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last day of summer vacation

the kentucky derby is like a molasses-pouring contest. 

the indianapolis 500 is like a three-toed sloth race. 

heck, even usain bolt is snail-like, compared to the speed of the summer of 2013.  it defied all reason, and accelerated the clock's hands like an amphetamine.  there are many who would suggest that time is not so static as the clock would suggest, that its something more like flowing water, always moving, but sometimes at different paces.  never did that seem more true than this summer.

of course, that might have something to do with the fact that we were extremely busy this summer.  as usual, we did our annual "summer bucket list," which is a list of a bunch of things that we want to try or accomplish during the course of the summer. 

 
here you can see our bucket list as it looked at the beginning of this breakneck summer.  it included things like amusement parks, a big league baseball game in pittsburgh, the bronx zoo, camping, fishing, catching crayfish, and so much more. 

you might say that we are crazy for doing this.  and maybe we are.  but you know what?  we are also bubbling over with life and experiences and gratitude for the amazing bounty of this world.  this summer has found us ankle deep in creeks, and shoulder-to-shoulder with busy new yorkers in times square.  it has found us sitting lazily in a field watching a movie outdoors, and jumping wildly on a trampoline.  the summer has allowed us to make our own slushies, have ice cream for dinner, and try a brand new food (split red lentils, among several others!).  and through all of this, our hope is that our children continue a journey of discovering the wild richness of this world, and the wonder of its teeming life.  there is color everywhere...there is breath everywhere....there is art everywhere...there is abundant, overflowing, wild-at-the-edges life everywhere, if only we would dare to experience it. 

and so we have. 

 


 


 


 


and now school starts.  tomorrow. 

so we'd better get busy on that lego project (the paddleboat is going to have to wait until next summer). 

 

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