Yesterday we had the privilege of hosting a lovely baby shower for my sister-in-law, Emily. She and Jonas are expecting their first baby, a daughter, on Terah's first birthday (October 11th). The girls were so excited, helping to make signs for the doors and making little finger knitting "baby toys" for their new cousin. Kali also enjoyed the actual party, while Alida was a little overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar faces and was unraveling at the seams by the time most had departed. But it was nothing a trip to the blueberry patch couldn't cure!
As we anticipated celebrating a new little family member set to join us this fall, we were also grieving a family member leaving us abruptly and what felt like way too soon. Yesterday, in Canada, family gathered (some who had intended to come south for the baby shower) for Jason's cousin's funeral after she died earlier this week very unexpectedly. She and Jason were born the same month and year, so she was just shy of 40 years old and leaves behind a husband and young children, as well as many other family and friends who are grieving and still trying to absorb the shock of this sudden loss.Obviously all of us feel some losses more acutely than others. That said, it not hard to get overwhelmed with both the grief and the loss, not to mention the outrage and fear, that many are experiencing in our country and world this week. By choice we do not have a T.V. in our home and do not get any newspapers. We seldom listen to the radio and get one magazine monthly (The Sun). Yet my hundreds of facebook friends across the globe give me a glimpse into their worlds and perspectives and just minutes of scrolling through my feed leaves me wanting to celebrate and scream, laugh and cry... I feel thrilled to see pictures of a new baby born this week after being eagerly anticipated by his parents and those of us who love them. I love hearing the adorable things my niece is saying as her vocabulary explodes and she gives us glimpses into her fresh perspective on the world. Bur right next to those posts are news from graduates of the program I work for whose communities are in turmoil and experiencing war. And we needn't even go that far...here in the U.S. it feels like our fear is reaching new heights and it seems like the response of resorting to violence is coming all too quickly and naturally for many.
How can I respond? How do I respond? Is there a right response? Is it different for everyone? Is it ok to choose not to watch the videos shared on facebook of the violence? Is that just another marker of my privilege? How do I talk with our daughters about our crazy and messed up, yet so incredibly beautiful world?
Thursday at one of our family meals together our pre-meal activity was to each share a hope for our day. Mine was a simple one: that we'd all get to go pick blueberries together again before the season ended. That evening we were all prepped and ready to fulfill my hope when a thunderstorm rolled in (this has been a rather frequent occurrence). As it cleared, a beautiful double rainbow appeared. We all went out to admire it and soon made our way down to the fire ring, which was full of water. No blueberry picking but we enjoyed a rare family play time in the fire ring - enjoying the freshness in the air after the storm, the rainbow in the sky, the lush green growth all around us, and the girls having a marvelous time. We all got wet, some of us dirtier than others.
Later when we were in getting cleaned up, I commented to Jason that it may sound strange but that time together outside felt like one of the best ways I could honor his cousin's life. I haven't been without frustration this week, or annoyance at once again not clocking in more than 2 hours of sleep at a time. But below that surfacy stuff, has been a deeper awareness of how precious this life I'm living is. I don't understand why the human experience is so varied - from ecstasy to misery. I want more than anything for my life to contribute towards more health and wholeness for all those that I come in contact with. And, for starters, I felt like this week that meant savoring the three beautiful girls in our family and trying to focus more on their growth and development and experience of the world, than the weeds and dust threatening to take over corners of our home and property...
I'll share one thing I savored and that was Terah enjoying a last sugar snap and snow pea from the garden. She knows when she has something that we are watching her with closely (choking is one of my worst mommy fears). She holds on tight and vocalizes her joy in obtaining such an item. In general she is enjoying big people food at meal times much more! She also likes to mush it up and then rub her eyes and nose and mouth This morning she went to new lengths getting fresh fig in her hair. She goes through an outfit per meal most days. But it's worth the enjoyment she gets from experimenting with new flavors and textures!
Another thing we savored this week will be harder to share with you since it is long gone: Kali continues to rise to new heights in her cooking abilities. And we are the beneficiaries of her growing culinary skills! This week's menu included: marinated venison steaks (in her delicious marinade concoction), roasted red beets, sweet potatoes and turnips in fresh garlic, sauteed beet greens, and yogurt cornbread. She harvested the beets from her garden, pulled the garlic, ground the cornmeal... This was a home grown and prepared meal, which we all thoroughly enjoyed!
Oh, and then there's chicks. More and more cute chicks! We keep losing some birds - another duck for Kali and several young chickens for Jason - due to this year's seemingly increased fox population. We were grateful for a great hatch on this last round and have a mama hen taking good care of these fuzz balls! They are probably happy to be with her and not around the little munchkin who would love nothing more than to get her hands on them. We gave her a chance to touch one before they went out! Jason is still collecting hatching eggs as he's got another hen gone broody (haven't discussed when we need to call it quits on hatching but neither of us tire quickly seeing a mama hen raise chicks - I do think we are done with the incubators for the year!).
Let's end with the crop that is currently looking like the most marked increase in production since last year. Our thornless blackberries look amazing and the first few are coming ripe - giving us each a taste every day or two. Kali has decided she does like blackberries after all!
No comments:
Post a Comment