Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Whiff


I am not a perfume person, but I love the idea of Baby M growing up and associating a particular scent with me. It seems so elegant & old world to 'own' a fragrance in that way. To have it be yours & yours alone.
I think I've got it right this time.
I love the teeny glass bottle. I love the feeling of pulling out the itsy little glass stopper & adding a precious drop to my wrist & the back of my neck. I love how it changes and mellows from morning 'til evening. I love how it gets on my scarf & my clothing begins to take on this mysterious ghost scent all on its own. I love how the reaction of the perfumed oil melds with my own chemistry to create something new, unlike anything/anyone else. I love how such a simple act of wearing a hint of perfume can make me feel more pulled together & elevate an otherwise ordinary routine.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Favorite Book

I have an old copy of Rachel Carson's The Sense of Wonder I picked up at a garage sale with my mom when I was a kid. I loved this book then and fall in love with it anew each time I read it. Now that I'm a mom myself, the words have taken on an added sense of poetry and power for me. It's so nice to be reminded to slow down, to stop and listen to all the sounds that fill even the most silent night. To be reminded that it's okay to get your knees and hands dirty as you explore the natural mysteries of your backyard or park. To be reminded that a drizzly day is a fine time to take a walk, to watch the rippling circles of raindrops hitting puddles and see the amazing arrangements of dew drops on leaves.
Here is a favorite passage:
We have let Roger share our enjoyment of things people ordinarily deny children because they are inconvenient, interfering with bedtime, or involving wet clothing that has to be changed or mud that has to be cleaned off the rug. We have let him join us in the dark living room before the big picture window to watch the full moon riding lower and lower toward the far shore of the bay, setting all the water ablaze with silver flames and finding a thousand diamonds in the rocks on the shore as the light strikes the flakes of mica embedded in them. I think we have felt that the memory of such a scene, photographed year after year by his child's mind, would mean more to him in manhood than the sleep he was losing. He told me it would, in his own way, when we had a full moon the night after his arrival last summer. He sat quietly on my lap for some time, watching the moon and the water and all the night sky, and then he whispered, "I'm glad we came."
I'm glad too. Thank you, Ms. Carson.

One Year Ago Today

Baby M has bounced back from last week's fever & last weekend's lingering ick. It's so incredibly wonderful to see her eating & playing & doing that silly walking backwards thing she's been into lately, which always cracks her up. She can do so much these days, its such a jaw-dropping, mind-boggling, warp-speed progress.

How is it that one year ago today, she was the little infant sleeping in with her mama in the picture above & now she's handing me her bib when she wants to eat?

Little girl, am I ever proud of you & how beautifully you are growing up! What a joy and a privilege to be able to spend these days with you & watch it all unfolding in front of my eyes. You just become more & more yourself ever single day.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Catching Fireflies

Image via Jamelah

When I was a young girl growing up in North Texas, one of my absolute favorite parts of our very long summer was running around in the darkening twilight chasing fireflies. You would see one start its slow blink and take off racing in that direction, only for it to fade away, leaving you skidding & digging your sneakers into the grass as you look & look, searching in the fading light, only to get distracted again, this time by several more winks of light in the opposite direction. If I was lucky, I was able to time it right, reach out & scoop up a firefly ever so gently in the cup of my hand. I would open up my hand a crack & peer at the greenish light filling up my palm. When I was satisfied, I would flatten my hand out again & let the firefly go.

Sometimes, though, I would bring out a jar from the kitchen & see how many fireflies I could catch. My brother, I and the other neighborhood kids would see who could catch the most. Before getting called in to teethbrushing, pyjamas & bedtime, we would open up the lids & the jars would slowly empty out again.

I think for me, this blog is a way for me to capture all of the wonderful flashes of light (of inspiration, of the magic of everyday) and keep them close to me until I decide to let it go again and dissolve into air.