Clear windows and Crafty Mamas

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This past week at Esalen in Big Sur, my hubby, son and I got a chance to rest and play. Tristan enjoyed the meadow, the ocean, the expansive organic garden and the Gazebo school while I got a chance to hang out all by myself for the first time since before he was born. One day I volunteered to work in the garden (not a selfless act, I love to garden occasionally, especially now that I don't have my own)! Two of the days had morning pranayama (breath) and yoga classes, which I thankfully took part in. Thomas was the teacher and at one point in the class he talked about how conscious breathing was like a window, and if you paid attention you could really see things - everything around you - clearly. I'm paraphrasing there, so it might not be exactly what he said, but it was very clear in that moment, and I was breathing consciously and seeing everything quite clearly at that moment. What a wonderful moment! Nothing in front of me, nothing behind me, just right there. I love being a mom but it does make for a very busy mind!

A week or so before leaving for Big Sur I got my new copy of Mothering magazine where I read a great article about crafty mamas! I began to look at these women's blogs and was hit again with inspiration...and a little envy! How I wished I could whip up something as quick as the Soule Mama and Angry Chicken moms can! Anyway, it inspired me to make a little wrap-around-skirt with a great fabric of colorful umbrellas hemmed with a forest green grosgrain ribbon. My first effort - not bad. I'm lucky to have been raised by a mom who grew up sewing her own clothes (even her own wedding dress!) and spent some time with me during my youth teaching me a little about how to use a sewing machine. I got my own machine while I was pregnant hoping to finish a quilt I started working on. I finished all the cutting but by the time I was done, I was 6 months pregnant and my hands were crippled with pregnancy carpal-tunnel, and I just couldn't finish...someday though! Looking at these women's blogs daily though, gives me further inspiration for what may someday become a master's project, or at least somehow incorporated: the history of women's handwork (in the United States). Lots of women bringing this back into vogue - through expression of creativity and sometimes necessity these days, I am so excited to research this topic. Someday soon hopefully...