what's going on

we had such a busy week, it was crazy. i don't think i ever worked this hard in my entire life. but i'm feeling good, and want to keep going. i've been sore the whole week, but i think my body's starting to get used to it.

ed's been working on our new house full time. he's so hard-core, it's incredible. he already ripped apart the entire first floor. i can't even fathom doing all that work. he's been sore too - between thee two of us, we feel like two old people....

i've been in the field every day, pulling out potatoes. i think we were able to save them from the blight, which is very exciting. they're big and beautiful, and taste good too. one day, i had peter gabriel's song "digging in the dirt" playing in my head over and over, as i dug out one potato after another. it was funny, i kind of laughed to myself. i actually love digging potatoes. i love the way the soil feels against my skin, and i love the smell of damp earth. the hard part is when i get interrupted, and have to go in the house for some reason, then i have to clean up because i'm such a mess, and it takes a while. i like to just keep working, but the kids need me every once in a while.

speaking of the kids, they've been taking classes this week: sena took drama, as if she needs to be any more dramatic than she already is... and aiyana took an arts and crafts class, both at the montessori school near us. they loved their classes, and i did too, but i'm not crazy about driving them back and forth all the time, even if it's only 10 minutes away.

sena has been really interested in figuring out how humas got to where we are today. she asked me one day "mom, how did all of this started?", and i knew what she meant. that launched us into a huge discussion, which is still ongoing, on evolution, religion, culture, etc. she loves going through the encyclopedia, and this morning she sat on the couch for an hour, going through my anthropology book. she loves the stuff on evolution; loves to read about fossils and artifacts; she can spend so much time looking at skeletons, checking out the different bones, and seeing how they compare for different species. she is so mature for her age, i swear, the conversations i can have with her catch me by surprise every time.

ed and i have been reading "the omnivore's dilemma", which is great, and we came upon a definition of happiness that i really like:
happiness as the ability to express and live out one's true nature.
in the book, this definiteion is mainly used in reference to animals, in particular the treatment of animals at the hands of humans; but i think that it can apply equaly well to humans. i know for sure, that when i look at happiness in this light in my own life, it explains a lot. the freedom to express my true nature - it makes such a big difference in how i feel.

i think that as we get older, we get caught up in our busy lives and forget about being happy. just simply, genuinely happy. we get hardened and cynical, and then we have a mid-life crisis, get a convertible and start dating someone half our age. i think that happiness is much simpler and much easier to attain than we generaly believe. it doesn't require anything spectacular to happen; just a little awareness is enough.

wishing you peace...