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night time at the farm.
There’s always a part of every July Fourth that leaves me feeling more whole than broken, more established than misplaced. The fireworks lighting up the sky. The sameness of tradition and wonder. The lovely simplicity of this beautiful porch where the only view is green and trees and a river’s edge. And then there are the quiet quiet moments. Long…
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jiggety jig
The Virginia mountains were in my rearview mirror all day today. The sun was shining. The clouds were white. The sky was bright. It was a good day for a drive. A couple of the kids were glad to be home. A couple wanted to stay in Virginia forever. I guess I am glad to have predictable internet back, but I…
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bewildered in the best sort of way.
Daniel Boone is quoted as saying, I have never been lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. I hear you Dan’l. I hear you. Virginia. She’s a beauty. But she’ll rip a hole in your schedule and shift your plans and change your days. And all you’ll do is ride the wave and adjust accordingly. (And not even…
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Gray Mountain Farm
You guys. We are at the farm. The beautiful lovely Virginia farm. Where the mountains ensconce you and the framily embraces you and the mosquitoes bite you and the wireless signal evades you and the Internet still doesn’t trespass onto the property. So I just can’t easily share the good life we are living on these gorgeous acres across the…
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the sign for my forehead
And I want to say – I am not the person I used to be. I want it printed on a t-shirt – no, a sign on my forehead in Sharpie or something. (Maybe another tattoo Dad?) I want everyone to know. This life has changed me. The past year my life and emotions and thoughts and actions have shifted…
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the fact that it passes
My hands shake sometimes when I type. They shake with the fears that still rise and fall with some of my heart beats. (But not all of them.) They shake when my phone lights up with a troublesome text or when I run into a person I haven’t seen in many months and their expression reminds me that they know…
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swimmers!
Have you ever wanted to cry when you saw your children accomplish something that seemed kind of almost impossible to you but then as you watched them do it you were kind of in awe at their ability and you wondered why you had never expected them to do that before? This week. Swim lessons. That was me. I don’t…
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my people
Every night we gather in our living room. Bodies piled on every surface in that small space. Arms linked. Feet resting on someone else’s legs. Heads on a sibling’s shoulder. We take up each other’s space. Animal sighting and outdoor adventures are jotted down in our Nature Notes for that day. We record happy bits of our lives in our…
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a night out
I think it was high school. And it was because of my older brother Danny. I heard this band called the Indigo Girls. I have loved, admired, respected their music ever since. Two women who sing with such incredibly beautiful harmony. And their lyrics. My word – their lyrics have been defining bits and pieces of my life for more…
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what to give a seven year old for her birthday
Knowing that our little friend Hanna was leaving the country soon made the choice of a birthday gift harder than usual. No one wants to receive a toy you can only play with for a month or two before you have to give it away or sell it at a yard sale. And there just isn’t room in the limited…
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all the writing I can muster.
Sometimes I’ve got something to say. And sometimes I am tired and ideas are slow and my typing is riddled with sloppy left pinkies and uncooperative right middle fingers. And that’s when you get these posts that are part confessional and part ramble and part junior high dear diary and part Christmas newsletter and part nonsensical. So here I am.…
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post 9,429
A large collection of beautiful seashells were being explored by the fellas as we helped Hilary pack up a few things from her home. For some reason the beautiful shells created quite a hubbub with the boys and a lot of silly banter. And the jokes were a-plenty. (And, actually, pretty funny. Which means either I have a humorous…
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still watching sleeping heads.
I watch kids sleep as much now as I did when they were babies. In those infant days I was checking for breathing. Hovering over their bitty heads and listening for breath sounds. Staring with sleepy eyes at their itty chests to see if I could notice the tiny rise and fall of breaths taken in and breaths breathed out.…
