On Camping, and the Regeneration of Cells

For two weekends in a row, our family has camped near bonfires with old friends. How lucky I am to have typed that sentence! Last weekend it was back to The Dome for sweet music and celebration...

...and last night, back to The Ranch, this time for a seventh birthday party.

There was a collective spirit in the air, accented by pumpkins and ghosts...

...and sweet party games that just don't happen enough anymore. Like apple bobbing. Oh, the triumph!

The children, all dirt and grins, communed with nature on every level, ending with a sweet cow-feeding frenzy this morning. Gentle giants, my boys and those beasts, so beautiful.

What really struck a chord with me was the sheer villagery of it all. The eldest of our blessed tribe of babes is now seven. SEVEN. You've likely heard that all of our human cells regenerate every seven years--these incredible little people (over twenty of them!) have been together since zygotehood and are now completely reinvented, regenerated, and renewed, but have imprinted upon them the spirit of community, and always will.

The things that make up our physical bodies morph, change, die and are reborn. But upon strong foundations, new beauty emerges. We are constantly witnessing a steady stream of birth and rebirth with these entities we've been chosen to guide, and it is a mighty force of love, light, and pure, sweet laughter.