Kick off of the Summer Adventure

Pedaling on the orange sunset reflection  

In my closed world, a pedaling boat was something to do in public.  I’ve never thought about it available in the private property.  We are lucky to be invited at the Moore’s cabin, privileged to pedal on the transparent calm lake water.  While little wind creates marble like pattern on the water surface, each marble changes its size, shape, and color when kids get on the pedal boat.  It rocks back and forth.  Marble shapes waddle with human created commotion on the quiet surface of water.  Young riders start pedaling toward the sunset.  A boat draws wavy line behind as it goes further from our sight.  The fire like orange blends into the almost-over-sky blue and coming-into-indigo blue.  The lake reflects all of the magic of colors and make the world double impressive panorama view.  Sweet Sadie lays down and pokes her nose over the edge of the dock, keeping her eye on her human friends she made.

Relaxing… without bathroom trips at night

“Thank you, I am totally relaxed….,” I say to my massage therapist every month.  Even then, I need to make a couple of bathroom trips during my precious sleep.  I am a dreamer, too.  Sometimes I double dream. …..I cannot find the building where I am supposed to take final exam. Someone tells me the direction that never makes sense.  When I panic, I tell myself, “It’s just a dream.”  I hear my alarm and turn it off, relieved.  The next moment, I notice I really need to find my homework to turn in.  I just woke up!  Oh, no! It must be a dream.  And it was….. I say “relax” often to educate my brain I am relaxed, but it takes time for my body to learn relaxation, until I really sleep through the night without bathroom trips or double dreams.  Lake is great.  Probably a little bit of everything contributes to my No-Bathroom-Trip sleep, like an 8 hour drive and a glass of wine, I pass out after the second retaining breath with the lake magic.

Ice cream flavor must be huckleberry Priest Lake is known as the Huckleberry Haven.  Why not try huckleberry ice cream?  My friend told me that I should stop the store that makes “good” huckleberry milkshakes in the area.  On my drive up to Priest Lake is not as easy as I imagined.  I am about to going around a whole lake!   My eyes are as fierce as a red bull after passed 8:15 pm.  It is almost a longest day time, however, what am I going to do after dark in the woods?  “Skyler, pick up the phone and call Cindy, now!”  The cabin is the best I can find.  No huckleberry milkshake stand, today.

Eat burnt marshmallows, oh well

 

If you don’t like camping or fire or marshmallow or all, you are wasting a whole a lot of joy in your life.  Reconsider to try them!  Marshmallows are soft and white like summer cloud in the hot blue sky.  I didn’t like marshmallows when I was little because too much sweetness and stickiness.  See, I wasted my childhood’s joy by disliking them!  The strange word in my small world changed my whole perspective.  S’mores.  “How do you read that word?”  I asked a friend from Thailand in the English school. “I don’t know,” she said, “But it is good.”  Once I hit the first camp fire kumbaya, roasted marshmallows became addiction.  Of course, the munching the perfectly roasted light brown almost falls from the stick is the best, but at the same time, creating part of the perfectly roasted light brown almost falls from the stick is the worst addiction.  If you succeed or not, you have to eat them all!  Your experiment would be to set a marshmallows over the top of the fire flame or over the red hot coal.  The time management is another hard task.  How quickly or slowly take away from the fire?  If you have the perfect spot and time, you will get the perfect one.  The possibilities are depending on your experiences, just like your profession.  You will continue your roasted marshmallows challenge until running out of marshmallows or your mouth no longer take imperfect sweet samples.  The best part, there are someone who laughs at you when the marshmallows catches fire.  Time of joy.

Sadie is the friendliest canine we have ever met

Sadie is the black soft coated lab mix.  Her silky coat is irresistible to stroke on or just look at.  When she went to the pup beauty shop, she came home a Hollywood like shiny animal star. In the Charlotte’s Web, buttermilk made Wilber extra polish.  I wonder what buttermilk would do to Sadie’s coat.  She is the one lucky dog who was picked by the loving family who generously invited and treated us like their family.  Sadie watches all commotions that my kids create in the lake.  “One, two, three!” They splash into the still early summer cold water.  Wet and goose bumped bodies are wrapped up the towel, shivering.  Sadie knows they are seeking warmth.  She lays down on the sunny porch waiting for them.  She is prepared to share her warm coat with them.

Trails for walk, run, bike, and mark territories

There is no doubt that many people want to stay for a week or more at Priest Lake.  It’s not just lake, but so many trails that you can hike or bike.  From the campgrounds, you can access to a variety of trail heads that you can enjoy.  A father and son duo on the bike try to bike on the wilderness.  Bad news to dad, first trail biking from his back surgery.  The young boy looks almost out of breath just reaching to the trail head.  Good news is that there are easier options for them.  Happy family turns around and looks for another adventure.  While Scott takes my kids for running on another trail, Cindy and I walk on the campground gravel road.  Her happy canine finds a squirrel and barks at it with her wildly wagged tail.  When she gives up, she just marks some of her territories.  Nature calls her.

Lucy has trouble accepting other than herself

Mindfulness is hard enough on people, but I have strong desire for Lucy the little narcissist puppy to learn one. Her owner says, “Lucy, not all dogs want to play with you.”  Huh?  Maybe this owner needs some mindfulness practice, too.  Self-acceptance and self-awareness are important, however, self-admiration is often dangerous.  Try to put yourself into other people’s shoe.  Use empathy and compassion.  Hoping, one day, Lucy and her owner find peaceful moments even with other campers and dogs.

Art gallery is named Entre

Entre Gallery, I think, the place to eat.  There would be different exotic food displayed just like art gallery.   Maybe with some fee, you could test bite all food you see.  But Entre Gallery is the pure art gallery.  The arts.  Unique arts.  Technically, there are some food, like pretzel mix and orange water because they have an open house. In fact, I purchased things other than art, like huckleberry pepper jelly.  But even my-not-so-artistic eyes enjoy inspirational colors in the glasses and sophisticated curving on the wood work.  My hungry artistic brain is full and wants more.

Ken and Barbie special workout suits and hairdo

A typical American stereo type model is Barbie.  She has blond hair and blue eyes, big boobs, and flat tummy.  Somehow, some people manage to copy Barbie over 50 years old thanks to the advanced medical technology.  It, however, requires a lot of money.  So if you see someone who looks like Barbie, that person probably would be wealthy and have deep knowledge about healthy diet and rigor exercise on top of the most recent medical information including facial spa, body wrap, artificial sun tan, and plastic surgery.  Her bright colored shirts and white pants should be bleached and ironed at all times.  She might know interesting exercise poses from her fitness classes which we might think weird.  Her guy has perfect hair setting up the boat ready at the dock.  He, too, shows off beautiful artificial sun-tanned skin.  When he smiles, his extreme white teeth shines in the sun.  They have a perfect baby boy, Skipper, now grown in the early 20s meets a girl of his dream at the lake party.  Next year, Skipper proposes her in the same place.  She says yes.  That’s how far I know.  Do you think this Cinderella dream continues?

Emerge multi-layer colors at the horizon 

Look at this panorama photo.  You would say, “It’s so beautiful.”  But you don’t know that I am sharing this scene with my special people which make this scene more special.  To make more special, think of what I have done with my special people.  One snap of water reflection brings back all of treasurable experiences into present moment.  Different colors emerge in the one place so harmoniously.  Individual colors don’t look well blended, but they actually do into the nature.  It does to the human relationships.  Even if someone is very difficult to get along, you can find some common and emerge at some degree if you are willing.  And the differences surprisingly well blended.  Extend your hand and empathy.  This world we live in is not so bad if we are kind.  Emerged multi-layer colors are beautiful not only at the lake, but everywhere else.

Special Thank you to 

Cindy and Scott!

Mindfulness in the Classroom Wrap Up

Practicing daily mindfulness in my classroom started experimentally.  I had read enough articles and watched testimonial videos before the school year started that stated mindfulness can rewire our brains. Although it is true, it is difficult to observe your brain's growth very easily.  The way of finding effect is to be aware of how you feel at the moment.  Then, bring yourself back to the calming stage in your mind by observing your own breath.

In my classroom, we have done daily five minute mindfulness practice and gratitude journal.  We often discuss how we feel while we think we are mindful and when mindfulness would help in our lives.  Responses were almost always positive.  Happy.  Calm.  Peaceful.  Of course, there have been some behavior issues here and there.  Hmmm, maybe kids did an okay job on responding to mindfulness.  Yet, there are many other factors that could cause their behavior choices, such as a small number of students, just a lucky year, or most kids might have been mellow to begin with...

On the last day of May in the casual conversation after recess, I discovered the most incredible story just like  How Mindfulness Empowers Us in my own classroom.

Student: The soccer was fun but the first graders were yelling at us and complaining a lot.
Teacher: That is unfortunate.
S: But Pete (not real name) wasn't yelling and complaining.  He was mindful.
T: How so?
S: I noticed that his face was so red and mad and his fists were clenched,  he was just breathing and trying to calm himself.
T: That sounds incredible.  Is that right, Pete?
Pete: It was hard, but I tried my best and I used my mindfulness!
Several Students: Good job, Pete.  I am proud of you.

Consider, that these students are second graders, they did beyond a great job on the critical situation.  Our daily mindfulness practice not only effected on Pete, but students who were surrounding him.  I told my class, "I feel happy when you are proud and happy to use mindfulness."  I conclude that this year's experiment proved me to continue help youngsters' inner peace through mindfulness practice.