Snail Zen

A few weeks ago, we took a family trip over to our local waterfront park, Fort Foster. We ran around the shoreline for a while and then made our way under the pier toward another stretch of beach.

I spotted a cluster of snails pressed up against a pillar, and, thinking my son would find one of my favorite beach tricks as delightful as I do, I called him over. 

“Look,” I said, holding up the snail. Then I hummed. The smooth surface of the snail’s doorway slowly opened, revealing the head and antennae of the creature inside. “When you hum, the snail comes out,” I said, rather pleased with myself and the charming way I was showing this little person how to commune with nature. 

Then, the little guy plucked his own snail from the pillar and held it to his lips and hummed. He smiled up at me just before he hurled the poor mollusk with all of his might. Then he picked up another one, hummed and chucked it. And another. 

Now, every time we go to the beach he asks to see the snails so that he can call them out of their shells, inviting them to watch as they go flying through the air. 

The zen of accidentally becoming Enemy #1 for all snail kind. 

                                 

Summertime Zen

I have emerged unscathed.

The zen of shopping for a new swimsuit.

Nostalgia Zen

My sister-in-law, who has a son 8 months younger than ours, just asked me what her little guy (now 1 and walking) would need for his first real beach experience. The email included a list.  

Remember when all you needed was a bathing suit?

The zen of balancing the simplicity of childhood with adequate sun protection. 

Train zen

The trains are upon us. First, we had months of reading the book Choo Choo on heavy repeat. Then, once his throwing everything phase had passed, we introduced the train set he inherited from his cousins…

Then, he refused to eat all afternoon, and would only eat dinner if his train came to the table, too. He slept with a train, and woke up with it in his hand. He brought it to breakfast, and he played with it on the ride to school.

He was more excited about waking up to his train set than I have ever seen him excited about pretty much anything. So, it looks like we love trains. How could the whole family not love them if the little one loves them so very much. He hasn’t even seen the Thomas the Tank Engine television show.

That’s going to totally blow his mind. 

The zen of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. 

Garden Zen

After weeks of hemming and hawing, reading and list-making, I finally made up my novice gardening mind during a stroll through the farmers market.

First, a funny potted wild ginger caught my eye at the booth of the woman who makes tinctures and herbal remedies. Then a beautiful chocolate mint stared me down until I made it mine. From there,we went to the nursery and added chamomile, sage, lemon balm and lavender and more kitchen herbs to the ones I’d grown from seeds. And then we’ll add Echinacea and calendula, and maybe another here or there.                   

An herb garden of edible, drinkable, soothing, healing plants now grows on the south side of our house. And another little bit of my Self falls into place.

The zen of leaving the veggies to the farmers and keeping the herbs to myself.

 
                             

 

Soggy brain zen

Rain

Impromptu Dance Party Zen

When he started to fuss and whine about his morning diaper change (as usual), I started to sing.

When he said, “No sing song” I stopped. 

When I stopped, he said, “Sing.”

When I asked him to sing he stayed silent. 

When I asked, “Do you want to dance?” he said, “Yes!”

So I pulled him to his feet and we danced. 

The zen of toddlers in the morning.