Ten Things I’m Into…( June)

Ten Things I’m Into (June)

1. Spike Lee - This month marks the 25th anniversary of Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing.” I took my children to the block party celebration and talked all things Spike lee to them in the days before the event. It was a crash course full of passion on cinematic history for African-Americans, on class and culture, on racism in America, the issues addressed in the film and, current events that make you question how far we’ve come. We watched the first part of When the Levees Broke and grieved over the graphic images of a city seemingly abandoned in the face of a natural disaster. I’m grateful for the talks with my tweens. Their world is and isn’t so different from the world I grew up in. Engaging in adult conversation, with my children, whatever the topic, is a treasure. 

2. Figure Skating - my girls just finished 2 weeks of figure skating camp at Chelsea Piers. It was an intro for Chailah, our youngest. I don’t want to force skating on her but thought it would be practical for her to learn. We’re a skating family because of Ila’s passion for the sport. So learn she must. She struggled through the first week. Because we homeschool, Chailah’s never spent an entire day away from me. With the exception of a few days with dad or grandma, she works at my side 24/7, the estrogen counterpoint of my “Littlest Lovelies” pair. The separation was hard. But I loved seeing past the immediate frustration to the growth in her as a girl. She grew and changed in those 2 weeks and even lost a tooth.

3. Hair Braiding - I’m thinking about braiding my hair for the summer. I tried twists with Marley hair extensions a month ago and took them out after 2 days. The hair was light weight but too bulky. I did not take pictures. Thinking of taking it back this time with old school box braids that, like Lupita, I’ve learned to do myself. The Afro halo is on my last nerve. Time apart would do us well.

Check out Lupita braiding hair..

4. Camping –  June brought an invitation to go camping.  This month was all about setting plans in motion to make that happen – but I’m starting from zero friends. My experience with camping is one night in a park in Queens, NY hosted by the Urban Park Rangers. They provided tents and food. Basically a camping experience for city dwellers who wouldn’t dream of owning tent or roughing it in the wild. We’re researching tents, and sleeping bags. This should be fun. Right?

5. Blow Up Pools – We are fortunate to have a terrace and last year bought a blow up pool for the littlest lovelies, it’s not big but fills up with just enough water to keep them cool and happy in the NYC summer heat.

6. 40 days of blogging – I signed up to do a 40 day blogging course with Story Sessions. Feeling the blogging drought and hope this will inspire me to develop a regular writing practice.

On the blog I received lots of feedback from a post written the day after Father’s Day and I wrote a poem

7. When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams the title of this book is other worldly beautiful. I saw Maleficent last night and the visual imagery reminded me of the title. Oh, it’s like a song. When Women Were Birds. When Women Were Birds. So good.

8. Taking Care of myself – Alison Hector of Learn to Embrace the Struggle wrote this post on Deidra’s site today and it got my holistic head aflutter with all I know but don’t make time to do with regard to my health. For the most part I eat right but I don’t work out as much as I’d like . So I’ll read something like this and get all super-duper motivated and workout every day for a week and then burnout because I’ve pulled a muscle or more likely just bit off more than I could chew by cramming it all in to an already overbooked day. Baby steps is the way to go and in my excitement…I forget that. This post reinforced for me the most important thing to remember…make small lasting changes.

9. Avocados – so it’s all about avocados for me lately. Two summers ago a friend introduced me to an avocado burger and since then I serve it with rice and beans, add it as a filler for my plate when I enjoy a fried egg or spread it on toast with a little lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Up next – quinoa avocado sushi and dark chocolate avocado truffles.

10. Dates with my husband – Big Daddy and I are talking about buying new sneakers. The purchase of said sneakers will be the jump off point for speed walk dates around the Harlem Meer sans children. Now that’s God-inspired midlife marriage sexy.

I found this fun collective of fond remembrance and piqued interest on the blog of Leigh Kramer. 

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Lisha Epperson