When I read other blogs before writing my own post, I am doomed to repeat their themes. It's like in high school whenever I would hear someone with an accent, I would instantly change my own speech patterns to mimic them. This would annoy those around me. I found it amusing, even patting myself on the back for such talent. Surely the proper cadence of Liverpool, Sydney, Berlin, and Tijuana were butchered by my tongue, but I loved the lingual gymnastics.
But now I face this screen with Claire's recent post about places that shape us and Luke's post about historical moments that will resonate years from now for little Alice. These thoughts will now take flight on their kite strings...hoping to catch their own wind eventually.
***before these thoughts; however, I need to finally post just a bit about little Alice. Nora's kindred spririt in the Northwest. Her Evergreen soul-sister. These two spicy girls share so much (besides super parents)...and it was with much anticipation that they finally met upon Courtney's parents' lawn when I flew home. Here are some of my favorite pics from the event. Maybe at the next encounter, they will take more of an interest in eachother...and not just Alice's shoes.
Regarding places and their hold upon our hearts and minds...my trip "home" last week was made more special precisely because Nora was in my lap as the tiny plane bumped over the Cascade Mountains. Her chubby fingers (with razor-sharp hang nails) gripped mine as we we fell into the embrace of the Wenatchee Valley. As we skipped along the runway, the Columbia River slithered her shiny skin back towards my father's house and Lake Chelan, and the snow-capped peaks reminded me of the four seasons.
Using "home" for Washington is taking liberties with the concept. I have been a "California girl" far longer than I ever ran along the river with my dog in the Evergreen State. But those early years stamped the scent of apply blossoms, the trickle of Pete's creek (pronounced crick), the texture of river reeds formed into necklaces, and the taste of sun-warmed strawberries bursting in my mouth as I plucked the morning crop from the hillside.
Regarding the historical events Nora will associate with her infancy. The Jasmine Revolutions, Osama's death, Obama's presidency, Alabama tornadoes, Japanese earthquakes/tsunami, California's deficit, Tea Partiers, "birthers," US debt ceiling, Guantanamo Bay, "don't ask; don't tell," "right to marry"...which concepts and figures will she even recognize from this list? Which will I still remember?
Yes (with head bashedly drooping), I watched the royal wedding with my daughter (as my mom did with me). I'll also keep the Newsweek magazine that covers it...but I also have the LA Times from Obama's inauguration. Not a perfect balance...but it's something. Papers for her to one day finger, headlines, and ads, and articles to ponder from years long since passed. It is exciting to consider all the treasures of paper, glass, metal, stone, and canvas that her box will accumulate over the years. Providing hours of enjoyment some dusty afternoon. She'll also have my letters written in her wire-bound journal...from the first days I knew of a growing seed within my body...the first heartbeat, the first labor pains, our first morning together when we danced with her father in the hospital room...and a calendar from her first year with memories hastily noted on each day.
Today's square will read, "clapped over and over."
Bravo, Noodle, bravo indeed.
Below is a video of our giggling good times...and some pics from my "Global Storytime" that I lead a few times a month. I announced today, by the way, that I will start passing around a little basket from now on, during storytime, and the suggested donation of $1-$2 from each mom will go towards sponsoring a child at the Kololo school through Ethiopian Reads and TESFA, Julie's fabulous fundraising project. We only need $252 per year...and I think my "Mommy & Me" friends can swing it. We shall see. A book in the hands of our children will help put a book in the hands of the "Kololo Cuties."