Today I went and picked up Jenna from her grandma’s place. As soon as we stepped into the elevator to head down to the car, we turned and started karate kicking each other. Complete with loud high-ya noises. Giggling and karate kicking all the way down.
Thank goodness there was no one else around.
The happiness moment of the day. Silly elevator fun.
Tonight after supper the original four sat around the table sharing memories. Some from our childhood. Some – like the story of my parents and our most awesome cat Torts almost tipping in the canoe during a storm (Torts was so awesome he was game for such things) – predated their life with kids. When they were just two plus cat.
The opportunity to just sit and visit and remember does not happen often enough. The opportunity to share love and appreciation for others is not grabbed often enough.
My happiness moment for today was sharing those little moments.
As a bonus funny moment, this morning Jenna came running around the corner saying you should see what Ella just did! Apparently Dottie the Dotted Dog was lying down and Ella the Cat walked over, walked on top of her, and lay down on Dottie’s bum. Jenna said Dottie just lay there wide eyed not sure wait to do about it!
For at least the last year Jacob has had a lot of questions about where he comes from. He wants to know his roots and understand more about his family.
He always has lots of questions about his great grandma (my grandma). He has some memories of her – she died when he was 2.5 – and often talks about remembering visiting with her.
Starting a few months ago he started asking to go visit her grave. It’s not a place I’ve been back to since she was buried. For me, if I need to feel close to her, I just sit in her kitchen. Which is easy since that’s where my parents live and is a 30 second walk away.
But, he had a really strong need to go to the graveyard. So we went. I went for Jacob, but I also went for Grandma. I remember she used to take me there to visit Grandpa’s grave and put flowers there. Then she would walk me around and look at the other graves. My great grandparents are there, as are many great aunts and uncles. The doctor who delivered me is there. All of “old Cochrane” is there. She would show me where everyone was buried and tell me stories about them.
I realized that even though it may not have a lot of meaning for me, it had a lot of meaning for Grandma. That she would probably appreciate flowers and a visit there.
So we went there. After a little searching we found the graves.
Not knowing how I would feel being there, I was amazed at the sense of peace I felt being in that place. It was actually a huge sort of comfort standing amidst past family and friends. Really standing there in our roots.
I did notice that there was a planter in the middle of my grandparents’ headstones and although it was too cold today to leave flowers out, I will go back and put a pot of geraniums there when it warms up. 
So, my happiness moment of the day today is kind of a weird happiness moment. It’s not one of screaming joyous laughter. Today it is the happy feeling of standing in the roots of family and the feeling of love and belonging that grows out of that. It’s a deep seated contented happiness that I am grateful for.
Because it was rainy and cold out, afterwards we went to a local coffee shop and had tea, hot cocoa and a little treat. A different kind of happiness.
Spring! It’s a happiness time. New life, new growth, new hope.
This spring there are lots of emotions going on here, but there is always a reminder that things carry on. That new life is always flying in on the wings of old.
We all come from somewhere and to some extent carry along parts of our past with us. Nurture or nature, we all carry our ancestors with us in some way.
I love seeing all the common family traits. Some of them learned by watching behaviours and some of them passed on through genes.
Just like those seeds we are planting in our garden, all our new life here is sprouting hope and happiness and promise.
My happiness moment today came buying the flowers pictured above. It carried on into this evening when I looked out my window and saw my brother in law digging the garden.
That is hard work.
Tomorrow for the first time in 10 years I will plant a vegetable garden. Beside the barn my grandpa built. Using potatoes my great grandpa brought over from Ireland. With my Mom, my Dad, my kids, my sister and brother in law, my niece, and my nephew.
All those generations joining together to plant new life and new hope. To watch what was started carry on. Together. Surrounded by love.
Today, after a very busy and emotional day I found a quick moment of happiness with Jacob. We came home and abandoned all responsibilities to sit in front of the TV, watch The Golden Girls, drink a cup of tea, and enjoy the sinful indulgence of an eclair. In that little moment all was good, all was right, all was happy.
And isn’t life really all about the little moments?
Quiet, simple, easy moment to breathe and regroup with one of my favourite people in the world.
For the first time in 10 years I got to spend Mother’s Day with my Mom. What a blessing and my happiness moment for the day all by itself. But the day was made better by the fact that it also included my dad, sister and her family,bmy aunt and uncle (who have always been an extra set of parents to me), and my cousin’s daughter. What a blessed day to bring the family together for a meal and a visit.
It was pretty relaxed and we were able to actually sit together and laugh and have conversations about everything and nothing. Having family is such a special blessing and if I ever took it for granted before we moved I never will again.
Extra happiness moment was sneaking off with my sister for a walk and some bonding time. We don’t get to spend enough time together just us and I treasure it when we do.
Happy Mother’s Day. Mine was spent exactly as I wanted it. I am so blessed to have the kids God gave me. They have taught me how to be a better version of me.
My happiness moment of the day today is also the thing that consistently keeps me in balance. My walk. It’s supposed to be my daily walk but lately, for one reason or another, it hasn’t been every day. Some days I haven’t gone for a good reason and other days the reason has been too tired or too windy. Although in my defense, those Chinook winds can be brutal and my blood is still set to Virginia temperature.
Today though was a wonderful walking day. The sun was warming my soul. The wind wasn’t bad. The mountains were beautiful. Things are slowly greening up.
When we got back, Dottie bolted around the back of the house in hot persuit of something. I assumed it was the deer who stare in my windows at me every morning. But when I followed her, it was my parents’ cat Flower in his alter ego state of Killer Not sure who should have been more afraid.
This evening we were driving into town and we were talking about what superpower we would want. I wanted to be invisible so I could vanish when people annoyed me and both kids wanted to fly so they could get away from annoying people (introverted family you think?).
Then Jacob said you know how it is when you just get tired of being in a conversation and you want to leave but you can’t – so then your brain goes to your body “well, if you want to stay here that’s fine, but I’m outta here”.
That is the story of my life. I find myself in conversations I don’t want to be in anymore and my brain just walks out and leaves my body behind.
I’ve been giggling about it all night. Love that kid.
Today was the day of the deer. First we saw this lady and her friends out for their morning stroll while we were driving to school. They usually hang out at one corner every morning, happily standing on the side of the road. As you can tell, she is not afraid of me at al.
Almost every morning while I’m sitting having my tea a few deer come into my back yard and stare in my window at me. I figure they’re asking when I will be planting the garden and if I could please plant something yummy for them.
This afternoon this one was lying at the edge of the old garden having an afternoon sun nap. Even though I was standing fairly close and had my dog with me, she was not bothered enough to get up.
Happiness moment, spending time in nature and soothing my soul.
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. – Simone Weil
My cousin put this quote on my Facebook wall yesterday saying it was something that reminded her of me. A lot of time over these past few years have been spent figuring out what grounds me and what to do about it.
What grounds me? I rediscovered last summer that this grounds me
I remember laughing about this fact years ago when I was riding all the time the only stable thing in my life is my horses. Over the years I’ve thought about that statement and refined it (I was in my early twenties at the time and if you’d told me I would be moving away from Calgary I wold have laughed hysterically)
Being home grounds me. Home in the larger word than just a house. Home where family is. Home at the ranch. Home where I look outside and see the barn. Home where I walk outside of my house and the first sound I hear is the gentle zerbert sound of a horse sneeze. Home where little Melissa ran around and played with her sister and cousins in the same yard her mom played and in the same yard her grandpa played.
Like roots attaching into the ground I can feel myself grounding back in here. A different and more purposeful grounding than I had before when I took it for granted.
This morning while driving home from the school drop off I had to pull over and take in the view of the mountains. It was breathtaking and I felt my soul smile as I stood outside of the car breathing in the morning air. As I stood there I thought about being grounded and being home and sticking my roots in.
But then when I got back in the car the song Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond came on the radio and it brought me to Rhode Island summers. We had some beautiful summers there at the beach and driving to Newport and to Boston That song is the song they play at the Red Sox games and Jacob became such a Red Sox fan there.
I realized we had left roots everywhere we have been in some way, shape or form.
One of the churches in Roanoke had this on their sign: bloom where you are planted and it became a mantra of sorts for me during my time there. I tried (perhaps too hard) to bloom and flourish no matter where I was. I have to say though, there are certain conditions that are absolutely better for growth than others.
Learning about Ayurveda has taught me that a lot of my sense of being ungrounded is a Vata imbalance. I knew this, I studied this. I practiced a Vata pacifying lifestyle And yet no matter what I did I remained unbalanced.
Calgary physically is about the most Vata aggravating place on the planet. It’s dry, windy, and cold, cold, cold.
I knew that a lot of my imbalance had nothing to do with anything physical. I could live in a Vata pacifying place, eat Vata pacifying foods, and practice Vata pacifying routines and it wasn’t going to solve my problem.
My issue was and is spiritual And it’s being balanced in this most Vata aggravating of places. Where my roots are.
Happiness moment: a little couch nap this afternoon with Ella the Cat being a purr machine on my chest. Part way through she rolled over, leaned down to where Dottie the Dotted Dog was lying, balled her paw into an unclawed fist and punched her a few times in the head. When Dottie looked up, Ella rolled over on her back and cuddled up to me so Dottie knew she was missing something. They pretend to hate each other but they actually have a pretty special friendship. Shhhh don’t tell anyone.
Tonight we went to a big family birthday party. Thrown by a couple who really know how to throw a good party. Since childhood I’ve made it a point to try and weasel an invitation to one of their “hellabaloos” as he called it tonight.
Good timing too because we really needed to get out and let our hair down and have some fun. I went with my parents and my kids and it was much needed fun and visiting.
Every morning on our drive into school we pass a man driving a black truck heading the other way. We always wave and smile. In fact the kids and I judge how late we are by where we meet him on the road.
Tonight at supper we were eating with my parents, my aunt and uncle and a few other people. One of them said I pass you when you’re out walking your dog during the day. I drive a black truck. So Jacob turned to him and said do we pass you on our way to school too? And he looked at me and said you drive the silver car through the hay valley? We both decided now we will be giving big huge waves as we pass instead of little polite ones.
I’ve told the kids that when they go out here they’ll always run into family. To find out this man is married to a cousin of my mom – their nana – just confirmed for them that they are home and constantly surrounded by family
It was fun, it was important to be brought back into the loving arms of our clan. Today’s happiness moment. Out with my family with the family.
Here’s the kids at the party:
Don’t you love the cowboy light hat?
Just to prove we live in the most beautiful place in the world this was the view towards our house on our way home. The pair of swans has decided to stick around for a while. 
