Hiking: Huffaker Trails

There are some beautiful trails 5 minutes down the street from us! You turn the corner behind Spicy Pickle, drive up and over the mini mountain, and boom! Views and wild horses all around. And reservoirs and random bodies of water. Felt like we left Reno! This was about two or three weeks ago. And there was a bit of off-roading involved. We followed the road till it let out in Hidden Valley somewhere.

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R.O.P.E. in Accra, Ghana- July 2024

Joining Rites of Passage and Empowerment (ROPE) has been key in helping us find community out here in the Berkshires. No sugar coating- this county is both white, rural, conservative, racist and full of theatre, music, the outdoors, and pockets of loving, open-minded people. Massachusetts may be the most liberal state in the US, but we are far from Boston. Here, minutes from New York and Vermont, the sounds of performative equity can be heard from the tone deaf school administrators who "don't see color" and have voiced that "race was not an issue till we brought it up", to the lack of representation in politics, restaurants, stores, and general day to day. We have lived in places across the country, and have yet to stumble upon a place that felt fully welcoming. I don't say this to complain, it is merely a statement of my lived experience thus far and an acknowledgement of the work it takes as a Black woman to make friends, have meaningful relationships, g...

After you clean your room...

This evening Cassidy revealed to me a small secret to keeping her occupied. After dinner she asked me if she could watch a show. We don't have tv, but we do have netflix through the wii on our tv and we watch all the greatness that PBS and Nickelodian have to offer! Except for Caillou because I think he's kind of whiny. Anyway, she gets to watch limited amounts of Diego, Dora, Dinosaur Train, Super Why, Word World, etc and sometimes we throw in some Cosby Show for good measure. She'll pick two shows and watch one, 20 minute episode of each and then we call it good. Well tonight when she asked for a show, I told her she could watch one episode of her favorite after she cleaned her room. She went into her room and as she started putting toys away, she started playing with them. She'd go to put books away and start "reading" them. Twenty minutes later she'd start putting crayons away, then start drawing with them. Ten minutes later she'd start putting awa...

Back 2 School 2024/2025

The start of a new school year is scattered and quite full as we begin the fall with a bang on multiple campuses. We gave Savannah a few options for her start to middle-school. She was at WES for 3 years and had made a solid, core group of friends- super strong connections! All of them were headed to the zoned school of Greylock regional, grades 7-12. Going to Greylock wither friends would mean we would have to drive her, school choice does not provide a bus. It would mean she could not do all the things because of the commute and our schedules, her options to get involved would be limited. If she chose to go to the school we were now zoned for, she would be walking distance to Miss Halls and could do alllll the things- go for it! Join every club, try out for the plays, do all the sports. Y'all already know, Savvy chose her friends lol. It is hard. And she is so happy. And never complains, because she understands with this choice, her options are limited. We have been ...

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