MLK day

I’ve been substitute teaching lots lately, which is good, but it made me especially excited about a three day weekend! Thank you Martin Luther King Jr. :) I know his contributions to society are incredibly greater than a simple day off school, and I’m glad we have a day focused on remembering his influence.

I like my Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be one of adventure. It’s tradition. :) Two years ago, Chris and I very spontaneously went to Kauai for a four day weekend (also sort of a honeymoon), and last year we went on a frosty camping trip to Hidden Lake. I don’t remember many Martin Luther King Jr. days before those two, but I decided I want to have a tradition of an MLK day adventure.

Chris and I talked about taking Edel and camping on Captain Cook beach a couple hours away in Nikiski, or walking from Bishop’s Beach to Diamond Creek beach in Homer, which would be roughly 6 miles maybe. Not sure really. Buuuuuut MLK monday morning came around. We slept in. That was sooooo nice. I didn’t wake up in the cold and dark to an annoying alarm sound disturbing my dreams. Gah, waking up is hard to do, for me. Actually it’s just the getting up that is hard for me. But this MLK day wake up and get up delightful.

Chris had some work to do, so I took him in about 11. He later went to lunch with his friend and I went to lunch with my friends, aka my mom and sister. My lunch with them was perfect, just what we all needed.  The food was tasty and the conversation was truthful and deep.

Chris kept working and I hung out at my sister and brother in law’s. I played with my nieces, zoned out watching a bit of Big Bang Theory (so glad I don’t watch much tv, though I definitely get excess screen time with phone and computer), and then the girls and I decided to make a little adventure happen.

  
We went to the beach. It’s not a humongous adventure, but the girls and I can turn simple things into adventures.  Katy, age 7, almost didn’t join us because she got weird at the last minute and decided she didn’t want to come, but I’m so glad she chose to join Natalie and me! The girls’ dog, Cody, was also along for the adventure. We hadn’t taken him to the beach in a while and we were all happy to do it.

Once we got to the beach, we ran into, like 15 other dogs, and some human friends too! And then the girls and I just wandered around. It was perfecto.  

Chris met us down at the beach and we explored together. Natalie brought a jar to catch some sea creatures since it was low tide, and she caught a couple see through tiny fish things. Katy danced around by herself, went to the ocean, threw sand around, and took her gloves and coat off for a bit. Cody, the dog, took the gloves and ran around with them in his mouth playing with them. He’s so funny when he does that. He loves gloves, shoes, and socks, or anything that will get a person to chase after him.  

  
Our beach adventure was simple and rejuvenating.

 The girls and I even stopped at Two Sisters bakery on our way home and got some tasty treats. I had some mini cards in the car so we played war and go fish too. Perfect. Before getting in the car we slid around on the ice in the parking lot. I want to go ice skating. And roller skating. I wish we still had a roller rink here… 
And some MLK quotes to end the day:

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

“We must all learn to live together as brothers — or we will all perish together as fools.”

“What is wrong in the world today is that the nations of the world are engaged in a bitter, colossal contest for supremacy.”

“Mankind must put and end to war or war will put an end to mankind.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

And my current favorite:

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ”