The Order

In most Amish (Anabaptist) culture, apparently they have a set of rules they follow from youth called "Ein Ordnung", which translates from German to "an order". It's the unwritten code each congregation has to follow unwaveringly. Their commitment to community, shunning technology, living simply, making clothes, growing beards, and having babies, all are memorized and passed down verbally in the Ordnung. No written blueprints.

Oral tradition is an incredibly difficult thing to translate into text, and so many cultures, globally, depend on it. Do your part to listen and retain as much as possible. Even if it's not your culture, you're human, and have an obligation to protect it.

What is grief, if not love persevering?

Today, I've been on a productive tear. I've had my list, and I've been destroying it. I usually try to get into the 70s or 80s on my list game. Today, before work, I'm already at 62. Laundry is folded. Dishes are done. Kids bathroom is clean.

I've been doing it all for a distraction.

The hardships of life have been overwhelming lately. I'm sure it's not just me, but I've been grieving the loss of a comfortable life. But that grief has to be translated into love somehow? Motivation? Energy to persevere?

Or just a distraction.

Little Rick Steves

I picked the oldest up from the last leg of a quick tour of DC and NYC. He did incredibly. I'm so proud.

Things Never Get Easier

They don't get easier, but we do gain wisdom through experience to apply to said things.

Yesterday, we had to put our family Cat down. Bizkit was a stray, and we had her for about the last year of her life. She succumbed to lymphoma on June 1.

This was my kids' first taste of this kind of grief, and that is the greatest gift from all of this. Losing a pet is kind of like getting an immunization against losing a family member. You'll still get the grief, but you have a little experience, you've grown a little. It doesn't get easier, but you get more tools every time.

Productivity

In the past 24 hours, I've fixed my dishwasher, swamp cooler, and dryer. Today, I'm reaping the benefits of that work, and getting caught up on laundry, and using the time saved on dishes to get other things down around the house. I managed to rake up the entire back yard and balance the checkbook, which hasn't been done in three days. Work in progress, I suppose. Just keep moving forward.

Childhood

Today, i went with my daughter and her second grade class on their field trip... to a park. We learned about all sorts of cool things, though. How beavers live, how many fish are not native to Colorado, how to float in the river... it was a good day 

Colorado Spring

This time last week, i was roasting, antsy to hook up and run the swamp cooler. Saturday, we had a foot of snow. Today, it's all rainy and cool. I love Colorado.