Pause

I was walking home after a staff meeting on Tuesday, along a busy grimy street and turned my head to see this amazing sunset. Since daylight savings time ended, the sun sets so early. It was good to be reminded that there is beauty everywhere, but sometimes you have to pay attention to see it. 

Two weekends ago we went hiking with a big group of people, 7 families from our school went in 6 vehicles to an area not far from Tirana where there are some old castle ruins near a little village. To get to the village, you had to hike up a very precarious path, however, so half the group took the wide road around - but went off track and ended up invading someone's private farm. 

Nothing bad happened, we just had to turn around and retrace our steps back.

I was thinking about these steep slopes - how we have to pause to catch our breath, and in doing so we see the big picture. 

Weekends are such important pauses for me right now in this high-stress school year. This weekend the same folks who organized this hike are ambitiously organizing another. We're thinking Terry will go while the kids and I stay home, and pause.