a garden: green animals
newport cottage: marble house
newport cottage: the elms
newport cottage: rosecliff
newport cottage: the breakers
newport, ri
Third day here, first time sitting down to write. We done a lot of walking and have seen a few of the big mansions. This morning, Julia wanted to go to a beach, I made a wrong turn and we are at a shell and sand bay beach where she can play with sand a bit. It is warm today. I think it is heading towards hot but it rained most of the day yesterday and the humidity today is very low.
Comparing the vacations that my Facebook connections show—I have a cousin in the Grand Tetons snapping trees and rocky sunsets, a friend whose is traveling in Spain with her family. I note that some of her Madrid photos remind me strongly of Paris, a young friend posting pictures of her wedding and another friend posting her daughter’s wedding pictures. There is such a surfeit of wedding pictures these days. I still marvel at how we are burst at the seems with places and activities.
today’s round
Morning. Almost two hours after Julia leaves and I am getting down to the writing that I wanted to do since I opened my eyes. This morning the round of tasks, not overwhelming by any means, has induced anxiety, enough to notice. And I wonder if my anxiety can be compared to the way that Julia feels whenever she is asked to do more than two things when she is intent on something else. It appears that she cannot hold all of that—two asks and her desires—in her head and get to what she wants to do.
Alarm goes off at 7:15 and Julia does come into my bedroom to wake me up shortly afterwards. A great start to the day. I have a burning desire to start writing, immediately—something which definitely does not happen every morning. I can’t do that but I consider that there will be only a short hold on the writing.
solstice
A new season. The longest day of the year.
Julia and I ate breakfast on our back porch—something she loves to do that I usually drag my feet about. Too cold, too hot, too buggy and it is morning and we need to get on with our day. But today, we woke up on time—Julia responding to the google wake up on the small speaker, something we have been working on this entire school year, something she sabotaged last week, something we had a talk about at Community Connections (a serious conversation at her program can make more of an impression than a similar talk at home), her program, and something that she encouraged me to reset (although I’ve only reset one of the three speakers she disabled—damn my holding on by my fingertips device knowledge.) lat night.
So, she woke up, did what she needed to do (although she still needs some kind of list to make sure she remembers everything. And any kind of reminder is anathema to her) and there was time to eat on the back porch.
baby shower
Finally today, I have caught my breath. From the long holiday weekend and the catch up week that followed. I still have an overdue phone call to my advocate at Healthcare For All and another call to MassHealth. I’m saving that which I know will be frustrating until Monday.
It was a good weekend.
Justin’s mother and I threw a baby shower for our children and their impending baby boy. It was a bigger shower than it would have been had there been had there been the planned-for wedding. We invited more people and people from further away than we might have. Still, there were those from too far away who were missing.
Still, it was a good party.
midwest wedding
Early morning.
In moments we will be heading back to the airport in Minneapolis-St Paul after a delightful wedding for a beautiful young couple, the bride the daughter of one of my first Madison friends. She was another mom adopting from China who I “met” on one of the yahoo groups that were ubiquitous during the 90’s and early aughts. Her four Chinese daughters entertained the young Julia and accepted her as one of their own. The bride provided child care for Julia through high school, on vacations from college and up until the day before she went to D.C. for a summer internship.
It was wonderful to be at her wedding and I have to admit, it was wonderful to be at a wedding in general. I talked to guests who I didn’t know and was seated with a family I had met in Madison but who moved to Minneapolis before David died. It took me awhile to place them. I remembered their son first, younger, very charming and bright.
Chasing Joy 