way qualified to explain it to you) Hakomi is a guided practice of mindfulness, which helps people to notice things about their body and mind without judgment -- and to release what things do not serve Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-86093120487761934692023-12-05T13:30:00.000-08:002023-12-15T13:20:17.814-08:00New EyesIt's been a year since I last posted here. I'm feeling a tad ambivalent about whether to continue with Plums in the Path, or let it rest permanently. But as I'm not great at endings, I'll probably keep coming back now and again when I feel moved to write.It's that season when darkness sets in earlier and earlier each day. Not only are the days getting shorter, but we've had heavy Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com2Seattle, WA, USA47.6061389 -122.332848119.295905063821152 -157.4890981 75.916372736178843 -87.1765981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-58480585536721426262022-12-02T12:22:00.004-08:002022-12-02T12:26:44.790-08:00A Gusty Year Last week, we filled up the house with family. My parents, who hadn't been to visit since 2018, came up from Oregon for the whole week and that gave us time to do more than just share a Thanksgiving meal.We had a girls' tea on Tuesday, complete with clotted cream and scones, finger sandwiches, and strawberries. We used the teacup collection that belonged to my Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-42643615999020711812022-11-15T23:06:00.001-08:002022-11-15T23:11:37.320-08:00And, we stayed.We are enjoying a blue and gold stretch of sunny fall days. The colors always astonish me. And while it is such a beautiful show, it's also the finale -- the end of sun and warmth and a prelude to the cold and dark months to come. Yet, despite the melancholy of this season, I must say that having all of us home and under one roof again has been such a delight. Oh! And now Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-49840341527630018182022-08-06T13:28:00.005-07:002022-08-06T13:35:32.013-07:00Catch up: Herman 2021April 28, 2020 Photo credit: Nataworry PhotographySeems like an age ago, but in February 2021, as a multi-generational household Grandpa and the adults all successfully got Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. We were elated. Second doses and boosters followed in later months. Grandpa never got sick. The isolation of the pandemic took its toll on us and on Grandpa. Our Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-2760688699006938322022-08-06T11:56:00.005-07:002022-08-06T11:58:06.298-07:00A Full LifeGrandpa Herman passed away in his sleep on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Portland, Oregon. He was 97 (and would have been 98 in June). Herman lived a long and full life on his own terms. He was a gentle soul and a kind man. He shared our home in Seattle for 12 years. I'm posting a portion of his obituary here to honor his life and to also draw closed a unique chapter of my own journey. Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-58927925136363575512022-07-14T20:37:00.001-07:002022-07-15T14:50:40.123-07:00Catch up: Summer 2021Full disclosure . . . this is one of several "catch up" posts to bring this forgotten little blog current with the state of our lives. For our family, the past 12 months have been extraordinarily full with new adventures, practicing our flexibility, and giving and receiving love and support.Last I reported here, we had just finished a lovely summer camping trip to Mt. Rainier in July 2021.&Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com1Seattle, WA, USA47.6062095 -122.332070819.295975663821153 -157.4883208 75.916443336178844 -87.1758208tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-91773126417870205142021-07-06T07:21:00.004-07:002021-07-06T07:21:48.926-07:00Year 9I've written here before about our annual camping trips to Ohanapecosh each summer with three other families. This July was our 9th year for the camping trip (we've made it for 8 of the 9 years). The kids were pretty small when we started, and now the oldest are almost middle schoolers. This year's trip felt particularly welcome, maybe because half of us missed it last year. Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-62032231862460837632021-06-14T18:36:00.002-07:002021-06-14T18:41:16.996-07:00Celebrations are Back!Celebrations have been tricky these past 16 months. We have been staying home, like most of the world, since February 2020. Last August we took a little trip to the Oregon Coast, but otherwise, we've been traveling places only when necessary and Covid testing before and after. Now that all the adults in our home are fully vaccinated, we decided we would venture out this spring for a Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA, USA47.6062095 -122.332070819.295975663821153 -157.4883208 75.916443336178844 -87.1758208tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-61667344933680302202021-05-17T22:12:00.005-07:002022-08-07T22:42:26.073-07:00Slowing it Down Last November, I became mostly a mom again. I took a break-of-indefinite-length from my legal practice and shifted gears to being a full-time mom and school coach for our resident fourth grader. We decided to withdraw Wy from school and officially do our own home school thing this school year. It didn't take us too long and we found a rhythm and now have a pretty good thing Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0Seattle, WA, USA47.6062095 -122.332070819.295975663821153 -157.4883208 75.916443336178844 -87.1758208tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-25226638688260291782020-12-17T23:49:00.001-08:002020-12-17T23:49:15.919-08:00Solstice 2020: FestiveIt's finally feeling festive in our home this week. We are wrapping gifts and assembling boxes of goodies for family who can't be with us this year. We are also roasting nuts.In recent years I've started making herb-roasted nuts for the winter holidays, and they fill my kitchen with the most fabulous and lingering smell of rosemary and sage.My recipe is loosely based on one I ran across in Food Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-62403447257779406172020-12-16T22:16:00.002-08:002020-12-17T22:42:01.230-08:00Solstice 2020: Beauty I took this picture on a day I was looking out over Puget Sound in anticipation, hoping that I would see a pod of Orca whales. Crazy to even expect it, right? But Orcas had been spotted in the area the day before, and I was really hoping they would show up for me. Instead, I found this view -- soft colors and cloudy reflections introducing dusk on a clear winter day.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-62016942383978307562020-12-14T23:38:00.000-08:002020-12-14T23:38:54.261-08:00Solstice 2020: ImploreIn the natural world, we know that after December 20, the days will once again start to lengthen. One day we will notice that it's 5 p.m. and not dark yet. The seed catalogs will arrive in the mail. The neighbor's crocuses will suddenly appear. And then, just like the miracle we always expect, spring will be here, and with it the growing strength of the light in our northern Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-19769093631374400632020-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:002020-04-23T22:59:18.458-07:00We made cake
We had a great reason to eat cake last week, and the cake cheered us all up immensely, which is saying something given how upside down the world is right now.
It's the 2020 pandemic of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus, which surprised some countries and was unfortunately ignored by others until enough people died to get everyone's attention. Seattle was ground zero (or close to it) for Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-23115487033242095192019-04-16T17:50:00.001-07:002019-04-16T18:05:45.895-07:00Time of one’s ownIt’s not often anymore that I get the chance to have a few minutes for myself — to sit in a coffee shop, read a book, or saver something yummy. Between my part-time lawyering and my part-time volunteering and my full-time job as a mom, cook, home improvement coordinator and general home wrangler it doesn’t always leave much time for myself. Lately I’ve been trying to make a spot in Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-59491453675128915822019-02-06T16:06:00.000-08:002019-02-06T16:07:54.883-08:00Women of D.C.For several years, Byron has been taking Wyatt and me to Washington D.C. with him for a professional conference he attends in January. We've gone three times in the last four years and were lucky enough to make it there last week as well.
Washington D.C. is so full of history and important things to learn and see, but this year some of my favorite time was the morning I had to myself at Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-84201028290275879562018-12-21T23:16:00.002-08:002020-12-14T23:58:00.111-08:00Solstice 2018: Night
It’s a full moon tonight.
Ironically, with a full moon overhead, this night of deep darkness was transformed into one of the brightest nights we’ve enjoyed lately. Tonight we wandered our neighborhood with hot toddies and hot chocolates in our thermoses, admiring garish holiday displays and bumping into friends along the way. I couldn’t help but think the Cold Moon was trying to Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-30336352918420818962018-12-20T21:43:00.000-08:002018-12-20T21:43:26.346-08:00Solstice 2018: The Now
A guest post by Karen, December 2018
I love this photo of my parents, Ellie and Bob, circa 1980—give or take. My Mom looks like a bit of a badass. (She isn’t—she’s one of the sweetest people in the world). My dad looks like he is there, but also far away. They look so 80s, so Sopranos, so Jersey.
This was half a lifetime ago. In the photo they are in their 40s. Today, my dad is 82; my Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-69034177021824878252018-12-19T23:34:00.001-08:002018-12-19T23:36:36.055-08:00Solstice 2018: A Gift
I think I'm almost Canadian. I live with three Canadians, plus I've developed a great appreciation for dill pickle flavored potato chips, pierogies, hockey, and Stan Roger's music.
And that's what I wanted to tell you about—the music of Stan Rogers. The Very Best of Stan Rogers is the album we've been listening to since October. Wyatt falls asleep to it, we play it on roadAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-8094632236603710042018-12-18T22:54:00.000-08:002018-12-18T22:54:23.597-08:00Solstice 2018: Darkness and Light
A guest post by Katie, December 2018
It’s a year to the day since I found out I was pregnant with a son, our third, a surprise. On our way to the company Christmas party, sick and giddy, my husband and I flashed with our secret light.
Our secret grew, and my belly . . . until it didn’t.
William Owl was still born at 20 weeks.
He came in his mourning veil, swathed in midnight, slipping Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-81938421087603494632018-12-17T23:56:00.001-08:002018-12-17T23:56:11.492-08:00Solstice 2018: Just Maybe
I've been thinking a lot lately about a friend's Facebook post that urged parents make the crappy Christmas presents start coming from Santa at Christmas, and the expensive ones come from known humans. The idea was to spare the kids who don't get their every wish fulfilled at Christmas from thinking that Santa discriminates too. It's a good point. It's a perspective I hadn't Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-69021403491658152352018-12-16T22:47:00.000-08:002018-12-18T22:35:14.114-08:00Solstice 2018: Belonging
A guest post by Aimie, December 2018
Tonight, like most nights, I ready myself at the kitchen stove with my Griswold cast iron pan. This legacy has been passed down from my mother, by her own grandmother. Four generations (of women) have cooked on this pan, at differing stoves, and in various physical and mental states - from rural Missouri to rural Washington. From terrible loneliness to Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-83106319195676136702018-12-16T22:40:00.001-08:002018-12-18T22:51:46.758-08:00Solstice 2018: Welcome
We've all heard the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well, I also believe in the power of the collective to raise each other — after all, we are never fully grown. And we have so much we can learn from one another.
Over the next few days, you’ll hear not only from me in this space, but also from some of the women in my “village.” I appreciate so much their contributions Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7394604429297747578.post-34331185992800096712018-12-15T22:37:00.002-08:002018-12-17T21:54:23.516-08:00Solstice 2018: A Start
It was last Solstice I had intended to return. But here I am, at last. It feels good to be back.
Honestly, starting again is something I am familiar with. As a kid I started again every time my parents moved. In fifth grade it was to Indiana. In sixth grade, Pennsylvania. In ninth grade to Oregon. In 10th grade to boarding school. The starting Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10769373322456381138noreply@blogger.com0