This is a sponsored post by me on behalf of Lifescript.com.
After my breast cancer diagnosis, I spent many late nights curled up with my laptop and Dr. Internet, becoming increasingly terrified by the grim prospects offered up by the search engines. I needed information, but I had forgotten that the internet favors sensationalism, so the most extreme cases rise to the top. (more…)
The Seattle Iranian Festival is an annual event for my family. My husband got his Master’s degree in Persian literature, and through his studies we were introduced to the local Persian community.
Each year we reconnect with old friends, and savor the amazing food.
Art, colors, texture, music, beauty everywhere…
Each year Gem is made to feel like a princess, as our friends tell her they remember when she was just tiny.
She soaks up the attention –
and we all know how much she loves to have her face painted.
But you needn’t be connected to the local Iranian community to enjoy the Seattle Iranian Festival. Free, welcoming, open to all, this event will open your eyes to a beautiful culture that is not well understood in our country. It comes around every year. Give it a try next June.
We slipped into summer quietly: a lovely day, followed by a lovely sunset.
Since the solstice, our weather has been all over the place. Right now we are enjoying a thunder and lightning storm, this following a hot, blue-skied afternoon.
And tonight, this lovely summer solstice sunset.
How did your summer get started?
I’m always on the lookout for free and awesome things to do with my family, especially things that are appropriate for the little one. The Burien Wild Strawberry Festival was the perfect way to spend Fathers’ Day Weekend. A small town festival with all the typical carnival rides and games, and entrance was free.
The festival was in the downtown common area, with a view of Mt. Rainier,
and we could even watch the activity at SeaTac Airport from the top of the Ferris wheel.
There were plenty of activities for the kids. Some we had to pay for, like the rides,
but many more were free. A bouncy house, several different kids art stations and play stations, and the Firefighters let my little one sit in the driver’s seat of their ladder truck, and taught her all about dialing 9-1-1.
There were plenty of cultural events, including a Chinese dragon winding it’s way through the crowd,
and later found resting.
And when the sun got just too hot, we went underground to watch the breakdancing competition in the parking structure.
I love, love, love little festivals and fairs, and this is one of the better ones I’ve been to. We’ll be back next year.
How did you spend Fathers’ Day Weekend?
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28 women, all whom I adore.
28 women finding ways to squeeze the day, every day, while living with cancer and it’s after effects.
Every year we converge on this little retreat center in the woods, on the edge of the canal.
Every year we laugh, we cry, we eat, drink, and dance,
We challenge each other, we hold each other up.
And even more importantly, we rest, and we are cared for.
Every year I come back home feeling two inches taller.
P.S. This year, I brought a spare camera and handed it over to the group, asking them to take pictures as well. I’m so glad I did. I came home with pictures that were complete surprises to me, and this year, I was so engaged in just being present that I hardly took any pictures at all. Thanks so much to my friends for picking up the slack.
P.P.S. The link in the first line will take you to the poem I read at the retreat. It resonated so profoundly with so many of us, and I received many requests for copies. (I’m not affiliated with the writer of the poem, but when you write stuff this good, it deserves a link.)
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What inspired you this week?
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WW linky is on page 2.
