Wordless Wednesday: Kite Flyin'

Life Is A Beach! Part 2

Today it's scorchin' hot, it's a whoppin' 92 degrees. We woke up too late this morning to make our trip to the beach, but these are scenes from the other day. We may go to the beach later in the day, but for now it's too, too hot. With that heat comes humidity which makes it even hotter. Nyasha was outside earlier practicing catching a ball with a baseball mitt and she stayed outside for about 15 minutes or so, when she came back in she was drenched in sweat. That's what humidity will do. She did not stay out there long.

I told y'all that we decided that we were going to be "beach bums" this summer, and so far I'd say we've done a pretty good job at it. Well, at least we are taking full advantage of the fact that we live four or five blocks away. When I worked outside the home, we (or should I say ), I did not have the time to enjoy this beauty-full wonder that the Mother has bestowed upon us, 'cause there were other things that needed to be done that were more important, (so I thought), and that lifestyle did not afford me to do so. In other words I just didn't make the time. Even though I knew how much Nyasha enjoyed the beach, I felt that the neighborhood pool would suffice. It did, only for a while.

This unschooling journey has taught me to "be in the moment", to trust Nyasha (getting better at it), trust myself (which I'm still workin' on, y'all I got issues),  and it's taught me to go wherever the learning takes us. Which, by the way, is anywhere our hearts desire. That's why we decided to make the beach a part of our daily living, to go there, and "be" like it's second nature. I'm becoming more in tuned to that. I'm learning to "just be".

Being, and not doing feels great! It's the remembering that's the hardest part. The knowing when and how, that makes it extremely challenging.  But,we humans make things so difficult don't we? I'ts really simple, all we have to do is just do it. When I follow Nyasha's lead it's easy.

I'm grateful to have Nyasha in my life, she brings so much insight, beauty, joy delight, pleasure, happiness, clarity, smiles, serendipity, wonder, spontaneity and lots and lots of unconditional love into my otherwise drab life. I find myself constantly learning about myself, about my life, about just about everything.

So, life is truly a beach, then you evolve.
Blessed Love!

The Mold Experiment

Nyasha did a mold experiment a few weeks ago to find out in what conditions do mold grow. We needed three slices of bread and three ziploc bags for the experiment. This experiment can be found on www.education.com. Each of the slices of bread were placed in the ziploc bags and placed in different areas of the house. In a sunny area. In the refrigerator. In a dark area with a little water on the slice of bread. Here are the results:

Placed in a sunny area

In the refrigerator

 Placed in a dark area with a little water inside

Within one weeks time,  the slice of bread that was placed in a dark area had begun to mold. In two week it looked like the photo above.  Nyasha's hypothesis stated that the slice of bread in the refrigerator would mold faster than the other slices. I know it's hard to believe, but sometimes she is wrong.  This was one of those times. She enjoyed doing the experiment and religiously checked her slices every morning to see if any mold had arrived. Surprisingly the other two slices of bread did not mold at all. 

Since we're vegan we don't eat white bread so we used wheat and spelt. I'm curious to find out if  white bread will mold faster than wheat or spelt. My hypothesis is that white bread molds faster than spelt or wheat. Nyasha and I are gonna do another mold experiment with white bread and wheat or spelt bread at a later date, just as soon as I  get up the nerve to borrow a slice of white bread from one of my neighbors.

Infinite Love and Gratitude to you all!

Pinwheels In Pajamas

It had been raining all day on sunny Miami Beach on this particular day, but that didn't stop Nyasha from keeping herself entertained while I worked on my new business venture (I don't know if I told y'all I found a direct sales business that I decided to try, more on that later). This day in particular, Nyasha stayed in her pajamas all day.  We both get like that sometimes where we lounge around all day in our pj's,  and read or watch movies all day. On these pajama days we also eat junk food, chips, veggie patties, popcorn, toast cheese sandwiches, anything that does not require me stand at the stove. This day, in her pj's, she decided, that she would make pinwheels. So she checked google for directions on "how to make pinwheels",  chose the one she wanted to make, checked to see if we had all the materials that she needed  (which wasn't much) and began to make her pinwheels.

I decided to join in the fun and made a pinwheel myself.  In an instant, that little activity took me back to my childhood,  in a time when I loved pinwheels (I had forgotten about how much I loved pinwheels). I always had  pinwheels especially in the summer. I remember making them, but I also remember my Mama buying them for me whenever I went to the store with her.  I'd ask her to buy me a pinwheel, she'd call me "a pain in the neck" and buy I for me anyway. Once I got home I'd take my myself and my pinwheel outside and blow and run until I tire myself out. That was fun!  Being transformed to my childhood helped me see Nyasha's delight in making the pinwheels and playing with them. I could overstand exactly how she was feeling at the time, which filled me with joy, fun, delight, and laughter. I also overstand the joy and simplicity in the life of Nyasha and all children and how they see beauty, fun and delight in everything. How the simplest of things make them happy. Yeah, I got all that from making one pinwheel. Amazing isn't it, how you can get so much out of so little.  

Wordless Wednesday: Friends & Family

Wordless Wednesday - Concentration

Just Add Light and Stir: Togetherness

Just Add Light and Stir: Togetherness: "Yesterday's quote was by Robin Bentley, but I misattributed it to Pam Sorooshian by sleepy mistake. Sorry. Today's quote is Pam Sorooshian..."

Life Is A Beach!

We had a wonder-full time at the beach today! I enjoyed myself immensely. I enjoy watching Nyasha having a fabulous time, it makes my heart sing! We decided that we are going to spend most of our Summer at the beach since I don't have the money to send her to camp. So, the beach it is!

I read a little while Nyasha was in the water. As you can see it was very windy today. The life guard informed me that there were rip currents so I called Nyasha out of the water which was perfect timing 'cause she would have stayed in the water for another hour. Overall, the day was a blast! I had a wonder-full time.

Nyasha found this crab when it washed up on a wave. Isn't he cute! The next wave came and he was washed back into the ocean.

We left the beach laughin' and smilin',  full of sand, (even though she rinsed off), a shade darker, and plannin' which days next week we'll be visiting again. We live about 5 blocks from the beach (isn't that great!) so basically, whenever weather permits we will be there. It's the little things that makes Nyasha happy and I'm glad to be a part of that happiness. I am glad she chose me to be her Mommy.

What The Heck! I Threw Out The Microwave!

For years now, I have been making great strides to live an authentic lifestyle. I'm learning and growing daily. Make no mistake this is a journey. Tara Wagner, in her e-book "Be Organic: An Invitation To Change Your World", feels that the word "authentic" falls short. She uses the word "organic" to describe this kind of  living.  Being organic, according to Tara, means "living, learning, and growing in a way that is natural to you and the world around you".  That's me! (I thought), that's what I've been doing all this time! It makes sense too, as  we are organic beings by nature, it stands to reason that we would live organically. But being that we are human and have a right use of will, we usually don't take the organic route. We tend to live an external lifestyle, looking for approval from everyone outside of ourselves. Whew!! Now that's hard work. Been there. Done that.

Once I read Tara's ebook,  I began to overstand why I made the changes I did, and why it is still important to me to continue to learn and evolve. I have always felt guided to live authentically, soulfully, organically (you chose the word). It just feels right to me, and I encourage Nyasha to do what she feels in her heart as well, to hear what the voice of  Spirit is saying to her. When I ask Nyasha what does your Spirit say? Or,  how does your Spirit feel? It amazes me the answers she gives sometimes. When we talk I usually use examples of my childhood to let her know (first of all that I was a child at one time), and secondly, to remind her that she can began to make choices for herself now, choices that ring true to her Spirit and her heart. I impress upon her that she will know if she made the best decision because it will always feel good to herself as well as those around her. I tell her to be sure not to choose it because it's in fashion or because everybody else is doing it, do it because you absolutely want to, because it's something that will make you feel good whatever the "it" might be. She overstands.

Since I don't just talk the talk, I actually walk the walk, I did something that would put me in alignment with my Soul urges or Spirit promptings. I began doin' some late Spring cleaning to clear out some the clutter from our home. I decided that I would become a minimalist (well I'm gonna be as minimal as possible). Today I threw out the microwave!!  I just didn't feel that I was living an authenic life by having one for all these years. I don't think I ever liked it.  So I threw it out. Well,  I put it on the curb in front of our apartment and put a sign on it that says "It Works". It was gone within an hour. Our microwave has another home. Yay! It's role in our lives have come to an end. The microwave is no longer needed, nor wanted at this juncture!

Now I don't know about ya'll but I didn't grow up with a microwave in the house, I'm a "Sixties Child", so it wasn't until the late 80's (I think, all I know was that I was an adult) when my Mama purchased one. Prior to that we warmed up our food on the stove or in the toaster oven, and that suited me just fine. Then came the microwave. It took us a while to get used to it, we could never remember that the microwave was there to warm up our food with less mess (no more pots to clean), quicker and more efficiently (while giving you a few jolts of radiation with every use).

When I moved out of my Mom's house again (for the second time or was it the third time),  I lived without a microwave until  2001, that's when my son, Demetrius (also know as Dee, he's the eldest of the three) bought one for me. Well, I think he felt my lifestyle was a tad bit archaic for his taste and decided he'd help me out by bringing  me up-to-date with my appliances. Goddess Bless him, he meant well.  Last year I gave the microwave  to a friend of mine when I got a smaller one from a neighbor who was moving (uh huh, that made a lot of sense). I think at that time I was ready to release my hold on the microwave but my ego won that round. You think?

Now I'm free!
Free! Free! Free to be me!
Living soulfully!
Living authentic!
Living organic!

You can find Tara at http://theorganicsister.com/ there you can pick up a copy of the ebook Be Organic: An Invitation To Change Your World

Playing Dress Up - Wordless Wednesday