Day trip to Ohio

 With all the covid caution in place, we decided a visit to Grandpa and Gee-Gee should just include some of us, we should just go for some of a day.  So the girls and I elected to be the representatives, and we had a lovely afternoon in Mansfield!

Our main stop were our favorites -- the Bird Sanctuary and Kingwood Gardens -- and they did not disappoint.  It was a nice way to spend the day with the grandparents.

One funny comment during the day was when Jinna was trying to learn some names of the various flowers we were seeing.  I had taught her about Dusty Miller and later in the day when I pointed it out and asked her if she remembered what it was, she must have thought of her favorite PE teacher in NC (Audrey Miller), because she answered, "Oh, it's Dusty Audrey!"

Closing doors

While many doors have been closed to all of us this season, metaphorically speaking, I have found myself learning how to close my own doors, physically speaking.

In one of my favorite novels a character is told that Carthusian monks were once taught to pause to carefully close doors after walking through them.  This was a discipline to teach what we would now call mindfulness, I suppose, as it involves slowing down long enough to notice and care.

When we moved into our new house several months ago I noticed that neither the kitchen cabinets nor the appliance doors closed automatically or easily and I had to pay attention a little more to closing them.  I remembered those Carthusian monks and started intentionally enjoying the slowing down process.  Quarantine afforded me that luxury.

Now we are in summertime half-lockdown mode and I still have time – what a gift.  Each task is allotted more time than in the past; it is very rare that I find myself rushing.  Without the rushing and deadlines, there also seems to be less yelling and frustration.  Maybe those Carthusians were on to something.

This strange season has been detrimental in many ways it seems, but there are opportunities to develop new habits.  “Pausing to close doors” will never be a skill I can add to my resume, but I’m hopeful that it is adding to my character -- and peace.

More about Jinna

This little girls is both creative and resourceful!

We love getting to see her creativity come out whenever she puts a pencil in her hand…. She loves to write and draw and is always coming up with new stories or even comics.  She continues to write us all loving notes often, too…. It’s so fun having a girl’s sweetness overflowing around here.

She also loves to make up stories and we hear her talking to herself all the time -- or her imaginary friend Becky.  She still loves everything in miniature, too.  Just now she brought me this little Lego vehicle and told me all about how it's an RV and there's a bathroom and a trailer and fire pit (?) and beds inside.

 She is also creative when it comes to solving problems.  She was getting frustrated with how hot the mailbox gets when she wants to check for mail… So this was her resourceful solution: pot holders!

(Bonus: looks how cute and ladylike she is when she sleeps!)

Things Jinna says

 Sweet Jinna Rai is always learning and and growing and we get a kick out of hearing some of the things that come out of her mouth.  In many ways her big brothers are raising her, teaching her most of the important things she knows.  Like Remus and Romulus who were supposedly raised by wolves and likely had some funny results from that, sometimes we see JRR’s brothers’ influence on her ways.

For instance, she’s lately decided that “roasting” someone is quite fun.  One afternoon I said, “It’s crazy around here,” and she promptly responded, “YOU are crazy around here!  TOASTED!”  

I looked at her and she explained,  “When someone says something you just say “You are” that thing and that’s how you toast someone.”  

Aha.

Apparently she’s heard some complaints from her brothers in the quarantine-haircut department, too, because I suggested recently that it might be time for her to get a haircut (it hasn’t been cut since February, before the lock-down).  She quickly announced she did NOT want a “homemade haircut," but wanted to go to someone else to get it cut – definitely not me.  

One non-homemade haircut coming up.

Exploring the State Parks

During our stay in NY we enjoyed exploring some of the beauty in the area.  First up was Watkins Glen.....

 .... and next was a Wray family perennial favorite, Stony Brook!

The weather was nice and hot so the opportunities to get wet were welcome in both cases.  We also encountered HUNDREDS of stairs in both parks, and Jinna Rai was such a trooper going up and down them all completely by herself, sometimes not even holding onto anything!  She has come so far from being the little girl who had a hard time walking a few years ago....

We were glad to get to see so much of God's beautiful creation on this trip!

A Winery + the Wigs = A Winning Day

One of the main highlights of our trip was spending an afternoon with the Wigs at their home and at Lamoreaux Landing.  It was such a lovely day! 

After getting a tour of their home and gardens, we met up at the winery for a picnic lunch and tour of the vineyards.

 Then we had our own private tasting experience.... We learned a lot!

It was good to see them, although the time felt short.  Thankfully we live close enough to see them more often in the future....

NY Vacation

It's been waaaaayyy too long since we were back in NY so Pete and I decided to take our kids on a "Heritage Tour," showing them some of our favorite parts of our homeland.  We also hoped it would be a good opportunity for stressed-out Pete to finally unplug for a week and relax.

After some searching for a place to stay, we decided on a rather unusual airbnb.... an old Catholic seminary called St. Michael's Mission in Conesus.  We were hoping it would be a spacious place that would feel "away from it all."

 And it was!  It was definitely odd.... It felt like an old dorm (which it was), but we had plenty of space -- a whole wing to ourselves.  The whole place seems to have some interesting stories... Even now there is some sort of "intentional community" living there, although we didn't see any of them.  We definitely felt like it was a good retreat space (if one isn't too concerned about hot showers and using old furniture and dishes, etc).

Each evening we walked across the street through some woods and down a half-mile trail that descended a 150-foot gorge to get to Lake Hemlock.  It was a little steep and Rayna got a little frustrated that we made her do it each time, saying things like, "WHO would bring me out here??" but we made it.  Even Jinna did a great job, with just a little help from the menfolk in her life.  (It was actually quite heartwarming to watch her brothers rush to help her on the steep parts.)

Hemlock Lake was always empty and always beautiful.  We thought we had discovered a real gem as a private swimming beach... until the last night we were there a fisherman informed us that the fine for swimming in that lake was $250!  Oops....  Turns out it provides a lot of the drinking water for Rochester and they actually *don't" want dirty kids swimming in it....

On our way back in at night Miles would inevitably say something like, "Sister Martha, we must hurry back to the Abbey before the bell rings!"  And that's exactly how it felt.

Niagara Falls

Going to Niagara Falls when I was young was not *that* big of a deal since we lived so close by, but it's been a long time since I was there. The last time I visited the Falls I was 18, skipping school to go on a date with an older guy for the day.  (WHAT were my parents thinking???)  Anyway, it's been awhile.

This was the first visit for our kids, although some of them insisted they already felt like they had been there because they had seen it all on Google Earth.  Afterwards I asked them if it was exactly the same as seeing it via computer and they said they did not expect all the noise and the mist.  :)

Somehow we were able to get in and out easily, find a parking lot that was right next to the scenic spots, and enjoy it all with no crowds.  (Thank you coronavirus I guess)  We stayed on Goat Island the whole time, going between 2 observation points and enjoying a picnic lunch.

The best part was getting to see "Miss Melanie" whom we all love!


The worst parts were trying to keep the boys away from the edge and trying to quell their curiosity about which falls people have gone over in barrels, etc.  "No, you can't go swimming here."