Beating the drum of what sounds fun. Working on trying to find me.

Dancing sounds fun, not jumping around in a bar, no, actual dancing. I’ve done the bar thing, I’ve never actually gone dancing. Dancing sounds fun, real dancing sounds like love. I don’t even know where to go dancing here in Kansas City.

My hammock is a sort of fun. It’s comforting and relaxing. I spent time there today, right up until my skin started to feel scorched.

Swimming is fun, I’d love to have a real pool at ready access. As it is, I swim as much as I can, based on finding time to accommodate going somewhere else to do so.

Hiking is fun, it has been a long time since I’ve been hiking, but I really like it. The kind of hiking where you need good shoes or boots and the trails take you places you’ve never seen. We did that  in little spurts when we went to Maine/Acadia with my one brother, I relish my pictures from that trip. Before that, the last trip for hiking was about 14 years ago with 12 Indian-American IT professionals, that was a trip full of great fun, where I got to see Mount Rushmore for the first time. Before that, I was a kid, and we did a decent amount of that when I was a kid.

Playing with clay is fun. It’s really messy because, well it’s clay. I’m also not very skilled at ceramics, so that makes it extra messy, but it’s still fun, and I’ve not had opportunity since college.

Making costumes is fun, I should clarify- when you’re only making your own. Once you have a whole family to make them for it becomes daunting, especially because no one can agree and settle on one choice with enough time to actually accomplish them. I haven’t even tried this year because previous years burnt me out and recipients weren’t happy with them when I did finish them.

Laying on a sunny beach is fun, but riding in a boat is even more fun. I’ve been on boats about a dozen times in my life. There was family day for a Coast Guard visit- full Cutter experience, 2 big sail-boat rides, going into the submarine at Navy Pier, visiting the boat in Boston harbor twice (kid + 2019), and I can remember 3 pontoon rental/rides (one of which was gifted by a good friend)…. There’s been 4 canoe trips with school & girl-scouts, and a couple paddle boat rides at Gaea. I could definitely use more boating in my life.

I like spelunking too. Mammoth caves were way cool, but even the tiny Maquoketa Caves in Iowa were fun too. I like the slimy interesting shapes and squeezing through a little gap into a big cavern.

Horse rides are awesome, I love horses. Again I only have a small handful of those experiences. The trip to Mount Rushmore was one. There was once with girl-scouts. There was a family vacation in highschool. And there have been 4 horse and buggy rides with Nathan (and family).

Camping is great fun, and I’m even taking about tent camping. See my family growing up wanted the camper and the amenities, but everything was always stressful, set-up, tear-down, and trying to fit 4 or 5 large people in a tiny space. Lots of yelling and cursing and people wandering off to find their space. As an adult I made friends with tents via Nathan and Gaea, and though set-up was still a little stressful, it was always much shorter and there was way less stress in the experience, an hour of decompression was all that was ever needed to find peace and contentment. But we haven’t been camping at Gaea since before Anya’s mom died and Ian was born (same summer).

I love sitting around a fire, but add drummers and Meade and it’s even better.

Festivals of any kind are usually fun, but I especially love festivals where some rules are left behind (Gaea, RenFaire or similar).

I love live music of any kind. I’ve seen James Galway, Paul McCartney with the U of I marching band, orchestral performances, quartets, quintets, piano recitals, heavy metal, Hypnogaja, America, Kansas, Dropkick Murphys, Kongos, and several other popular bands in large outdoor settings like City festivals, plus who knows how many cover bands. I like all music, and especially live.

I like playgrounds that are shady, it was fun when I was a kid and it still is when I go with my kids. There’s nothing like butt burn from a slide with no shade, yuck! But I’ll slide all day long if it’s shady.

Halloween was great fun up until a year or two ago. Last year Covid killed it, and the year before cranky kids did. But I really really love all things Halloween.

I like gardens, big small, Arboretums, all sizes. Flowers are beautiful, and going to big gardens I usually associate with vacations, in fact I haven’t even been able to see all the ones here in KC. It’s my thing, but my husband and kids don’t like them.

I miss Ren Faire. Here in KC pre-covid it was amazing. We could spend a whole day there and not see everything. And the biggest challenge was only spending what was planned! I always wanted to buy everything.

May you have good things to focus on and which help you find your inner voice. May you find ways to do those things you love that stays kind to your budget. May you know those around you support you in finding fun. May you feel like you have plenty of rest even when maximizing fun time. May you enjoy life mostly.

Om Shanti