Grinnin' Meadows

03/20/2020

01/21/2019

08/10/2018

Escaping the heat and smoke, we ran for the hills this week. Great time with Adventure Packs (Heather Lynn Inczauskis & North Central Regional Library), Hiking maps Chelan Douglas Land Trust), Wenatchee Art Education Consortium (Nate Heinle) and our very own Alumn Torsten (Nick Watkins & Rebecca Jung Watkins ) for creating a field guide for us to pilot! Fantastic Week!

Mark Peaslee Amanda Lewis Peaslee Polly Feehan Kelli Scott

07/27/2018

So fun exploring many of the Gems of our region that I have NEVER been to albeit my 27+ (not in a row) of living in the valley.

What a place we have at our beck and call! AMAZING!

Washington Apples Wenatchee Confluence State Park Ohme Gardens Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center Entiat, Washington Chelan Museum Chelan Falls Powerhouse Park Daroga State Park Peshastin Pinnacles State Park Leavenworth Fisheries Complex Cashmere Riverside Center 9/11 Memorial Site Aplets and Cotlets Chelan County Historical Society Riverfront Park Kmbris Bond Mary Haehl Wenatchee Art Education Consortium Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center Confluence Health Ancient Lakes Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park Soap Lake Lake Lenore Dry Falls Interpretive Center

05/27/2018

I wanted to tell him to hurry up... but I paused and asked instead. His response: “I want to see if the vultures think I’m a dead animal.” I hadn’t even noticed the vultures flying overhead... I was so focused on finishing the task and moving on to the next thing that I was missing everything.

How many times in a day do you tell your child to “hurry up?”

Rushing out the door. Get your shoes on. Eat your dinner faster. Walk quicker. Chin up, eyes forward, let’s go! We’ve got to HURRY…..

To where? To what?

Do you stop and ask yourself what you’re rushing for? What is so important that you are pushing your child so quickly through their childhood?

And do you ever wonder why?

Why they are moving so slowly. Why they are staring off into space.

Well…. Did you ever ask? Did you ever just STOP and try to get inside their head?

I stopped hurrying. And I asked. And these are just a few of the answers I got:

“I’m counting my peas.” (not eating dinner)

“I’m trying to decide which shoes are the best shoes.” (taking forever to get shoes on)

“I’m singing to the birds.” (lagging behind on a walk)

“I’m watching this worm to see how fast it can dig.” (not coming in for a bath)

Do you see what’s happening here?

Our adult brains are conditioned to move so rapidly… to hurry as quickly as possible from one activity to the next, always rushing, always thinking about the next thing and never, NEVER paying attention to the current, present, beautiful moment.

But our children? They haven’t been changed yet. They’re still curious and full of wonder. They still see the beauty in weeds and will take the time to hop over every crack in the sidewalk for miles.

And why on earth would we want to do anything but encourage them to keep that passion, that attention to detail, and the ability to SLOW DOWN and just enjoy the world around them?

In fact, we can learn a lot from watching our children. From asking ourselves why we are rushing constantly. Why we are so concerned about the next moment instead of focusing on enjoying the present one.

Ask yourself. Why?

And ask your child. What are we doing in THIS moment? And can I join you?

Watch your world change before your eyes.

To slowing down….

05/13/2016