58 years

Last night I had the pleasure of celebrating my Inlaws 58 years of marriage.  58 years!  In true Melang style, five people turned into ten, luckily we have the planners in our family so there was water, wine, cheese, fruit and crackers.  Thinking about them and knowing them for the over 25 years I've been married, I've noticed a few things:

Marriage is a give and take, just like raising a family.  You pick your battles, and your spouse realizes that when you do pick a battle it usually is something pretty important to you, so they take a second look at it.  And you do the same with the things that are important to them.

A long and happy marriage is a long chain of memories.  It was fun listening to the different memories, watching how they would look at each other for some of them, the important ones.  I was glad I had the pleasure of being there for some of them and see my own marriage as that - a long chain of memories that bind us together.

Marriage is a surrender of self to the both of you.  The longer you stay married the more you become one, that the joining ceremony is only that just a ceremony.  It takes a life time to learn how to live together, and heck, maybe we never fully learn it.

Marriage requires laughter, because like life once you lighten up and learn how to laugh things just get so much easier.  Like the battles, the laughter, sometimes at ones self teaches you that many things pass, the laughter and the memories are what we remember the most.

There is no regret in marriage, because everything that's happened along the lifetime happens for a reason.  A regret you may have is a memory built in someone else's life.

Marriage requires saying you are sorry, and meaning it.  It also requires forgiving, and letting it go.  Easy words to write but some of the hardest things to do.

I am lucky that not only do I get to celebrate 58 years with two very special people, but I feel part of a family that is built upon.  My better half and I have been practicing these traits the better part of 25 years and like his parents hopefully we've got many, many more.

That's One Way To Dry Off

How does some warm concrete feel after a dip in the pool?

Pretty good.

Wish these old bones could do that too.

Maybe a little WD-40 for them?

Honeysuckle....

Rain doesn't stop a walk in the woods.

Quietly talking about plans for the week,

Which trees to climb

Which plants not to touch.

It's a little early, but that sweet smell catches our attention.

I show him how to get the most nectar out of each flower, how I did it as a child.

We spend a few quiet moments tasting honeysuckle

Until the work is not worth the result.

So onward we go with that sweet taste in our mouth and the picture in our minds.

Strawberries!

We went strawberry picking, or should I say strawberry eating.

The rule of thumb was pick one/eat two.

Max ended up with some strawberry juice left on his chin.

Always makes me think of doing this with my Mom in Ocean City.

Looking for blueberries or strawberries

Then holding our stomachs and groaning all the way home.

Do you see him?

I ran into a snake today on my long run.

Not good because those know that on a long run, you cannot stop because if you stop once then you convince yourself that walking is OK.

But I didn't smash him, I just took a picture and watched him cross the road.

Wondering, "Why did the snake cross the road?"

Oh, and the adrenaline rush from that - well, it helped me limp through the last few miles.

Thanks Slithery Slithery Snake  (say that with "th's" not "S's")

Goodbye National Poetry Month

Seriously, I'm a little glad the month is gone..it is much easier to handle National Running Month than national Poetry Month.  Here's my last poem in celebration:

Lines In the Sand

I feel that line dissolving

In how I relate to you.

I see my old prejudices

Melting like the snow

In the sun of new found

Answers

To things I never questioned.

The line had always been

drawn

don't cross it, don't

question

That's the way it is.

But now we are

people

I don't see that line

The one I crossed

Once meeting you.

So sad

Why do you look so sad
Is it because you made me mad?
Waiting until it is time for bed,
Rolling in some poop instead.
What do you expect?
A sweet "atta girl" or some respect?
Why are you so surprised,
You 3 years should make you wise.
But like my children you are a lucky one.
I'll forgive you this little fun.

Please oh, please

Please oh, please let me get to them

There are not that far away.

Why do they not fly

Why do they stay?

Don't they see me, the ferocious dog

Hunter of the bird?

Don't they shake on their perches,

Why are they so absurd.

I'll sit here and bide my time,

relaxing as they play,

Knowing the minute that door opens,

Oh happy DAY!

They are MINE to stay!

If a Moose Came to Visit

Funny, we saw a Moose today on the ride up the mountain.

If a moose came to visit, 

Would anyone believe me?

Would they think I just made it up?

Of that he was actually out there to ski?

If a moose came to visit, 

I'd let him in through the door

I'd let him in my room,

Especially if he didn't snore.

Did you know he likes bagels, 

Especially when soft and warm,

He'll even add a little red pepper jelly,

Because he thinks that's the norm.

The problem is how he'll fit in my home,

His antlers are too tall,

He'll take out the furniture, be careful,

the lamps, the shades, he'd take it all.

How could I feed this animal, this burley beast,

Should I feel him my lunch from school,

Perhaps a Lean Cuisine, 

Naw, he wouldn't think it was cool.

If a Moose came to visit, it'd be so fun.

we'd eat fun stuff, he go on the run.

But i'd have to let him go, to let him free.

Because a Moose in my home is not the best place to be.

Neffland

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month?  So every day you'll get my sick, twister, mind in rhyming style.  Aren't you excited?

If I could travel out of my mind,
I'd go to a place where snow I could find
I'd jump over a mogul in the air,
Skittle down a run without a care.
And at the very bottom is what I hope.
Exists a terrain park, not a slope
there is such a place if you can plan.
A funny little place called Neff land.
Full of snow, tricks, boxes and rails,
Watching each kid as they sail.
Me?  I watch and swish down the side,
Knowing that it's only my kids that will ride.
As I exit I wonder, was that really a place?
Or something simply in my grey space?

Weary....

What a great day on the mountain.

This is our morning run - ahead is an historic abandoned silver mine.

With the lift next to us that takes us to the summit.

Snow was great, lots of fresh trax for the morning.

It was hard work, but so much fun

Finally on the long runs back to the middle of town and our condo.

So excited we get to do it again.

Art at the Heart - Clay!

52 students!

Exhausting

But so well worth it.

Resident rockstar by the number of hugs I received as I sent them home.

4:44 minute mile?

Way to go Jay.  Fell into the meet.

Screaming and yelling like a fool.

He ran a mile in 4:44

Max celebrated because technically that was his birthday.

He told Jay that's why he did it.

As a runner, I am amazed.

As a friend, I am blown away.

Way to go Jay!!

Evil little things

I've stepped on them.
Washed and dried them
Found them in places you'll never imagine.
But both boys still build with them,
So I can't let go of them just yet.

The box

A poem I composed this morning when I saw this box created by my son:

One day, cleaning out my soul.

Nestled under my ego,

I found a pretty little box.

I held it in my hands

Wondering

What in here?

I don't remember this?

Where did it come from?

I opened it slowly, listening to the creak,

Surprised.

What beautiful treasures,

Pieces of my life.

Things that I couldn't let go of,

Memories now crystal clear.

I realized that these were pieces

I couldn't let go

So I tuck them away

In this box, protected.

Until I was ready.

Putting the box under my arm,

I left the cleaning 

For another day.

Ready to explore and share

My treasures.

The things you do for friends.....

I'm lucky that my friend does my hair,

Because I wouldn't sit still this long for anyone else.

Let's have some fun and make it straight.

Here's the dorkerama view 

And the finished result.

She's lucky I love her

Because that is the only time my hair is ever done and straight.

You probably can't see that it's straight, but it really is.

Funny, the kids didn't notice the difference.

What is Valentine's Day

I pulled into the carpool line, car fun of balloons.

When they opened the door, two escaped.

The shout from all the kids waiting as they went away in the afternoon sun.

Life is all about doing something different.

About surprising those that you love with a quick,

Lunch,

I love you,

You mean so much to me that

I'll spend my time with you.

Remember that this isn't just a single day in the year.

It's a thought for a lifetime.

PS.  Can you find my child in there?

Let me call you Sweetheart!

How many different pins on Pinterest did I pin?

A whole board of Valentine ideas.

What did I end up doing?

What the kids are going to love anyway.

The ritual of passing around candy hearts on Valentine's Day continues.

He's asking me which one he should give to a little girl.

My heart skips, and I sigh.

Thank goodness I've given up candy for Lent, they may make it through the night.

Treebeard

This is Treebeard - who greets us on the lift.

On the Oz Run at Beech Mountain Resort.

It's been two years since we've seem him.

Glad to see him alive and well.

Max and I make up stories about him

As we ride the list to the top.

Temptation

I have an afternoon with my son.

He wanted to come to Brixx.

He ordered the mouth watering bread stix,

I sat and watched.

Remembering my vow to quit the bread, the sugar

and as I got a headache watching each bite.

I was silently relieved when the plate was finished.

What's your temptation?