Forget the cracker, Polly wants a cocktail.

Ya'all kinda made my day with liking my most recent poem. It's encouraging. They are intimate pieces of my heart and the positive reception makes it float!

Shawn was on the computer for my most recent installment. I said, "move over, I gotta get something out!"...a pen and paper would've sufficed but I can type faster.

That's the way melodious words are for me. They come in, sometimes when I'm on the potty or before bed when I'm trying to fall asleep. And if I don't get it down...it'll be gone.

We made it to market again; the one on the other side of town. I think owning a farmer's market booth would be fun. Our markets run from April-October so that would be a lot of work! I am such a people person that I really think it would bring satisfaction, though. Someday.
Also, for an update on my sister's baby, click here. It is refreshing news. It was so good to see her at home last week. I dropped her off at an appointment and we also clothes-shopped...we kidded that it was like doing "real life" together. We fantasize about living in the same town. What it'd be like to swap babysitting or do girl's night at the movies, or do themed playdates...

And here's StoryGirl, doing what she does best. She's 12 weeks on Friday.
Wilder's two on Thursday. I don't think I'll be too emotional.

Right. right.

*gulp*

God lives above the airplanes

In my micro world, there's the kitchen, the bedrooms.
Basement stoop.
Toys I trip on. Stub my toe.
Laundry strewn about.
Uh, is that clean or dirty?
Macaroni noodles under the table, a little bit sticky.
Nappies of poo and cloths of regurgitated milk
Prayers all day...Lord have him obey
Give us wisdom, happy hearts

There's the front porch with its bullying wasps
And the cracked driveway
The road to the park
The walk by the river
Geese and their still-soft droppings
The park and neighbors and vacation Bible school

In my micro world, I am small
Like a car
Not the way it is now
But the way you see it from an airplane
Moving along, like a wee ant
Moving to your favorite tune
Doing chores
Scurrying about
Building a home, life
A mountain

God lives above the airplanes
But I'm not small to Him
His hands hold all of me
He says, you're doing good, darling

Keep it up
You are big to me
You are planting seeds
What you do is important
I am glad in you

~mindy harris

I like home because the shower's hotter, sheets softer

Photo credit

I am back from my little girl home.

Back from where things move at a different pace. A much slower pace.

You allow for 20 minutes extra at the store to visit with friends you run into (if you know me well you know I LOVE this!).

You get from one end of town to the other in 9 minutes.

And on your way back to your own "big girl" home, you pass farmers cocooned in their machines, toiling away in the beating sun. The earth beneath them succumbs to the plowing, tilling, harvesting, and other agricultural activities I'm too layman to know. The corn husks struggle to stand, their leaves brittle, crinkled by heat. Hay bales stake claims along the patterned fields. Cows provide one another shade, their tails swaying at, seemingly, the same frequency of a hummingbird's wings.

The driver opposite you waves. You wave back...that one wave where your hand is still on the steering wheel..."well howdy." The only radio stations you can pick up are country or oldies. Baby, I need your lovin', got to have all your lovin'...

I realize how much the town in which I was raised is a part of me. It is home to all the trial and errors of becoming. Happy and sad moments. First kiss. First job. Losing the family pet.

There's peace in knowing where I'm from. Sort of a permission to move forward. I am done there. I was done a long time ago. That feels sad sometimes. But wonders are on the horizon. Now, I work on creating roots for my children.

Regardless of where I was raised, I wouldn't have roots without my parents' own loving sweat and tears.

Their toiling 'neath the sun.

Today, why not thank the people who've invested in you along the way?

With family

Spending extended time with family. Cabbaged on to Mommy's pictures ...
And we don't want it to end!

Wilder is a little glum in this picture (no nap).

Story has enjoyed the extra attention. I call her "Sissy" now. It's suiting.

She's such a good girl.Nightey night!

Then and Now

Halloween 1999 (nice tights, Shawn)

August 2010

Wow.