SouleMama

SoulePapa Blogs :: At Water, In Water, Am Water

At the banks of the river, they climb and laugh and play and make noise.  I find myself staring into the current, mesmerized by the flow.  Into, over, around and down.  Unmercifully, to the sea.
I float and it holds me, suspended on time.  The water of my ancestors, evaporated into dust and rained down to us, filling pools and spilling down mountains.  The very people that worked this river and looked into it's depths to see those before them. 

The sounds of my children playing returns my attention and I warn them to be careful, the current is strong right here.  They recognize it as a force to be respected and adjust their course.  The present is where they live and I am happy to be here, in it, with them.  Maybe one day they will look and see the reflections of the past and stare at them like I do.  Now we walk the banks and swim in the pools and the kids look downstream and ask me what's around the bend.  I haven't been down there before I tell them, but it looks beautiful.  Let's go.

SoulePapa Blogs :: Pirates, Brothers

Bread is broken and torn as the gluttons chew, slurp and belch their way toward a surly contentment.  By nature, a distrusting lot, they hover over their keep like vultures with an eye to the side ready to repel an enemy combatant or a fellow vying for extra scraps.  They sleep.  Heavy and loud but always, always with an ear to the ground, monitoring the perimeter. 

Drawn to battle, like eels to water, trouble finds them quick and often.  They fight and growl and gnash teeth, clashing metal and flesh in an enraged storm of natures most volatile child.  Man. 

When the opportunity to beat another does not present itself, they scrap each other.  Naturally, they are brothers.  Born into a competition of ancient, biblical proportions they are powerless to resist.  But, as hard as they go at it, at no time are they more powerful, more invincible as when they fight back to back.  Swords arching to defend the family against all that comes.   

When things look bleak, their knees weakened and the end near, look closely, you'll see the most amazing thing of all.  They are smiling. 

SoulePapa Blogs :: Seven

Happy Anniversary Week Sweety!!

Yeah.  You guessed it.  This is me on my hands and knees digging up the blueberry bush where I lost my wedding ring, earlier this summer.  You're right, I know.  I should have gotten it resized rather than wear it on my pinkie.  That's behind us now and the blueberries are gone and here I am looking intently for my ring.  Under the blueberry bush.  Although, I think I might need a metal detector.  The one Calvin made, by duct taping a refrigerator magnet to a stick, isn't working.  Anyway...

I love what you create.  As a Mama,  As a Wife,  As my Best Friend... 

I love you.

 

SoulePapa Blogs :: Two

As I type, she climbs on my back in an effort to regain my attention, that I so carelessly diverted, at 9:23p.m. on a Sunday evening.  The attack is relentless and, at times, dangerous.  The stools are stacked, carefully, in an effort to reach her intended target.  Teetering precariously on one foot, she waits until conditions are favorable and leaps.  She is not deterred by injury nor hampered by fear. 
She's two.   

She keeps a running dialogue of her day as it occurs and she demands that you listen intently and respond, thoughtfully.  If she senses a wane in your attention it is swiftly corrected with a two handed face grab into the forced eye to eye gaze. 

When we're on the town she insists on holding my pinkie finger when walking.  She isn't down with the whole hand hold.  Not her style.  Sometimes I'm supposed to be on the left.  Other times I go on the right.  Kinda like an accessory.  It's certainly easier to accommodate than to fight the wee force of nature that is Adelaide.

She's got magic in her heart and will teach you how to find yours if you pay attention to her lessons. 

Resistance is futile (and not very fun). 
Acceptance is divine.

SoulePapa Blogs :: Finding The Beat

I rolled into the driveway right behind Amanda and the kids.  They were practically leaping out before she came to a complete stop shouting, "Papa, Papa we got the drums!  Can we set them up now?!!" A real drum set given to Calvin by a real live musician (thanks, Mackenzie!).   

First... this requires a bit of musical background on my subject.  I present to you a six and a half year old boy with a storied history of abusing and misusing all musical instruments and toys .  "Sweet Calvin?", you say,  "How can this be?"

The answer is easy - because the boy plays every instrument as hard and loud as he possibly can.  This boy that knits and sews and loves fashion, nail polish and pink hand me downs from his aunties. He gets in front of anything that emits sound and crushes it with his hands, a stick, his feet, some knitting needles, whatever.  I was beginning to think he just didn't have the patience or interest to make music at this point in his life.  And, frankly, I've been getting a bit tired of the constant stream of used, abused and generally wrecked musical instruments that come across my workbench.  Granted, I am a master with duct tape and glue.  This is my medium.  But how many times can i mold the wooden xylophone back into shape?  Guitars with broken strings and broken necks.  Congas with ripped skins and cracked wood.  Did somebody leave this flute in the driveway?!!

The porch is swiftly cleared to make room for the new addition to the family.  A tightening here, an adjustment there.  He sets the stool in place ("it's called a 'throne' Papa") and climbs up.  The sticks are too big and his feet don't reach the pedals.  With a slight grin and a determined eye he hammers across each drum with a crisp, thundering roll and crosses back over his body to completely mash the cymbal.  He stops and we are all laughing out loud at the spontaneity and precision of his first attempt.  Later, I realize he had been, inadvertantly, training for that moment his whole six and a half year life. And finally the planets aligned and the drums found him and he nailed it.  Off he goes for an extended jam while Ezra grabs the harp to accompany him and Adelaide is dancing and bobbing her head around the room.  Maybe there is an instrument for every person or even every personality.   And, perhaps, a time to be connected with that instrument.  Maybe if I had taken an electric guitar lesson, as a seven year old, instead of piano, I'd have made it past my first lesson (don't ask).

Now, I'm just digging the beats.

And the band.

SoulePapa Blogs :: Faith in the Fall and the Full Moon

The kiddos were up very late tonight, howling at the full moon and happy to be causing a disturbance in general at such a late hour.  We were shooting a night scene for Calvin and Ezra's pirate movie which, for them, is a very good excuse to play with dangerous tools from the shed.  Calvin had a machete and Ezra a hooked garden implement with a scary looking point on the end.  They were more than a little agitated when the clouds rolled in, foiling the moonlight and drizzling rain on my digital apparatii.  The disappointment was short lived however, as we packed up and ran giggling back to the house trying to follow the erratic rhythm of the flashlight as held by Ez. Inside, the fans were attempting to blow away what will most assuredly be the last of the really warm days of the year.  Amanda and Adelaide joined us for a round of "Animal Lotto" in which Ada, still feeling the lunar pull, provided the comic relief by claiming every animal as her own and dancing around the table to distribute her bounty onto the proper lotto card.  I sat back and took in all that I have and, being a bit of a sentimental type, felt a sincere sadness at the passing of this summer.  I thought that if I could freeze time into one season, of my choosing, it would be this summer.  With my life where it is right now.  With my kids running all day on the beach and swinging in the back yard until dark.  Stopping only to eat and talk for a while.  But...I'll roll with the time and welcome in a new season.  In these parts, people are not impartial about fall.  Some love it.  Some do not.  For me, it is religion.  To relish the long walk into a cold, dark winter.  To meet it with my family in warmth and love.  To have faith that it will all come around again and that it is how it should be.  How it's always been.

SoulePapa Blogs: Bring on the Clowns

Ezra ended up with three times as much candy as Calvin by perfecting a brilliant maneuver where he would get as close as possible to the candy giver at the door.  While they were chatting and handing treats to the other masked marauders, Ezra was simply loading his sack on the sly.  More than once he would get the, "oh, that's enough dear".  He's quite the rig.
The kids, all decked out in Soulemama custom apparel(Ezra in a retrofit of his Grampie's old costume from the 50's!), had a blast in some of South Portland's oldest neighborhoods where trick or treating is still alive and well and safe.  They hit the fire station to see Grampie, too.

Amanda will be back tomorrow morning to give you a full report on what's been keeping her so busy.  Thank you all so very much for checking the SoulePapa Blogs while she was out.  I now have even more respect for the dedication it takes and for the strong community you all have formed across the world.  Simply... Beautiful. 

SoulePapa Blogs: Yikes!

There's SouleMama! Circa 1984-ish in the midst of a four-year Cyndi Lauper for Halloween binge (you thought Calvin was obsessive).  Papa in the Hat from '93 maybe.  I called my man Jeffery early this morning requesting pictures of a childhood Halloween when a friend's uncle painted our faces like the rockers from KISS (I was the drummer- Peter).  No luck on finding those gems.  This has always been a favorite holiday of mine - I think I like it even more as an adult than when I was little.  Not so much the sugar barrage as the thrill of being somebody (or something) else for a time.  Although, the sugar was a thrill too.  I would eat all of my candy as fast as humanly possible and then harass my brother and sisters for some of theirs.  Dad ate the apples.

PS - For those of you hunting down kid-size whitewater kayaks - The one in the pictures is actually my boat which i was heavy for about twenty pounds ago (I told you about the candy, right?).  Small whitewater boats can be very stable for small children but only if they don't mind tipping over.  Check a local boat/ski shop for specific boats and then search for them used at places like boatertalk.com.  If they'd rather not tip, go with a wider more stable lake boat or recreational kayak.  Either way - get on the water - I highly recommend it as a source.

PSS - Amanda will be back VERY soon.  You're all being SO patient!

SoulePapa Blogs: Quack Quack

 
I think my day reached it's peak a little after dinner.  I was flying solo while Amanda attempted to bring her latest/greatest project to completion(oh so close!  update soon!).  The boys were needing a little "guidance" in their choice of evening entertainment.  Smash up derby between the plasma car and the radio flyer wasn't cutting it for me.  The daylight was all but gone and we hadn't been out of the house once all day because of the torrential rain being inflicted on us by an obviously, vindictive god(dess?).

Well, Calvin went out for about ten minutes, around noon,  but only because i bribed him with hot cocoa and a tubby if he ran through the deep puddle out back. Later, on his own convincing, he headed out in the maelstrom once again, before dark, to do some yard kayaking. Excellent form.
Sweet Ezra had a complete mental and physical breakdown around 5:30pm and fell asleep in my arms.  Unfortunately, with daylight savings going down tonight, he'll probably be up around 4am.  I didn't turn my attention back to Adelaide until I heard the dishes hitting the floor in the kitchen.  Sure enough, I'd left the dishwasher wide open and she was unloading the contents for her Papa.  How sweet.  She's also becoming a master climber, the drawing table being her favorite target.  She quietly pushes a chair out of the corner and up to the table.  Silently and with nerves of steel, she goes up to pull the tops off every marker in sight.  If you don't move quickly she won't only fall off the side but, display quite a collage on her lips and cheeks as she tries to gobble up said markers before you take them away. 
Oh, yes.  The rainy day inside with the kids.  30 games of memory,  indoor hide and seek(a crowd favorite) and we even got an encore presentation of Ezra's long running interpretive dance "doggie piano".  There isn't enough coffee in town to keep me going on days like today.
Don't get me wrong - I'm actually a big fan of inclement weather.  The bigger the storm the more excited i get.  Like my Grampie used to say, "Can't handle the winter, don't deserve the summer".
Tomorrow's weather - sunny and windy with a high of 50degs and a possibility of some p.m. showers.  I'll take it!  Gotta hit the hay - Ez will be up any time.  Night Night.

SoulePapa Blogs: Corners

I found myself sulking around the house tonight with the camera, long after the kids and Amanda and the animals had gone to sleep, looking for a corner to shoot.  I've long threatened SouleMama with an "other" corners of my home set which shows the soft white underbelly of our household.  You know,  overflowing laundry baskets, toys galore, mystery food on the floor, greasy windows, dirty diapers, pots and pans, junk drawers, dog hair, dust bunnies, dirt devils, toothpaste on the mirror, broken this and duct taped that.  And sure, there was plenty of that around just begging to be documented.  But I needed this corner tonight.  Probably my favorite spot in the whole house, with the wood stove (or radio holder at the moment) and the rocking chair (with a little mystery something underneath it i notice!) and the kids book shelf.  A couple of old pictures on the wall.  It relaxes me. 

We put an offer on a great old house this week and have been jumping through some serious hoops to try and make it work.  In the end,well...it just didn't.
Maybe I'll go sit in the rocker and have a drink.  Maybe I'll go lay on the bedroom floor and listen to the kids breathe.  This house isn't too bad either.