Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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friday 5 at the farm: stormy day photos

Thursday brought some crazy weather to Oklahoma. A lightning quick (get it?) and rather violent storm hit the farm suddenly in the middle of the afternoon. The morning’s flannel grey skies turned black. The warm, humid air turned icy cold. And all those fallen oak leaves twirled upward in spirals and autumnal confetti bursts. Rain flooded the middle field in just moments and ran in a silver-white, frothing stream downhill. The pond churned like a tiny ocean. Our east facing barn doors were blown out, or maybe the horses broke them out? It’s hard to say.

fri5 rain c

fri5 chanta wet c

fri5 meh wet c

Then the storm passed as suddenly as it had arrived. The skies calmed. Half-hearted thunder and thread-thin cracks of lightning kept me watching the skies for a few more hours, but overall the farm was quiet. I returned the horses to their field, consoled the agitated llama, and texted photos of the barn doors to my husband.

By evening, the air was so sweet. Clean and sweet, rinsed out and blown through by the storm. Settled. Fog appeared between the trees and above the grass in cottony streaks, filling every dip and corner with opaque white. It was a stunning kind of quiet. I adore the way fog muffles everything, and I think evening fog is an especially nice gift.

fri5 klaus fog east c

Klaus played and romped around in the gentle dusk while I watched Handsome repair the barn doors. Then he (Klaus, not my husband) appeared from behind the giant hay bales, smelling like sage bush. I imagined he was a small, Spanish-speaking werewolf, which may in fact be the case.

When the farm is so drenched in magic like this I cannot fix my eyes on one thing. Neither my mind. I want to collect all the details and force them into some kind of permanence. Which is silly, of course, because a big part of magic is that it is fleeting, elusive. So instead I hope to at least remember how pink the eastern sky was as the moon rose and how the pine trees vibrated with fragrance. I hope to remember how hard my husband worked to fix the barn doors, at the end of an exhausting day at his real job. I hope to think about this storm, its suddenness, and how grateful I am that no animals were hurt.

fri5 fog c

Storms come and go, and everything is beautiful and weird.

XOXOXOXO

 

Marathon Monday: Race Recap #1

Describing my experience of running the OKC Memorial Marathon could easily take me days. Weeks. Months. Till next year’s marathon. There’s so much to tell! It was truly spectacular, and I am absolutely doing again.

 

The health Expo ahead of the race was lots of fun too! So happy my friend M came to town to join!
The health Expo ahead of the race was lots of fun too! So happy my friend M came to town to join!

 

That sums it up, really. This was my first full, not a one-time shot like I’d been saying lately. Yesterday was hopefully the first of many, and though on the slow side, I met my goal of finishing it at forty years old. Oh, and this is part of my basic sum-up too: If any little tiny part of you is even vaguely curious about tackling a distance run, PLEASE DO IT.

  • Find a few things to inspire you, whether reading motivational books or collecting photos or making social connections or whatever.
  • Nibble at your training in fun ways, setting incrementally longer distance goals.
  • Think positively and imagine amazing things. Dragons, for instance. You could imagine dragons.
  • Then gradually luxuriate in the four million benefits of running (yes I counted them). Watch your life bloom in ways you have not yet considered.

Okay. So. How could this story go?

I could tell you the funny stuff that happened yesterday. There was a lot of funny stuff… I laughed so much. And according to sly photos taken by Handsome when I didn’t even know he was around, I smiled for most of the five and a half hours. I mean, when I wasn’t crying. I did cry a few times. I cried hot tears from deep, sudden pangs of sadness, oddly, not physical pain. But mostly I laughed. Fun wins over sadness by a landslide.

 

Running is the best!! Big thanks to my friend Steph for this fun photo.
Running is the best!! Big thanks to my friend Steph for this fun photo. I may not have great form, but I do have great fun.

 

Or I could stress the 90 minute race delay and paint you a lush portrait of the tense weather predictions leading up to Sunday morning, helping those of you outside of our Great State understand the volatility and un-trustworthiness of our springtime patterns. If I took that route (see what I did there?) I’d also describe in detail the rapid weather changes on Sunday morning between 6 and 8:30 a.m. then tell you about the start time delays and all the precipitating (did it again) effects this had on the race. The morning’s communal feeling of suspense will not soon be forgotten. Remember my dream a few nights ago, about standing beneath the Devon tower during a black-sky thunderstorm, wondering why the race hadn’t started yet? I knooooowwwww. Creepy.

 

The Devon tower in downtown OKC, surrounded thickly by black, churning clouds. Friends, this is exactly how my dream looked, minus one broad band of lightning.
The Devon tower in downtown OKC, at 7:30 Sunday morning, surrounded by thick, black, churning clouds. Friends, this is exactly how my dream looked, minus one broad band of lightning.

 

Oooooorrrrr I could tell you about all the amazing runners in my life who have inspired me over and over again, for months. Years. And how Handsome and M and my family and a dozen of our dearest friends came to OKC to support me and fuel me with hugs, cheers, posters, applause, and LOVE right when I needed it most. They popped up all along the course, and it was amazing! I love each of you for it, thank you! Four times as many friends and loved ones stayed tuned to the race via social media and have drenched me with loving words ever since. So, basically, I run for the hugs. Not ashamed of that.

I could whine a bit about my slight but worrisome knee pain around mile 14 or the one blister I suffered (which is already healed as I write this Monday morning) or how quickly I inhaled chicken enchiladas after the race. Or how divine watermelon tasted around 6 pm yesterday.

Do you really want to know how difficult it is to walk downstairs right now,but how much I love that strange ache?

Would you rather know the details of how uncannily my music playlist synced with my emotions and experiences during the race? It was cool as beans how the shuffle setting worked for me. You guys, the perfect motivational or hilarious songs played at the most perfect moments, it was crazy!

My Grandpa called me around mile 9. He had no idea I was running the marathon, just needed a mailing address he thought I would remember. So I gave it to him then we chatted about our gardens and how much we loved each other and promised to see each other soon. I did not mention the race, because it would totally have spoiled the sweet phone call. Plus it was really refreshing to talk about something completely different for a few minutes. We have kind of been on “marathon saturation mode” for a while, you know?

Do you want to hear about my friends who might now be training for their own firsts? This is like butter cream icing on a perfect vanilla cake, you guys. To have received inspiration from so many people and now to be sharing that inspiration with people near me is a pretty phenomenal feeling. It’s all energy that moves and trembles and generates life. It is contagious and powerful, and I love it.

 

Handsome showered me with gifts at the finish line! A dozen red roses, potted hot pink petunias, chocolate, strawberry Twizzlers, protein bars, a brand new hardback journal containing an epic love letter, a stability ball, and more. I am spoiled rotten and I know it. xoxo
Handsome showered me with gifts at the finish line! A dozen red roses, potted hot pink petunias, chocolate, strawberry Twizzlers, protein bars, a brand new hardback journal containing an epic love letter, a stability ball, and more. I am spoiled rotten and I know it. xoxo

 

I have no clue what you guys want to read about! So for the next few days, just to get the memories recorded, I will be rambling a lot about this spectacular experience. If it’s not interesting to you, I totally get it. Please feel free to tune in again sometime next weekend. If you do want to know something, send me a note!

Love, Me
Officially in Training for 2015
XOXOXOXO

This Time Last Year…

This week Mama Kat wonders what we were blogging about this time last year. Hhhmmm… You’ll never guess…

 

heart in soil

 

In April 2013 I was writing pretty much the same things I would be writing now, if I were talking time to write lately.

The Lazy W had just adopted Seraphine and we were waiting for a llama to be born. And I was still in my thirties. I’m no longer in my thirties, but once again we are waiting for a baby!

 

Note: This was before Dulcinea came along, so Romulus still allowed the horses a reasonable proximity to his woman. This peaceful coexistence was short lived, though.
Note: This was before Dulcinea came along, so Romulus still allowed the horses a reasonable proximity to his woman. This peaceful coexistence was short-lived, though.

 

I was super enthusiastic about helping some legislation pass in Oklahoma that made it easier for local beekeepers to share and sell their product. It did pass, by the way! And I realized that once in a while I could write something useful, something practical. I was happy to see that writing could become something even more than catharsis.

 

bees on frame corner

 

That month, just like now, I was planting early veggies and bemoaning the transient Oklahoma weather. We had a whopper of a storm season, to put it mildly.

In that month I reviewed books like Khalil Gibran, Typee, and Don Quixote.  I did lots of outdoor reading, before our buffalo had destroyed those two awesome loungers. D-E-S-T-R-O-Y-E-D, you guys.

 

 

quix read chairs

 

I was random as usual and loved me some cowbell. Back then I was still subbing younger kids once in a while, not yet aware of how greatly I would prefer the junior high kids and their much earlier schedule. In defense of little kids, though, they do write more love notes.

 

 

mrs marie tag

The Boston Marathon was bombed, and of course we all were reeling from the horrific losses. I had little to say except an encouragement to increase our joy. Only light drives out darkness. Still believe that.

choose light

And, finally, just like I did this year (until recently), I had a big ol’ juicy case of nerves over the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. 2013 was my first half and I was pretty much a basket case. But you know what? It was amazing! I had such a blast; the run itself  was easier than I expected; and I was hooked on big, fun, meaningful races, particularly this one. Forever. A few days after that event I wrote about how it all had improved my outlook on life. Because I am cheesy like that.

run tank funny

Still cheesy.

So there ya go! That’s about what was going on at the digital Lazy W one year ago. Not too terribly different from what’s happening here now. What’s new (or not new) in your corner of paradise?

XOXOXOXO

Mama Kat's weekly link up is full of fun blogs, check it out!
http://www.mamakatslosinit.com/2014/04/things-that-make-me-happy/

Icy Weekend, Ugly-Beautiful

   We woke before sunrise to the buzz of electronics losing power. An ice storm had moved through Oklahoma while we slept, and eventually the pale dawn revealed a hobby farm thickly encased by glassy, stubborn, frigid ice.

Oklahoma ice storms are beautiful but brutal.

   Our animals are all fine, thankfully. Their extra fat and fur are keeping them all plenty warm, and they also have shelter, high protein food, and forage. The power outage changes life inside the house significantly, though. And on a would-be very busy Saturday filled with holiday plans and tasks, succumbing to frustration would have been easy. But we really didn’t. (Not much, at least. wink!)

   Thanks in no small part to Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts, which gently nudges us to see the beauty in challenging situations, and also thanks to just a rich dose of Christmas cheer lately, my heart was light enough today to do just that. To see (mostly) magic in this unexpected Saturday Before Christmas. And you know what? Soon that is all I could see. I can’t even see the ugly any more.

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   I am so thankful for the breathtaking beauty of the gardens right now. These frozen herbs, these bent and frozen zinnias, all of this natural wonder in perfect wintry suspense.

When people say you can freeze your fresh herbs, this is probably not what they mean.

 
   It means we grew amazing things this year, that this little curve of earth is no longer void. It means that another swell of paradise is coming next year.

   I am so thankful for the freedom and ability to buy nice gifts for so many children we love. We do not take this for granted; nor do we take their presence in our life for granted. Handsome and I are very lucky to be called “Uncle” and “Aunt.” We cherish it. Have I ever mentioned to you that we have three million nieces and nephews? Well we do.

The Christmas memories you make are far more valuable than any gift you purchase. Please remember this.

  I am also thankful for the warm, pleasant feelings of nostalgia that washed over me all day, remembering so many little-girl Christmas seasons with our own children. This year, bitterly sad for so many new reasons, is oddly the first year I didn’t cry the whole time I shopped for gifts. In fact I caught myself giggling over and over, remembering so many fun things Handsome and I have done together over the years, things we did to surprise the girls and give them the best Christmas we could, year after year. Above all, we made memories. Now more than ever, this is clearly the most important part of all the work parents do at the holidays.

   I am so thankful for a messy living room, strewn with wrapping paper, Sonic ketchup packets, pine branches and other kindling, clean laundry, and unread books. I am thankful for the fluffy little dog my Father-in-Law has brought to live with us, because she brings so much new affection to our home. I am thankful for the paper whites blooming, for the pillows and soft blankets that beg us to cuddle, and for the candy canes, popcorn, and hot chocolate we can have for dinner. Because we’re grown ups and allowed to do that if we want.

The consolation of a deep, cold winter is a glowing living room.

   All of this means that we have a full life bursting with people we love and activities that truly nourish us. It means we have a home, not a perfect house. It means we work hard enough to relax on the weekend.

   I am so thankful for this small, colorful, happy little kitchen. I am thankful for this wall hook crafted my loving husband, loaded with slightly soiled aprons. I am thankful for that honey bee photo on canvas, a gift from our friend M when she and Hubs went to Alaska recently.

   This room reminds me that we always have plenty to eat. We often are surrounded here by people we love and who love us, and that I have been cooking lately with my youngest daughter, with friends, and by myself, feeding very special people, creating meals and desserts that nourish our bodies and make us priceless memories. 

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   Difficulties abound, no doubt about it. But so does sweetness. So do opportunities to make really special, one-of-a-kind memories. Love reigns supreme if we allow it to.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” ~Philippians 4:8

   I hope this finds you making the most of whatever circumstances are thrown your way. I hope your Christmas wish list is longer on “Fun to Have” and “Love to Show” than it is on “Things to Buy.” And I hope that, despite the romance of a power outage, you have all the electricity you need!

“He who has not Christmas in his heart
 will never find it under a tree.”
 ~Roy L. Smith
XOXOXOXO