Wind Week

This is Samuel: hiding under the blanket on his teacher's lap while she read books outside on one of the last days of school.
He hates wind.
Like really hates it.
Like cowers in a corner and cries because he doesn't want to go out in it.

It sometimes disrupts our entire family's plans because he will scream and resist and throw a fit over not wanting to go somewhere outside when it might be windy. Even if it's not very windy. If the leaves on the trees rustle even a little, it's "windy." If there are clouds and it looks like it might rain, it could be "windy." A slight breeze is "wind."

We've tried to figure this out and work around it somehow. I even brought a blanket to a neighborhood picnic once thinking he might be ok with hiding underneath it. Nope. We've wondered if it's a sensory thing, or just fear and anxiety. And we don't know. I can't think of any particular traumatizing event he's had in the wind. We have no idea. And talking, reasoning, comforting - none of it helps.

But. Anyway. At the suggestion of a couple friends and a therapist, I decided to try to do a "Wind Week." The idea is that by giving him new positive associations with the wind, it might help him deal with it a little better. And by giving him some power and control with the wind, he might not feel so anxious. All great ideas.

So, just in case any of you might find yourselves some day in a situation where you are trying to help someone overcome a wind phobia, or you just want to have a week of fun with wind, here is what we did.

First, the theme song:

"I hear the wind blow, I hear the wind blow,

it seems to say, "Hello! Hello! I'm the one who loves you so."

They Might Be Giants - Fingertips #19

(and I've been trying to find a clip of this to post but just cannot find one, sorry)

And another song (to the tune of Bingo)

"There was a day when we were blown
and windy was the weather
W-I-N-D-Y
W-I-N-D-Y
W-I-N-D-Y
and windy was the weather!"

Here are the books we read (one a day)

1. A Windy Day by Robin Nelson 2. What Happens When Wind Blows? by Daphne Butler

3. It's the Wind by Catherine Nichols

4. Wind by Natalie Rosinsky

5. Gusts and Gales: A Book About Wind by Josepha Sherman



A couple times we even sat outside to read the books. :)

And then these are the activities we paired with the books:

1. Bubbles

2. Trash Bag Kites

3. Wind Socks

4. Pinwheels

5. We tried to go to a Hot Air Balloon Festival but it had been cancelled due to a thunderstorm. We have driven by some windmills, though.

So.

I'm sure you would all love to know how effective this has all been in helping Samuel adapt a little to the wind. Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of a difference at all. Sigh.

But it was fun. :)

a few of my favorite things

I feel like this summer has been a bit of a flop. I haven't done what I thought I'd do and . . . I've been stressing about some things . . . blah blah blah . . . I'll spare you the details. But in the midst of a stressful morning today, I tried to think of some things that are making me happy right now. Here are a few simple ones:

1. we bought a huge container of chives recently and I am really loving quesadillas with tomatoes and chives. Yummm 2. I have to confess that sometimes I really like Broadway musicals. This is one of my favorites. It made me smile as I sang along and mopped my kitchen this morning.

3. The temp this morning was 78 degrees. I went for a walk and it felt amazing.

4. Speaking of walking, these shoe inserts have made it possible for me to postpone needing to buy new shoes (for a little while, anyway). They feel heavenly. I am so happy.

5. And this ice cream is my new favorite. Soooo tasty. yum yum yum! (and no, I really don't care that 2 out of the 5 happy things on this list are food! ha! so there.)

What's making you happy today?

where I walk: thoughts on wide open spaces

Lately I have been going for walks out west of my house. And if I go out for 30 minutes in this direction along this exercise path, this is the view that greets me:

I pass all the neighborhoods, come up over this little hill, and voila, there awaits the grand expanse of nothingness. My soul heaves a great sigh of relief and somehow I feel all (most?) of my stress and tension dissipate out into these fields somewhere.

I have realized through these walks that I am not really a city girl. Being around too many people makes me feel claustrophobic, congested, smothered. I like a little space to breathe. I like feeling alone - for just a little bit.

It restores me to a bit of calm.

It helps me see more clearly.

And while these 'fields of gold' aren't necessarily my favorite landscape feature, I can still appreciate them. I am learning to appreciate them.

I am trying to learn to appreciate where I am.

And having some time alone helps me appreciate a little of who I am, too, in the process.

What about you?

Flashback Friday: Journals #38-40

So, after dating that entire school year, Zac then left to serve a mission for The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 2 years. As is the case with missionaries, we knew that our only contact for those 2 yrs would be weekly letters and sometimes tape recordings mailed to each other. That's it. I spent that summer working long days as a packer for a moving company, which was miserable, and then I returned to college 3 months after Zac had left. And I found myself wandering sad and lonely around the campus where I had previously spent almost every waking hour with him. It was a really hard time for me. I was still an English Major at the time, and in one of my literature anthologies, I ran across this poem, which is quoted in my journal, August 29, 1994:

Separation

by W.S. Merwin

Your absence has gone through me

like thread through a needle

everything I do is stitched with its color

This poem impacted me so deeply, I decided I was in love with W.S. Merwin (or something like that). And I decided to do my 10-pg research paper for one of my English classes on his writings. And I posted his picture on my wall and looked at his face everyday for 3 months (or whatever it was) to keep me thinking about doing my research. It was somewhat motivating.

I felt attached to him. I spent a lot of time thinking about him (and reading his poetry). And I spent even more time contemplating how precisely this poem described how I was feeling at the time. I never did discover who it was exactly that he had been separated from, or under what circumstances. But it was clear to me that he knew this feeling well.

Anyway, in trying to find a picture of him online, I also discovered that he is the US Poet Laureate for 2010-2011 (he is now 82 yrs old)! Timely, I suppose, that I am re-reading the journal time period when I was obsessed with this poem of his.

rainstorm

I woke up this morning at 5 am to amazing rain and thunder and then throughout the day a few more thunderstorms rolled through. I loved it.

I could spend hours staring up at the sky, watching the storm clouds.

We even got some pretty good size hail.

Anyway, in the evening, after most of the rain had stopped (and this pretty rainbow appeared), I went for a walk. The smell of wet sidewalks, cool air, a few raindrops, lightning in the distance, and an incredible pink sunset reflecting off the clouds made so incredibly happy.

And then what made it even better, was when I saw these snails in front of my neighbor's house. I went home, got my camera and went back to snap some shots. I have a strange fascination with snails. Just something about them being all at once disgusting and adorable makes them irresistible to me.

I just haven't felt this happy in quite some time. I seem to be particularly affected by the weather and this is weather that I love. :)

(and by the way, another terrific storm with thunder and lightning is hitting us again as I write this. Hooray!!!)

I'm joining the Inky Letter Movement!

Over at The Chocolate Chip Waffle, she is starting an Inky Letter Movement, which is that the first 10 commenters get a homemade hand-written card from her.

Of course, I can't resist joining in. But. I'd never get 10 comments even on a good day. So we'll go with 5.

And I am not crafty. So I won't guarantee a handmade card. But I will send a personal handwritten note. With a stamp. To your mailbox!

Tell me, when's the last time you got a real letter in your mailbox?!

So, the first 5 comments (who am I kidding? the only comments), email me your mailing address and then start hopefully checking your mailbox. :) (only comments on the actual blog will count)

kbluedays {at} gmail {dot} com

And, if you have a blog, feel free to join the movement!! Yay for letters! :)

Top Ten Tag {reposted}

Some of you may know this already, but I grew up in Virginia and sometimes I miss it fiercely. I haven't been back there at all for over 9 yrs now and it turns out that I have the opportunity to fly back to that general area with Zac when he goes for a business trip soon. YIPPEEE!!!

So, I thought now would be a good time to repost this "Top Ten" list ( from my old blog). If I had the time, I would visit every single thing on this list and just soak it all in, in the vain hopes that it will seep deep into my bones and give me enough to live on contentedly out here in the West. Well, I could try. As it is, I will see whatever I can. The Aquarium, for one, is definitely on my "must-see" list. And crab is on the menu for sure. Other than that, well . . . I'll do my best. :)

{Originally posted August 8 2008)

Top Ten Reasons Virginia is a Nice Place to Grow Up (or at least it was for me):

1. you are at least within a few hours driving distance of (smaller) mountains, the beach, green trees, rivers, hills and just about every geographic landscape you can think of (except desert, I guess).

2. ok - let's just put the trees in their own category.


3. Smithsonian Museums - you have fine art, natural history, air and space, the zoo, and others ALL FOR FREE!

4. US Colonial History - Let's see, there's George Washington's house (Mount Vernon), Thomas Jefferson's house (Monticello), Kenmore, Belmont (all of which we visited on school field trips) and on and on and on. Not to mention Williamsburg, Jamestown (where I've never actually been, sadly). And then my favorite historical place, Chatham Manor, and a whole bunch of Civil War battlegrounds. The list goes on and on.

5. Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Amusement parks


6. and, of course, the trees in the fall

7. The National Mall - and all the other places to visit there besides the Smithsonian museums, such as the Washington Monument, and Jefferson Monument, and the treasury, etc etc. And there is really nothing comparable to watching the 4th of July fireworks there. Really, nothing.

8. fresh crabs from the Chesapeake Bay (yummy)


9. The National Aquarium in Baltimore (just on the Maryland border, basically) - one of my other favorite places on the earth

10. And Virginia is for Lovers. And you can't beat that.

There are other things, too. But those are the things that came to mind tonight. And I think I could have dug up my own picture for each of these things (except for maybe the crab), but that would have taken too long. Well, it took awhile to find these pics online, too. But that was fun! :)

Zac wanted me to add the Washington DC, LDS Temple, so I am. This is the actual view you get of the temple as you come around a bend in the DC beltway. You're just driving along, seeing trees, trees, trees, coming around a turn and then, boom, out of nowhere, the temple is jutting up out of nowhere. It takes your breath away every time you see it. And it's beautiful inside and out (one of the prettiest, I'd say - but, yes, I'm biased). And had we not been living in Utah at the time, we would have been married there, since we both consider it our "home" temple.

Anyway - there's 11 reasons. And counting . . .