Jacob is napping.

John is upstairs with his dinosaurs and Green Army Men, playing some take on Land of the Lost.

James is inventing new knots and trying to decide between nylon and kevlar for his favorite rope material.

I thought I'd blog. (Lucky you!)

Do y'all feel like you're wasting most of your lives waiting for something that never comes, singing the Song that Does Not End? (Tried to Google the lyrics for that, but no luck, sorry.) Or have you found your niche and learned to taste and savor each season of life in turn? Everyone is so busy, busy, busy right now. This time of year is filled with activity, it seems. Yet when I step back, and look at the overall scheme of things, there is always something coming up or winding down. (Usually it is a combination of both.)

Summer activities kick in and everyone is out 'n about, the under 18 population seems to quadruple since most are not in school for the summer. There are swim lessons, camps, baseball, VBS, vacations... and we all fall in a heap at the feet of August, praying for our routine and an end to the hectic pace.

As that's winding down, here comes the "back to school" frenzy for some (and the "not back to school" frenzy for others). Halloween/Harvest... Lessons... Thanksgiving... suddenly it's "The Holiday Season" and then nobody seems to slow down until January, when a great majority of the earth's population goes catatonic. (I'm beginning to believe this is an instinctive measure, designed to keep us from hurrying ourselves into oblivion, something akin to The Magic Shoes.)

While all the leading magazines tell us this is good, I know that doesn't ring true with many people. You see it in the proliferation of "Simple Living" style publications, books, seminars and Yahoo! groups. People seem to rebel against the hoopla, but don't know how to get out of the throng. I'm thankful that I have Zorak, and you can't hurry him along to save your life. He gets it, on a cellular level, and has been quite a calming, focusing force for me.

SO, all the money-making products and icky supermarket trash mags aside, I would love to hear your methods for savoring Life The Way You Want It. After all, by the time we rouse from the January-coma, there's a brief lull, then suddenly Spring is upon us... and oh, look, here comes Summer! Quick, hide!

Dy