Hello dear ones,
It’s been a whirlwind week over here, literally, with late Friday night & early Saturday morning culminating in severe storms & tornadoes rolling through the region into the Mississippi River Valley, where at least three people were killed in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, a couple hours from here.
In addition to this full moon tornado wilderness, we experienced some turbulence in the process of finding our new home. Thankfully, it worked out. We have placed our offer has been accepted on a sweet, hundred-year-old house in a neighboring town, rather a neighboring village. Inside, it has a wood-burning stove, big living room with lots of windows, & three bedrooms. Its siding is a gentle yellow & it has a front porch swing, old trees, & an accessible ramp. I am dreaming about what to do with the baby’s room & someday painting the porch ceiling haint blue.
Our home inspection is this Wednesday, March 19th. It was rescheduled to this date & when I told my Mom, she reminded me that March 19th is the feast day of Saint Joseph. I asked for his intercession the week before, as he is the patron saint of homebuyers, so of course I was tickled by this *coincidence.* Dolly Parton calls such moments of alignment & serendipity “Godwinks.” Sometimes I’m not that Catholic & then sometimes I do this kind of thing, with a ritualistic affection that warms my heart & draws me close to my ancestors & the people who taught me how to pray, among them my Grandpa Joe (Joseph/Giuseppe). Yet another Godwink there. If you will, dear reader, please pray that our home inspection goes well & that whatever that needs to be fixed is able to be fixed in an affordable & swift manner. If you don’t pray, but send vibes or waves, please do so for us.
It’s really easy to be worried & slip into the land of scarcity these days, so here’s a few moments of abundance I’m noticing presently.
Longer days. More sun. It’s amazing in these cycles of life, in all our remembering & forgetting, with our capacity to reason & think, how humbly I am struck by my very instinctive need for the sun. This time of year, Matt & I go for walks & hikes & look out for turtles, sunning themselves on logs. When we drive over the lake, whoever is passenger is assigned the task of turtle-lookout, accompanying the ever-important task of bird-watch. The report may follow: “Five turtles!” or, “24 turtles, babe!!” For me, turtles have become a harbinger of Spring & warmth. They are a symbol of perseverance & a reminder that no matter how icy & cold it’s been, when we feel the thawing sun on our skin again, things can be set aright.
In our yard, the first bulbs of the season have begun to bloom. A fragrant, royal purple hyacinth is visible from our living room & soon daffodils will follow along the front walk. It’s bittersweet that we will leave them behind when we move, but I hope they will bring joy to the new tenants of this apartment. What a simple & generous legacy the flowers we plant leave. We are very excited to garden at our new house, where we can plant both sun & shade loving plants. I am picturing our little boy with his own shovel, helping with this task, & someday making a poultice of pulled petals, soil, & rainwater. It’s magical & healing to play in dirt, for all of us.
We had our 28-week ultrasound this week & the sonographer captured some 3D images of our baby’s face. The 3D photos are kind of strange, as my friend Angie said, “like if Jesus appeared in a lava lamp.” Still, it’s so neat to see more defined features. Our baby is so beautiful. He appears to have full, pouty little Elvis lips, I’ve been calling them. I can hardly wait to run my finger down the bridge of his perfect nose & kiss his soft, sweet-smelling skin. Alas, I want to wait, so he can keep growing & getting stronger & so we can keep growing & getting stronger in our readiness for him.
Lastly, Saint Patrick’s Day is Monday & perhaps because I am pregnant, I am looking forward to eating my Mom’s reuben sandwiches with a holy fervor this year. Also looking forward to pinching Matt, who will likely not be wearing green due to his “not being Irish,” but mostly due to his being a stick in the mud.
Thank you for reading, supporting me, & bearing witness to my journey, dear readers. I wish you calm in the unpredictable stormy weather of March & joy at the sight of Spring’s first flowers.
Until next week,
Annie
Soundtrack:
“Do You Realize??” by The Flaming Lips
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