end of the summer part 2

I know, summer is long past. But I look back on these posts as a narrative of our life, and we might not remember how goofy we all got with Dan's brother's family the summer three of us had our first fancy phones and tried to be cool and take selfies. I'm sharing one, but trust me, there were many.

We are a big group when we're together, and mostly we eat and play and eat and play and...well, you get the idea! Happily, that is what we do.

Once in a while, when the weather cooperates and the mosquitoes aren't hovering, we get out for a hike together, which is also lovely. This time it was to Stephens Falls at Governor Dodge park. I hadn't been on this particular hike, and it was beautiful; lush with moss and ferns and water.

 

I also have only been to Governor Dodge once - for cross-country skiing - and not gone swimming, so in we went.

brothers

the annual reading of Molly Whuppie around the campfire

We see this family once a year, and it is mostly watching Ani play with the youngers that squeezes my heart with sadness. They fall into it with such love and affection, figuring out how best to include everyone.  She truly fits in with this bunch, content in the middle of the action.

We are still getting to know the youngest, but did she have us wrapped around her finger! Dan and I took a van full of kids over to his parents for a game night, and in the car she pointed out the drink holders and said, you know what we sometimes use these for? Custard! Frozen custard! Below is evidence of her immense powers.

  

Until next time, dear ones...

showing up

I have a difficult time making decisions of any kind, but when I first heard about the Women's March on Washington, I didn't hesitate to say yes. It felt absolutely right. To say I had some pent-up energy around the election is an understatement, so having a focus to move towards, even temporarily, was helpful. The girls were in complete agreement.

My indecision revolved around the how. Drive with friends? Take the over-night bus? Stay outside of DC and ride the train? It was stepping enough out of my comfort zone - into the political arena, with hundreds of thousands of strangers with their own opinions and agendas and raging feelings - that I wanted to get in and get out as quickly and simply as possible, so the over-night bus it was. From step one I was aware that this was a privilege to be so thankful for, having the time to go and the money to spend on the bus. 

Dan did his part for the cause, driving us to the bus at 1:00 in the morning and picking us up again at 2:30 the next morning. Gleep! It was an uneventful, sleepy ride, and we arrived at 8 Saturday morning.

We were so happy just walking to the metro!

Ani's highlight of the day was being stuck in the metro, where we disembarked into a wall-to-wall sea of people heading to the march. It was still a pretty sleepy bunch, but once in a while a big "Whooo!!!" would erupt and undulate through the crowd, waking us up with the shivers!

We quickly started to realize how many people were there and how far we were going to have to be from the main rally. We found ourselves a jumbo-tron and stood watching the opening speakers with a few thousand of our closest friends...

Eliza and I got all swoony over Gloria, who declared the gathering
"the upside of the downside"

To be honest, managing the day - finding bathrooms and waiting for bathrooms, having to pee while pressed up against people for hours - was a challenge, but the spirits of everyone around us were so high! There wasn't anything that could dampen the mood. Even the poor security guy assigned to bathroom duty was polite, kind and friendly! So many issues were represented: Black Lives Matter, immigration, LGBTQ rights, No Wall, No DAPL, women's reproductive rights, gun laws...it was a feast for the eyes and for our burgeoning activist selves the day was full of positive action, raised voices and filled hearts.  

Before we left, I'd asked the girls why they felt it was important to march.  Eliza said she felt like we were showing up for people who didn't have the option to be there; that this president has made a lot of young women feel like they don't matter, that their voices are not as important, and she wanted to show up to have a voice. Ani told me she was thinking about friends of ours in the community who are Muslim and are here from Saudi Arabia in a tenuous visa situation, following the deportation of the family member who brought them here. She worries for them and knows they are scared to speak up for fear of drawing attention to their situation.

We returned tired but inspired, ready to move forward to the real work of becoming informed, speaking up and showing up, again and again and again.

Bits of December

I'm going to back-track a bit and start trying to catch up on the days and days and days...We were trying to remember something the other day and I turned to this blog to confirm and thought, shoot we are up a creek if we're hoping for any kind of record of 2016! 

What does it mean that I begin such a post with photos of kimchi in the making? Hm...Amidst the busy, appreciating the small details, like a brilliantly purple daikon radish.

We managed to have several game nights with our friends who are back for a few months from Maine. Gotta pack it in while they're here. The favorites right now are Codenames and Dixit.

Anything that can produce a laugh like this is a game I want to play again and again...

Mama and daughter 💚

The month was about wrapping up activities - Doctor Who history for Eliza (in her usual position on the futon, in pajamas, with Charlie mashed up as close as he can get), fiddle lessons, dance classes.

Sleepovers with besties

Fiddle orchestra!! I see you!!

The morning after Eliza's fiddle concert, we drove to New York City and landed at the home of the woman who married us sixteen years ago. Ah, to picking up the weaving of lives together...it's been nine years, but who would know? More on that trip in another post. 

Instant kinship

January feels like a little bit of a lull between the outer galaxy of December and the resumption of Normal. Time to find the threads that you want to pick up and to clean out what you would rather stay behind. I am trying to be present to that in my days; December felt like a bit too much for me, and I noticed that I worked hard at staying busy with my hands and making lists in my head and on paper, in an attempt to not be still and feel how incongruous the cheer-making of the season felt to me, in the mess that is the world right now.  Sometimes the cheer works its magic and lightens the horizon for me, but I felt rushed this year to Get There, and never really caught up to the light. I'm giving myself January to find my footing, gather strength and see where I am. Taking stock through catching up will hopefully feel like fortifying the ground underneath me, remind me of the brilliant light that accompanies my days, whether or not I notice.