the first two weeks

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It’s very easy for me to look around (at the boxes, the to-do lists, the calendar) and see what has not been done, and all the work that lies ahead of us.  But someone has recently reminded me that I need to improve my outlook and focus on the positive things, so here is a list of what we did in these two weeks since moving day:

We set up the bedrooms, living room, study, bathroom, and (only because of the benevolent help of a good friend) the kitchen.

We took time out of unpacking boxes to plant many flowers, tomatoes, and herbs.

We also planted a wee garden for the fairies.

We watched the lilacs bloom and fade, and the trees spring into green around us.

Adeline had her first t-ball practice and game.

We traveled to and explored our nearest “big city.”

We purchased a fire pit, Jake assembled it, we realized we knew of nowhere to purchase wood — but fortunately we have sweet and generous friends with a huge woodpile.

We encountered many new names and faces and made new friends.

Jake made strawberry kombucha and sourdough bread.

We listened with thankful hearts to the sound of rain falling on more than one occasion.

And we spotted a rainbow.

so long

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Perhaps I should mention here that we are moving.  Many of you already know that, but for the people who only know me through this blog it may be the first you are hearing of it.  The good news is that we are only moving thirty miles away.  The bad news is that moving is always a pain, whether the miles are few or many.  The other good news is we have so many awesome friends who have volunteered their services to make this easier — thank you all, dear friends!

Woody Guthrie’s “So long, it’s been good to know ya” has been on repeat in my head.  Alsoly (which is Bea’s word for “also”) this line from Sigrid Nunez: “Moving house is an ordeal, not least because of the unpacking of the past that is usually involved.”  Some of these boxes have been with us through our last three moves and then waited in our basement for four years for this very event.   When I see them I can’t help thinking of all the homes we’ve loved, the memories we made, the friends we’ve left behind.  All that sentimentality in a piece of cardboard!  I’m sort of an emotional wreck when it comes to moving.  But it’ll all be over soon.  

 

sledding in April

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These photos are from yesterday, April 22nd.  Yes, that is snow.

We waited for snow all winter, but it didn’t decide to show up until April.  I’m going to venture to say (without bothering to check the facts and look up the actual numbers) that we saw more snow in the month of April than in all the rest of winter here.

But the thing about April snow is that you know it can’t last too long.  The grass underneath is already green(ish) and our lettuce has sprouted.  In a day or two (at most a week or two), temps will be rising and we’ll be tending the garden.

Also, April snow just means more opportunities for Adeline to wear her new vest (the Neighborly).  But she has some stipulations: she will only wear it in the house and not out in public.  Apparently she’s embarrassed, even though she picked the yarn (knit picks Chroma in a now-discontinued colorway) and couldn’t wait for me to be finished knitting it.  When she was two she refused to wear the things I made her out of sheer obstinacy; now that she’s five she’s afraid people will laugh at her handknits.  Did I miss some very brief magical window of time where she would actually, willingly, joyfully wear the things I knit her?  I think my next few projects will go to someone who really appreciates all that hard work: ME! :-)