HAINES, Alaska -- My schedule has been turned on its head thanks to a darling 17-month-old, which is a good thing -- as I'm a little tired, frankly, and appreciate the slower, gentler pace.
The best thing about having little children around is that as long you don't try to do anything else, caring for them is easy. The fine summer weather is wiping everyone out. I mean, when it's sunny and 70 for months on end, we have to ride bikes, climb mountains, garden, stain the deck, picnic, jam, fish and throw sticks to swimming dogs -- all of it. It never ends! What a life.
Last Sunday's rain (a mist really, a nice day in any other August) was such a relief. We could do nothing for a few hours but read, take the Tupperware out of the cupboard and fill it with the blocks, eat another bowl of raspberries and cream and try our little hands at the piano and coloring.
Now another week of summer, real summer, like the kind down south, is forecast. Well, even the yogis have cried "uncle" and canceled three of the five weekly classes until September. It's all too much. Morning Muscles is off until then, too.
Time to take a break and fatten up for the long winter. I don't think little Lani and I will make Dan Henry's lecture on Skondoo, legendary Tlingit shaman, at the museum. It's kind of over her head, though we will see artist Tim Shields' lizards and other cool creatures. She will like that (you will too) and we have some time to get there, since Tim's exhibit continues at the museum for five more weeks.
As I'm here this morning, I hoped to fill in you in a little more on all the happenings around town, to get back in the groove as Tim would say when he's volunteering on the radio, but I can't find the newspaper. (How did I raise five children without all of these toys and seats and shoes and hats and, happy baby accessories?) And we haven't been to the library yet this week, and I have no time to check Facebook -- and I want to model good, attentive behavior so am not swiping screens and thumbing anyway -- and if I turn on the radio I may wake up the baby. It's so quiet I can hear the grumpy little dog's stomach growling. Which is just fine.
It's another lovely morning. Enjoy it. Have some more raspberries and cream for breakfast. I'm pretty sure we won't be making jam today, although we will surely be jammin' soon.
Haines writer Heather Lende is finishing her third book of essays, "Finding the Good." This post originally appeared on her blog. It has been reprinted with permission.