Weekend in Philipsburg

We spent Saturday night in Philipsburg. It felt good to get away. No internet. No television channels.

It was cold, and the fire in the stove burned all day and night to keep the house warm. It was just the four of us. Our small family, together.

My favorite parts:

~ Walking the dogs at the town park. I love our goofy, misfit pack of dogs.


~  Seeing Emma reading "The Outsiders." I read it at her exact age and to say that I loved it would be an understatement. I still own my ragged, dog-eared copy.

~ Watching "Home Alone" together as a family. We watch it every year, along with a few others — "Elf," "Christmas Vacation," "Rudolph."

~ Hearing my daughters chatting, giggling and making midnight snacks in the kitchen as I laid in bed.


Being together felt like such a gift this weekend. Life is so precious, so tenuous, such a fragile gift. 

These past few days I've thought a lot about that gift and what it means to embrace life and how being in a state of fear can diminish joy. I am scared but I know I need to try to operate from a different place, for myself and for my family.

In this world there is much to fear, that is true. But there is much to celebrate, much to embrace, and so much beauty and love. My heart aches for all of it — the crushing sadnesses and the racing joys.

Wishing you peace.

Village Bakery

I love this piece of artwork called "Village Bakery" that I discovered on Etsy this morning. The artist is Kelsey Garrity Riley and her shop can be found here.

Isn't that little pretzel/wheat sprigs design on top so sweet? And I love the people and the window boxes and the shingles.

Today we plan to head up to the cabin in Philipsburg for the weekend. We'll take swimsuits and whatnot this time since it's supposed to be hot and Georgetown Lake is just a ten minute drive from town. I also need to work on the flower bed there, the grass is encroaching and choking out the roses, iris and bachelor buttons left by the previous owners. Gary and I are also plotting to make the girls go on a hike with us. There will be much whining and protesting to combat initially, but usually they settle down once we're on the trail and end up having a fun time, despite themselves.

Kate had a friend sleepover last night and I awoke at 3 a.m. to find them still awake! Yikes! So that means she'll be in rare form – somewhat dramatic and over-reactive – by the time we get set to drive around 5 p.m. Hopefully she'll sleep in the car. If not, hopefully I will.

5 Reasons Why I Love Philipsburg

1. The street signs are still still carved in wood. So sweet. (This is the street our little house sits on. It's 2 blocks off the main street so we can walk to town.)

2. The town reminds me of the TV series "Northern Exposure." And the people are just as friendly and interesting. The man who sold us our house told us he once woke up to find a moose in his front yard. As soon as he said "moose" I was sold (I had already been thinking how this place was just like Cicely, Alaska and then he said "moose." I was a goner).

 

3. It began as a mining town so there's lots of really cool history and nearby ghost towns to explore.

Now there are about 950 folks in town.

(Emma wasn't too excited about visiting the museum there this weekend though. Here's a photo of what she was doing while we were all looking at the exhibits.)

4. There's no WiFi or cable TV so we all bond a little more . . . 

5. . . . and get creative (These are some hearts, people, and two ducks Kate needle felted this weekend)

There are about 100 other reasons I love it. Gary loves it too. Sometimes we wonder if we might live there full-time someday.