Labor Day

And the livin' is easy.

It is hot today and our community pool is closed and the Y is cleaning their pool this weekend. SO, no swimming which would have been the natural activity today. Instead, we gardened in the morning. I planted a few hostas I bought at Farmers Market; Julia deadheaded cone flowers; and David mowed the lawns. I turned over some compost and was very happy to discover compost! The. 3-bin system that I inherited was just so slow and I wondered whether I'd ever make efficient compost, but I changed back to my favorite 2-bin system, and with the help of some neighborhood bunny poop, my bins are just chugging along. I turned over a bit today and found that at least half of one bin has rough compost. Good for fall planting and great for dressing beds.

Yesterday, we did two novel activities for our family.

We went to church in the morning. I have felt the need for some spiritual guidance for myself and for Julia for awhile. I thought about our options. As a lapsed Catholic, I had to think about the Church but couldn't bring myself to live with the conservatism of the Church today. If it was Vatican II's church, I could consider it. I love the rituals, I love saints, and the singing.

I thought about a Jewish congregation. I am pretty cofortable with Jewish beliefs and practices, especially in the liberal reformed movement. But David is not interested in getting involved in a synagog. Too many demands, too much guilt. I am not saying that the guilt would be imposed from without.

So, we've settled upon the First Unitarian Fellowship which is bigger than I really wanted but whose ministers and message is very comfortable for us. I will sign Julia up for some sunday school and I will take a newcomers' class in a few weeks. And we shall see.

The afternoon was spent at a Ho-Chuck Pow-Wow. An interesting event. It reminded me of a Ukrainian picnic or the Bolivian Europenia. It was an event for those involved, for the family, and although we were allowed to watch, we were not included in what was going on. Still, I really enjoyed the drumming -- constant and loud -- the dancing -- soft shoes on dry dirt -- and the costumes -- each more elaborate than the next and made out of every conceivable fabric and decoration. Lots of feathers and flash. Julia enjoyed it too. When the drumming circle near our part of the bleachers was playing, she put her fingers in her ears. It was much to much for her, but her eyes didn't wander from the dancers in costumes. It would have been such a good time to get into her head and see it as she was and know what she was thinking.

It seems that after almost 2 weeks, the listening therapy CD for expression is kicking in. Juliaa's drawings are clearer, more distinct embellishment, more multiple images, AND more counting of what she has drawn. She is probably talking more as a result of the CD as well, but Julia talks so much to begin with that it is hard to measure. She is getting more of her prepositions in the right places. And she loves home -- when we first got back from vacation, she put her arms out and said, "I love this kitchen."

School tomorrow!