Cottaging Babies

Not o

nly because they have the cutest faces on earth, but because I love them so...

the Faces from the North

Tor and Matty's dog, Karl

The whole gang

 

Kenny

Cassie, Amelia, Christine, Kenny, Elise, and Jack

Algonquin Park

Leanne and her family are kind enough to invite me to their family cottage in Algonquin Park every year.  It's been three years since I've been and it was high time for me to breathe in that northern air.  After a three-hour trek up Highway 11 to South River, we turned past the Canadian Shield and into cottage country.  It was magical.  Leanne's preggers, so stopping at the chip wagon for some french fries was a must-do on her list.  I must say I was very grateful for the bebe's craving :)

Walk along Beach Blvd

My friend, Jackie owns a house on Beach Blvd.  She's got quite a few interesting projects on the go.  We went to see the progress of construction at the house, then took a wander down the beach.  Twas a lovely evening...

Both Sides

Image courtesy of chomikuj

I think Joni Mitchell had it right. 

"...and now my friends are acting strange.

They shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed.

But something's lost and something's gained

in living everyday."

There is a part of me who is very, very conservative.  I love to stay home, clean the bathrooms, and do my laundry.  I like to prepare home-cooked meals from leafy greens and protein-rich grains.  I drink the same coffee from Starbucks nearly every single time I go there.  I like to read.  I like the idea of living in Ontario.  I like the idea of roots.

And there is another part of me who throws caution to the wind: who hitchhikes in France; who gets stuck in the snow in Croatia; who follows a couple from Asia to Europe at midnight in Istanbul to get to a mouse-infested hostel.

I like staying put, growing roots, planting myself firmly in one place.  I also like packing a red backpack and venturing out to a new place.  Something is lost and something is gained, surely.  It's a fine line; a fine balance.   

Image courtesy of All Things Stylish

It's a balance and that's all it is.  It's a life.  As Frank Passaro used to say, "It is what it is."  It's not any better and it's not any worse.  It's not any bigger and it's not any smaller.  It's the choice I make everyday to explore something new or relax in something old.  Either way, it's growth in some direction.  Because every single time we make a choice to stay or go, uproot or extend roots, we are growing...

and we are improving.