Simplicity

A small candle in the room - 

all the light we need.

A clean bed for us to make love in - 

all the comfort we need.

A rain-filled evening or snow falling from the sky -

all the romance we need.

A sunlit morning with birds chirping us awake -

all the peace we need.

A day spent outside among nature's magic -

all the wisdom we need.

A memory made with our loved ones -

all the joy we need.

A moment spent in your arms -

all the love I need.

~Modern Akhmatova

Biking with little kids

Yesterday was a treasure of a day

So many beautiful memories made

We hung out, drank coffee, cooked, ate, biked, wrestled on the living room floor, and laughed

It was a treasure of a day.

....................................................................................................

Two kids and two adults,

Two on bikes and two in a bike trailer.

We rode on sidewalks, neighborhood roads and local bike paths.

All along the way, the kids screamed and giggled,

Over a bump, they'd say "Bump, Bump!"

Down a hill, they'd howl with joy as the wind ruffled their hair.

But their favorite of all was going through the tunnels.

It is then that their euphoria reached its peak.

It is then that we all joined in a chorus, screaming and shouting;

Giving voice to the wind, speed and wonder of the BICYCLE.

Two adults and two kids,

The joy, camaraderie and love exchanged,

All because we went on a BIKE RIDE.

Following are bits and pieces of a conversation my youngest niece and I had during this bike ride. We speak Serbian, so that's why I included that version before translating it into English.

1. "Dobar ti je ovaj sport, Tamara." / "This is a good sport, Tamara." - my niece
2. "A jel ti ides svuda sa ovim biciklom?" / "Do you go everywhere with this bicycle?" - my niece. "Da."/"Yes." - me. Tisina/Silence from my nience. :) 
3. "Tamara, moram da kazem Tati da je ovo brze od auta." / "Tamara, I have to tell dad that this is [biking] faster than the car." - my niece. "Pa da, to je zato sto osecas vetar po glavi." / "Well yes, that's because you feel the wind in your hair." - me. "Da, kao kad su svi prozori otvoreni u kolima." / "Yes, just like when all the windows are wide open in the car." - my niece. 

CELEBRATE!

"The more you praise and celebrate life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

I'd like to dedicate this post to celebrating our life throughout the month of October!

My almost done
magical tree costume. :)

• First, how fun, creative, and exhilarating this Halloween has been for us! We planned and made our costumes from June to the beginning of October. We spent countless weekends sourcing and playing with all sorts of stuff while making our costumes. I was a magical tree and SO was a pyro magician. Basically, I was one giant, glowing, and eclectic tree, while SO set stuff on fire with propane gas. We also planned and choreographed a live performance for the family friends we visit in upstate NY every Halloween. We picked the music, choreographed the show, and practiced a number of times. All  of this anticipation and preparation led to a memorable and fantastic experience with our family friends who also had a surprise for us. They unveiled a ginormous spaceship in their garage, and played all kinds of awesome music while aliens, zombies and wolverines danced at the top of their driveway.

Beautiful fall leaves that I
found on one of the trails.

• Second, how wonderful it was to be camping and hiking in the Shenandoah National Park during autumn! After our long weekend in upstate NY, we worked 3 days and then left for a long weekend in Virginia. SO's parents came along too, since this camping trip has been a family tradition for them for many, many years. We hiked, cooked and hung out at the campsite, shared all sorts of stories, read together side by side in the tent, and had the pleasure to see and hear the one and only Charlie Maddox sing at the Big Meadows Lodge. SO has seen Maddox perform almost every year since he was a baby. Watching him and his parents sing all of Charlie's songs in unison was a beautiful and really fun experience. 

• Third, that I succeed in making creamed spinach taste just like my Mom's! Creamed spinach is one of my all-time favorite foods, but that's really only true if it comes out of my Mom's kitchen. So finally, I decided I was going to try to learn how to make it and it turned out great! It was so satisfying to breathe in the familiar aromas of cooked spinach and garlic, and to realize I could continue the Serbian recipe tradition! 

"Lifetime" compost tumbler

• Forth, we got a big, awesome COMPOST TUMBLER!! This is super exciting for us. In my earlier post on composting a few months back, I described the time-consuming and not-so-green way we were going about composting our kitchen scraps at the time. For a while my SO and I have been discussing getting a composter of our own. So we did some research about what works best for apartment dwellers, read customer reviews on Amazon about different compost bins and tumblers, and decided we were going to get one by November 1st. Between last month and a week ago, I had been tracking local ads on craigslist. Finally one showed up that looked good and voila, it's now sitting on our balcony. Loving it!

• And lastly, toasting to the 20 year anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act! The Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve were established in the California desert as a result of this Act that was signed on October 31, 1994.

And now I'd like turn to the whole idea of celebrating holidays and traditions, and why my SO and I decided to make up our own.  

So much of what we celebrate is prescribed by the society and culture we happen to live in. Most people follow along because they get a day off work, believe in (materialist) reciprocity, and/or because everyone else is doing it. Having realized all this, and primarily because we've come to despise the "biggest sham holiday of them all" - Xmas, my SO and I wanted to start celebrating things that we actually felt joyous about and that made a difference in our lives. 

Source

Along the way we also realized that in order to keep peace with the family we needed to make the best of all the consumerism-driven events such as Xmas and birthdays. That said, we've adapted by making homemade foods and crafts for Xmas gifts, and treating our friends and family with quality experiences. 

While we can't wait for the day when we no longer have to deal with the religious and retail tyranny of Xmas, we will go along to keep family peace by treating it like a family breakfast that we bring homemade treats to for our loved ones. 

On the other hand, we're big fans of Thanksgiving, which will get its own post at the end of this month. As far as we're concerned, and everyone we've every talked to about this, Thanksgiving is the best "official" holiday ever. 

Happy Celebrating!

~Modern Akhmatova

Autumn Joys

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans)

Ah, the autumn breeze and warm colors have arrived. To celebrate the wonders and the comforts of the new season we decided to go bouldering this past weekend in the Coopers Rock State Forest near Morgantown, WV. Three other couples joined us on this spontaneous adventure. The park is three hours away from where we live, so we joined up with one of the couples to share the ride, reduce our carbon footprint, and enjoy each other's company (and their dog Milo :)).

During our drive there and back, I couldn't help but stare out the window, mesmerized by the scenery whizzing past us. We were surrounded by endless hills and fields of intermingled red, green, yellow, orange, and light brown canopies. What a beautiful sight accompanied with myriad moments of silent inspiration.

Coopers Rock offers a great concentration of high quality boulder problems within day trip range of Baltimore and the Washington D.C. area. Two of the couples we went with are veteran climbers. SO and I, along with the other couple we drove with, are less experienced climbers, but we could still hold our own and have loads of fun bouldering. That's the beauty of climbing, especially in the outdoors; it's a very chill sport with a gorgeous setting to boot.

The rock and the act of climbing are also good reminders to meditate and the benefits of clearing one's head. As humans, we assign meaning to the world around us and nature reminds us that our conception of meaning is often inadequate and unnecessary, especially if one desires to truly be present in nature. To climb well and "be one with the rock", an almost meditative state of mind is required. The  moment you start to think too much, your body tenses up and you're pretty much done climbing. To me, at its best, bouldering is like ballet on rock.

Me walking on the trail on our way
to the next bouldering project
(that's a crash pad on my back)

One of my favorite moments of the entire trip was making food over the two fires we had going (in large part thanks to my SO who loves anything and everything to do with fire :)), drinking wine, sharing stories and hanging out together under the starry sky. The next morning was just as sweet. SO and I were the last to wake up, and as I walked from our tent to the picnic tables, everyone else was already eating breakfast and chatting. I realized afterwards just how much I enjoy hanging out at a campsite, making food and spending quality time with others. To me, there is something instantly relaxing and quietly joyous about a campsite.

Shortly after breakfast, everyone packed up and we were off to the rocks for some more bouldering action. By the time 3pm arrived, we were all desperately sore, yet so grateful for having spent the weekend together surrounded by natural beauty and pushing ourselves and one another physically. My new outlook on being young is that we are blessed with strong bodies and should use them to fully experience the natural world as much as we can, while we can!

SO coming down
after a successful climb!

SO and I plan to return to the gorgeous autumn woods in two weeks again. This time it will be a 3-day camping trip in the Shenandoah National Park with his parents, who are also avid hikers, campers, and outdoor adventurers!

Happy trails!
~Modern Akhmatova