first snow

 the neighborhood cat crosses our porch while on her nighttime adventures

We had our first snowfall in the new house last night.  Woke from our warm bed to find the world outside with a fine dusting of the beautiful white stuff.  It looked so picturesque and felt so cozy to be in our own home looking out at our own yard, safe and sound in the midst of a chilly winter wonderland outside.  ...a good feeling.

Freewrite Friday (not really)

It isn't that I haven't been writing a lot recently, because I have, but yet the freewrites inevitably involve names and places and people and you can't be so casual in this little town with stuff like that.  It frustrates me that I can't share all the stuff I am sorting through in my own mind in terms of life and work and making this new year even better than the last.  But what it really comes down to is that none of this is for the world to read.  I'm on a personal mission.  

Another Friday.  The second Friday of the year.

I stare out of the front door window a lot.  Or rather, I have been trying to stare out the front door window more often.

Back in mid December there was a great article in the New York Times that my mother tore out for me to read.  It was called "The Power of Concentration" and sure enough she was right, as I felt like it was almost written for me to read.  It spoke of the value of single-tasking in this crazy multi-tasking world that we have gotten ourselves so caught up in.  I won't do it justice so I won't try, I'll just post the link and hope that you read it.  ...because it is a very interesting read.

For months I had been saying to myself and others that I needed to write.  It was my way of saying that after all that happened in 2012 I needed time to reflect.  It wasn't that the year was bad, in sharp contrast it was probably one of the best years of my life, but there was no down time.  All of a sudden I was feeling spread so thin that I felt like everything was starting to suffer.  Or maybe a better way of putting it is to say that I was feeling that the quality of my work and the quality of life was lessening.  That scared me.  That scared me a lot, because this whole move was about making our quality of life better, not worse. 

I have to remember to get out of my own head sometimes, as I think we all do.  I need to stop and focus, even if it means focusing on nothing for a few minutes.  It is time to get re-centered.  Even on days like today when things don't go as well as I would have liked I have to remember to go for that run or surf, take advantage of the awesome gift of yoga my wife gifted me with, or in this case, write.  Every day we can learn and grow and move forward, that is if we are smart and conscientious enough to let ourselves. 

Oh yeah, that article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-power-of-concentration.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

thankful. (full series)

evening meditation

kitchen window

It's amazing how much more fun it is to do dishes when you are looking out a window at green, at your own backyard.  Chores turned triumphant.

insane Zinnia courtesy of the one and only Nisse Hope.

happy barbeque

I think we figured out that the last time we had a party was five years ago, in a one-bedroom place in Queens we called "the shanty".  We finally felt settled in the new house enough to open the doors and invite over some of our favorite local folks.  Wrapping up our week, complete with Summer Vacation 2012, we got home from work on Sunday evening and quickly got to prepping.  What ensued would be a great gathering of friends from all aspects of our lives, together and having a good time in the back yard as we snacked and grilled and drank to our hearts delight.  It was a wonderful evening and we thank everyone for coming over and helping us properly christen our new home.  Special thanks to Jose who couldn't make it but still hooked us up with this killer cake which has been satisfying the sugar fix steady since then.  A Happy Barbeque it was, and the first of many good times to come in our comfy home. 

three beaches, one love

It was a long, hot day.  We had sweated through another workday in the new life and were tired.  A friend said he was going surfing so we rallied, packed the boards in the car, and drove east.  I realized that we hadn't been to the beach enough recently even though I had been assuring people I had.  Lying to yourself is the worst kind of lying.

Our surf adventures in Montauk are our natural therapy.  It's like hitting the "reset" button.  The water rushes over you.  You rush over the water.  The day washes away.  You want to capture the moment.

A couple days later it was even hotter.  August has shown up, with it's heat and humidity and crowds of people behaving badly.  You curse the disrespectful and thank the real folk and go about your business.  Time to hit the reset button again so we bounced south to our home break.  It was swim o'clock.

My wife said as long as the weather is like this we should swim in the ocean every night after work.  We quickly realized the condition of the weather was of little concern, it was about getting to the beach as much as we can in August.  A noble challenge to go with our new life.

The next night we swam again, but the phone stayed in the car.

Today we heard there was clean surf so after the necessary day off errands we hit one of the hot spots.  We wanted so badly to surf but the current was still strong and our boards weren't right for how the waves were pitching and dumping on the shallow water.  We were frustrated at first but got over it.  It was another day, and we were taking another swim, so far conquering our August challenge in style.  We body surfed and got ounces of sand in our hair but the smiles only grew, the sighs only deepened.  Back on land all we had to do was see each others face and that said it all so we just basked in the sun and watched the sea before retreating home.

We worked hard to get here.  And are working hard to be here and figure it out.  But this is the life.

after work