HIKING AT FOURTH OF JULY CANYON

There are few things out there that rejuvenate me like a long hike. Since we've known we were going to leave Albuquerque, we've been trying to make the best of our time here by getting out of the house often. We have a long list of things we want to do before moving day, but I'm sure we won't get to them all. One of our favorite things to do as a family is go hiking, especially since Noble was born, so that part of the list has become priority. It's the one place that the three year old doesn't have to be entertained 90% of the time, but still gets out enough energy to not fight her nap - and the baby just passes out in the Ergo. When it was just Ev, getting outside for a hike was simple once we got a routine down. Hiking with two has become a bit more complicated, especially since Ev doesn't fit in a carrier anymore. She really is an expert hiker for a three year old, but we have to put a lot of thought into which trails she'll enjoy and be prepared to turn around early. Though some days I feel like a herd dog biting at the ankles of a sheep, we still make an effort to go often. Cultivating a love of nature in my kids is one of the most important aspects of being a parent for me. I've been reading Last Child in the Woods over the last month or so. Louv urges people to consider time in nature for children as essential for their health as good food, loving parents, and a full night of sleep. Time outside shouldn't be a extracurricular activity or something reserved for vacation - it should be an integral part of their day.

On this day, my mom was here visiting and we all woke up ready to get out of the house. Alex had a long weekend and we had originally wanted to go camping, but just couldn't get all of our t's crossed and i's dotted in time, so we settled for a hike somewhere we'd never been before. Fourth of July Canyon is known for its Fall colors due to the Maple trees growing in the area (uncommon for New Mexico). The drive out there was intense, ending with 7 miles on a winding dirt road, so we were glad to have four wheel drive. We did the easy one mile trail where Ev was glad to run wild, blow dandelion fluff, and talk about dinosaur tracks (and how it looked like they were chasing the horse tracks + that we needed to save the horses), then we started on the 6.5 mile loop. We made it a mile or two and decided to turn back, but I definitely want to see the rest. As I looked through the pictures of her blowing the dandelions, I realized I had taken similar pictures almost exactly a year ago in Brooklyn. Watching her grow is such a beautiful thing.

If you're local and looking for a similar hike a bit closer to home, we found a new favorite at the base of the Sandias. We were only able to hike the Sulphur Springs trail, but rumor has it there's a creek on the neighboring trail.

MOTHER'S DAY HIKE

 

 

 

I'm a pretty easy woman to please when it comes to holidays. Even being four weeks postpartum, all I wanted to do was get out of the house. I had been talking about hiking basically since an hour after Noble was born and though I wasn't medically cleared yet, I felt good enough and wanted to get some exercise, so I did. The differences between the first and second baby are comical. I'm pretty sure I hadn't even gotten up enough energy to do the dishes four weeks after Ev was born. Alex knows me all too well - his gift was bringing the tripod along to get a family picture. . . but we forgot the piece that actually attaches the camera to the tripod, so that was a no go. We did the next best thing and tried to use the camera strap to somehow rig the camera up on the tripod, hence the picture up there with just Evie's arm in it. Then we just decided to use a log, nature's tripod, and that worked out swimmingly. We weren't at all prepared for how cold it would still be up on the peak, but we don't give up easily. We scrounged around in the car for abandoned clothes, Alex gave Ev his flannel shirt that fit her like a dress, and we were on our way. We chose the 10k trailhead up on Sandia Crest because we'd been here before (on our third anniversary actually) and didn't want to push our luck driving around looking for a new spot on our first hike with two kids. Once we got moving, it wasn't quite as cold, but we still pretty much had all the trails to ourselves. Alex has been on this 'prepping' kick lately, so we basically have stockpiles of MREs around the house. He grabbed one of those for all of us to share and Evie didn't stop shouting the entire time, 'This is the best picnic EVER!' It reminded me so much of something my Dad would have done. Everything he did was magic when I was a little girl. I'm always astounded at the beauty and flourishing wildlife that is just a short drive from a barren desert. New Mexico is a quirky place - it really never stops surprising me.

WANDERING • HARRIMAN STATE PARK

There's something about crossing this bridge on the way out of the city with it's flag waving high and it's solid arches that speaks to me. It's like a wave goodbye from the city itself, a declaration of constance - 'no matter where you go, I'll be here changing and inspiring and doing what I've always done.' We weren't going far, we were coming back in just a few hours, but watching the last bits of the New York City skyline fade away on the horizon is always bittersweet. This family, we're a walking contradiction. We're three parts love for this city like you've never seen and another three parts farm dreams. It's quite the web to try to untangle, but we tried as we sat on those rocks with our tuna sandwiches in hand and it's just impossible. I have a deep devotion for the city. If I was forced to stay and never be able to set foot outside of it again, I'd die a happy woman. It's the only place I'll ever want to be day in and day out, but it doesn't hold it all. It doesn't tickle all my fancies as they say and that rings even truer for my rugged at heart, wilderness loving husband.

 

It's been a bit quiet around here as I've had my mind filled to the brim with things that I'll share here in time. I go through short spurts of creating followed by periods of brainstorming, but can usually never do both at the same time. Last Sunday we took a little road trip out of the city in search of some seclusion and it really got our wheels turning. We packed a picnic and sat on a big rock with our feet swinging in the water while we talked about the things we wanted for our family and how we both have a desire to be surrounded by beauty and nature eventually. We waded through the creek, watching our two year old turn into the bravest soul right before our eyes. She was fearless, running into the water waist high. I had to run to keep up with her and make sure she didn't get swept away by the current. She was in her element.

You can read more about Harriman State Park here. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is living in the city and Central Park just isn't cutting it. It is full of jaw-dropping beauty and we only had time to explore a small sliver of it.

WANDERING

When I was young and in love with this city and a boy who I never imagined would end up my husband, much less living this dream with me, my mind was obsessed with what it would feel like to come home to New York City for the first time. Before we packed up our lives in a little box on wheels and traipsed across the country, I had been here a total of three times. I've never really believed in love at first sight except for the ability to love or not love this city upon first meeting. This city isn't a place you grow to love - you're either infatuated or not. Alex had been here once, three months before we left Albuquerque. Typing that out makes me realize how ludicrous that sounds, but it always felt right. I like to think NYC has a knack for that, guiding people in who are meant to be here. I'm convinced that fate calls New York City home. You can feel it when you wander the streets. I feel like things must be better in this city, like all you have to do is whisper your hopes and dreams up past the skyscrapers and over the rivers and the city gives you little glimpses of beauty to help you along your way. 

I feel the need to write about what it was actually like coming home to this city for the first time. We came across the Verrazano Bridge and drifted off to the right, following signs for 92 Street - not 92nd - the sign says 92. As we pulled up to a red light, ready to turn onto our street, I just laughed to myself in disbelief and looked out the passenger side window at Brooklyn, the Brooklyn. Alex looked at me with tired eyes and a grin spread across his face. Laughing for no other reason than exhaustion, he took a break to ask me what I was laughing about. I took a moment to think of the right words and couldn't - 'this, this isn't the way I imagined it would be.' He asked what was different. I motioned to Evie in the back seat, 'Well she wasn't supposed to be here and I never really thought it would be you in that seat.' He looked forward and drove through the light, stopping again after moving just a few feet. 'Is that ok? Are you disappointed?' I smiled, 'Not at all.' I hung onto this dream for a long time, carried it around with me everywhere I went through many seasons of life and just as I was ready to let it go and make peace with it never happening, the stars aligned. Here I am and the waiting was more productive than I thought - I get to share this with them.

I never really knew why I wanted to be here or what I would do when I finally made it here, but I did know I wanted to wander. It was almost like that's all that was calling me here - the ability to endlessly wander. I haven't even had a chance to walk through Manhattan much, which is where I always imagined I would wander, and I'm satisfied. I can walk the same street every day just a few blocks from our house and I feel like I accomplished something life changing. Beauty saturates this place, but not in the most obvious of ways, which makes the snippets of beauty all the more important for me to savor. So this is the beginning of a series, a seed that I've held in my pocket for years and man, it feels good to finally take it out and put it in the ground. 

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A WALK BEFORE DINNER

Every year, Fall comes upon us quickly. The colors change one day and then it seems like almost the very next day when all of the leaves on all of the trees in our entire yard shed their leaves at once. I don't know if this is just a New Mexico thing, but I've never experienced it anywhere else. A few weeks ago, Ev and I walked out the front door to check the mail and realized we had been leaf-ed in. There was a good six inches of leaves piled all the way up to the very edge of the door. So we headed out to the front yard to play in them, of course, and to wait on Papa to get home from work. When he did, we all decided that a walk would do us all a bit of good and set out for the dirt trails that follow the arroyos behind our house. We arrived at the golden hour and watched the sun set behind the Cottonwood trees. Ev watched the cranes standing in the fields and flying over head with wonder. We walked hand in hand, family of three until the last bit of light was gone, then headed home to eat a warm meal and bask in our enjoyment of each other. I've been holding onto these pictures for a while now with intentions of posting them sooner, but late is better than never. I couldn't let this moment go undocumented.

I've also been collecting little bits and pieces of things all over the internet with the intention of sharing them all here for the last few weeks, so this list has gotten quite long. I wanted to get this post to you on Friday to bid you farewell for the weekend, but never got to it, and so here it is, greeting you at the beginning of the week. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a quiet one, spent mostly at home, and had our first snowfall of the season yesterday. (Much like Fall, Winter came suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly.) I like to take weekends off from blogging and really from keeping up with social media at all. I'm not going to lie - sometimes it's hard, and sometimes because it's so hard I want to give it up cold turkey and say 'no more!' But I don't, because I love being a part of the blogging community and I love being challenged and inspired every day by things that I discover on the internet. Social media can be a time suck. It can make prioritizing harder and procrastinating easier, but there really is so much good in it at times. Here are the good things I've found all over the internet world lately. Enjoy!

This beautiful short film follows the lives of three stay-at-home moms from different areas of the United States and it really is touching. 

Albuquerque recently voted on the issue of late term abortion and this letter said everything that I feel, but couldn't manage to put into words in such a graceful way about the results.

I recently read a book called 'Desperate' by Sarah Mae, then went out in search of her blog. This article really hit home for me - 'Maybe Your Two Year Old Just Needs You.'

I really enjoyed this article on the New York Times website about the passion of parenting. 

This comic strip illustrating the first year of parenting made me laugh.

This video is a must watch for every woman - so empowering.

This clever video made me laugh - 'The New York City Subway Experiment.'

This photographer asks strangers to post together in intimate ways and the results are surprising.

An interesting read for my fellow tea-drinkers.

I also thought this article about how long a woman's ancestors actually lived while eating real food was really interesting.

What sort of things have you read lately that have interested or inspired you?