Things are growing around here.

Our garden plot has been tilled and we optimistically planted the first of our spring seeds on a chilly grey day in the still-cool earth. 

In a few months this empty plot of land will be filled with a jungle of green: plants and weeds alike will be fighting for space to live, and we will (with any luck) be spending a lot of our time tending to this little patch of earth.

The seedlings we planted indoors last month have begun to look like the plants they are - peas, tomatoes, basil, zinnias, onions are all awaiting their time to be put in the earth (when it becomes just a little warmer ;) )  

Our chicks arrived in early April:

And now, 4 weeks later:

Change is all around me - daily -

 as the earth shifts before my eyes from white

- to brown 

- to green.  

Color popping out of the earth and sky like jewels.

Here's to all things growing.

~ j

As we settle into Spring we find the days are getting warmer, and more work is to be done outside as we begin to clean yard, coop, and porch and ready for the productive and oh so glorious days of summer.

Some of these days still retain the coolness of winter and

 I find solace in the friendly sun greeting me earlier in the morning and staying with me later into the evening.  More of a constant companion! 

On these cooler spring days, I find a spot next to a sunny window - eyes closed, face turned up to soak in the warmth and brightness. A smile spreads across my face.

 Yes this will do just fine...for now.

~ j

"I had a dream I found a baby girl in our barn!" a then 11 year old Emma excitedly told me upon waking.  Emma wanted a baby sister and thought this might be an omen.

9 months later Norah came into our lives. I always tell Emma she willed Norah to us.

When Norah was born, the nurse looked at her and said "Norah is a strong name. She will be a strong woman."  She said it like she knew. 

In a family with 2 Libras and 2 Cancers - plenty of water and air - Norah is our earth.  She is our Taurus.  She is intelligent, strong (body and will!), comforting, steady and reassuring. Her strong will sometimes gets her in trouble (bedtime anyone?)- but I know it will serve her as she grows.  

In addition to her strength and intelligence she is full of little-girl-magic: singing, dancing, make-believe, belly-laughs, sparkles and glam.  In this moment she is still in a realm of innocence - and I treasure this moment - I know that these next few years are a threshold.


Emma gave me a gift  when Norah was born -  a tiny matchbox with Norah's newborn picture tucked inside like a little treasure. On top of the box she wrote:

"You've gone

through a lot

and have had 

good times

and poor -

in this box 

is what you've 

been working for."

Since then, I've added 2 more wee pictures to that box - for all 3 of my loves I am most grateful and humbled.  And today - on her 8th birthday, for Norah.

timeless |ˈtīmlis|

adjective

not affected by the passage of time 

 I am unconsciously drawn to images, moments and people who are not affected by the passage of time. Which, I think,  explains my attraction to this old home and these surrounding hills and valleys. 

Driving through through the hills of East Otto it could be now, or 100 years ago. A car or telephone line will give away the true date - but look closer and you will see the valleys unchanged by time; the slow and deeply etched lives that resonate here. 

 Being a child of the 1980's it seems impossible, this attraction - seeing as I was culturally inundated by the materialistic confection of the 80's.  But I was fortunate enough to have a place to go with my family that was the essence of timelessness.  An old farmhouse my Grandpa bought when my father was a boy.  Each weekend I would step out of suburbia, and the leave the plastic, flash and glitter of the 1980's, and let my soul drink in the essence of the old wooden house and surrounding hills.  Oh - I wasn't an enthusiastic participator at the time! And I was known to smuggle some of that flash and glitter with me if I could.  But the hills eventually worked their magic on me - and now I am deeply grateful for the times spent there with my dad, mom and brother; cousins, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa.  How precious that experience, and how it has shaped me into who I am today.

Things of fad, media, pop culture hold no allure to me - no value. My heart sings at the lo' of a cow in the pasture down the road - the slow walk to the barn to gather the smooth warm eggs - the low light in the evening untouched by the flashing blue lights of a TV.  And the deep sense of calm in knowing that as time goes on - some things will always remain. 

~ j