plunging for patience

First day of day camp, aka "love bugs."

we haven't posted much because we are too busy living the stories we want to blog about later.  does that work as an excuse for a lack of posts?  I sure hope so.  we are certainly taking lots of pictures (well, lots for us anyway.  we don't have iphones, so it takes a little more effort than everyone else, right?)

 

Cora donning her red white and blue attire

jamin and cora started day camp last week, and they totally love it.  they come home singing the silliest songs; the current favorite is about how their father does not wear socks.  they have had amazing, passionate, enthusiastic counselors, and I am so very grateful for that.  some days they are exhausted by lunch time, so we bring them home for a nap and they are ready to go again by supper.  these kids, jamin especially, LOVE to eat in the dining hall.  it's a huge motivator.  lucky for us, there are plenty of vegetarians (and even a vegan!!!) on staff, so the chef whips up some veggie goodness on the regular.  last night was portobello mushroom caps stuffed with lentils and peppers.  um, yum.

there has been some soul-searching going on this summer as we enjoy our adventure and learn what feeds our family best.  one night we hopped on the ferry to go to greenport  for supper.  we tried to meet up with some friends, but plans just weren't quite coming together.  we didn't have reservations anywhere and apparently when you live in a town with classy people, reservations are a must.  overly hungry and tired, we stumbled into a little burrito shop.  we had sat outside this shop for a bit earlier in the evening and every family that came out was snappy and short with each other.  once we were seated inside, we could see why.  it was HOT.  too hot.  and there was only one waitress for the whole restaurant.  but we were too hungry to try for anything else, so we sat and sweated and waited and tried not to be snappy with each other.  we had been talking earlier in the day about the delicate balance (specifically when one is soul-searching) between taking the plunge and having patience.  I'm a plunger.  eric does much better with the patience.  but this night, sweaty and annoyed, eric plunged.  he pulled a sprig of lavender from behind his ear (because farmers always have a sprig to spare) and presented it kindly to our waitress.  "you look like you could use this," he told her.  "you can wear it in your hair."  she stopped and smiled and asked him where he'd found the lavender.  he told her about his work on the farm, she told him about her summer job on another farm on long island.  they swapped gardening tales, and eric took notes on the farm she mentioned so he could plan a visit.  "what's your name?" he asked before she went away to the next table.  "patience," she answered.

we raised our eyebrows at each other.  maybe it isn't an either/or sort of thing.  maybe we can plunge and be patient all at the same time.  I'll let you know how it goes.