:)

I come back to school after spring break and it's already light outside when I'm walking to the train at 5:30am. And it's no longer a silent walk. I'm accompanied by the bird choir. But there are still no cars on the road, which means I get to see cool things like this....
A very cute hedgehog was sniffing his way toward me on my way to work this morning! How great is that?

I kind of want a tattoo of this on my forehead (but maybe I'll settle for a post-it note I can carry around with me)....

Life always gives us
exactly the teacher we need
at every moment.
This includes every mosquito,
every misfortune,
every red light,
every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss,
every moment of joy or depression,
every addiction,
every piece of garbage,
every breath.

(Charlotte Joko Beck)

Photo follow-up

Happy Easter!

Incredibly, today has brought the kind of weather that one associates with Easter - sunny, warm and spring like. I can't even remember the last time Easter has been delivered on such a beautiful day! So what's in store for us today?

This morning I went out to the garden and snipped various leaves, needles, small branches so that KB and I could decorate our Easter eggs. The way that happens is the eggs get dipped in water and then you stick the leaves or rice or whatever you want to the egg and then tightly wrap the egg in onion skins. Then the eggs get boiled as normal. Our friends AA and EM are here celebrating with us, and they were quite impressed with our technology of wrapping them into old nylon stockings (an old trick from mom/grandma). Photos will surely follow. The eggs turned out beautifully, each one unique, and we proceeded with the yearly "egg wars", choosing the egg that looks most solid and trying to smash as many eggs that the others' have chosen as you can. KB was the winner, as he has been for the last three years running! Also, as "saimnieks" of the house, he cut his egg evenly into four parts and shared among all the people at the breakfast table, so that we may all have an equally abundant year this year. The neighbors also came over to share their eggs with us, and we shared ours as well.

Today involves a bit more yardwork for us (though the blisters on my hands from raking are indicating that my share of yardwork may be done for the day, so I will retire to a bit of reading in the sunshine). :)

Swinging is a must today, so that mosquitos stay away from you for the summer and also so that you don't sleep the summer away. The higher you swing, the more abundant a year you will have. You are helping to "swing in" the sun.

We will surely end the day with a pirts. Today I'll be trying out using a pussywillow broom. We've been reading up on the different types of brooms you can make and use in the pirts, each with their own healing effects. I guess a photo might be in order in the near future to aid in the explanation of what really goes on in the pirts. And we will be drinking fresh birch tree juice (collected much like sap from maple trees) to rehydrate after pirts.

Warm and sunny Easter wishes from Sigulda! :)

The ice cream man is back...

As chapter two of how you know spring has returned to Latvia...the ice cream man is back on the train. A few minutes before the trains from Riga take of to their destination, a parade of guys selling stuff comes through the wagons. I have had no problem up until now resisting the guy who sells last month's magazines at a discount as well as the guy who sells flashlights, playing cards, batteries, sewing kits, and other random stuff. But today, the ice cream man returned. Please tell me how I am supposed to resist buying an ice cream for a mere twenty five santims when it gets paraded past me and people all around me are buying and eating them. Today I held strong, and stuck to my healthy after school snack of a rye bread sandwich and flavored water. But for an ice cream queen such as myself, this shall be a true test of will...

Spring is in the air! :)

Despite the lingering sore throat today, I couldn't not go outside and sit under the perfectly blue sky and soak up some sun in the 15+ degree weather. It was the first real taste of spring, as evidenced by the first white crocus blooming in front of the house, the first butterfly of the season (both KB and I saw a colorful one, meaning it will be a colorful summer for us), the many birds hanging out in our birdhouse and birdfeeder (a source of great entertainment for Mims from her window seat), and the large variety of insects finding their way already into our house (there is something to be said for the screens on windows in the US). So I got out my thickest scarf, made myself a cup of tea, and sat outside reading for a good part of the afternoon.
In the following picture you can see the fountain we uncovered earlier in the week when most of the snow finally melted! The owners of the house let us know that they have had goldfish swimming around in there summers past. I thought Bubbles (the class fish) might have an interesting summer vacation except they did also warn that the goldfish sometimes get eaten by birds... As well, in the past they've had a chair in the fountain as a place to sit down and cool off after pirts (sauna). :)
A slightly wider view of the yard, including the swingset and sandbox (great attraction for godchildren!) and the shed in the corner which also has a meat smoker in front of it.
Our patio with the door to the garage, which connects to the house. To the very left you can see the white outdoor fireplace where we grill out.
A view of the back of the house against today's beautiful blue sky...
So there is a bit of a sneak peek from the outside - anyone want to come visit? :) We've had guests every weekend since moving in and we're looking forward to a great spring and summer of being able to spend time outdoors, in our very own backyard!

The bug that wouldn't go away

That seems to be all that's in the news from me currently - I'm on my third sick day this month. :( It seems to just be one really persistent bug that keeps showing up, yuck. KB is my nurse, monitoring my Theraflu intake, which is actually working wonders. Clearly I just need to be more mindful of taking care of myself, my immune system is obviously just shot at the moment. Any suggestions?

The kids at school are getting worried. They frequently write me letters (and I always write them back) and lots of the letter lately have had comments like "I hope you feel well today", "I hope your tummy doesn't hurt today", "I wish you have good health"... Have I mentioned how wonderful and caring they are? They're really great kids. KB suggested that we have to re-title the story they wrote earlier in the year to "The Not-So-Healthy Teacher and The Working Kids". Our next unit of inquiry will be "I Feel Good" and I think our project may be figuring out how to get the teacher more healthy....