by rebecca ~ August 15th, 2009. Filed under: Beginning Spiral, Ordinary Miracles, Respite.
Updated view of our garden, now run amok, taken by husband, with me stuck in the middle. Yellow zucchini, Japanese cucumbers, green beans, sweet peas, basil, daikon radish, purple radish, cilantro, and roma tomatoes–not yet bright red though, all bursting out and over the fence. We also discovered a pumpkin under some big leaves creeping across the lawn, and it is now the size of a baby’s head; thus, we did the proper thing and made a “pillow” for it so its skin will not bruise.
I spent the day cleaning out son’s room and closet, in preparation to paint the walls with fresh (zero VOC) sky-blue paint. This is the fourth room and final room to paint in our now three years’ residence in the apartment. Wow, it feels strange to write this: three years in Minneapolis. I still miss Japan, sometimes it hits me furiously, but I am also accepting that this is the best place for our son to be, for now….but then again, Iceland, Ireland, Toronto, Åland Islands, hmmmmm….these are just daydream-lands, safe dreamlands to carry inside my mind whenever I look to escape the humdrum of now. Well, actually life is not so hum-drum today, as I am in the midst of a mini-vacation, which involves reading Sherman Alexie and gathering up bags of clothes, toys, blankets, dishes that we don’t need and piling it all into a corner. I will soon give it away to The Arc, a non-profit thrift store whose income goes toward empowering people with developmental disabilities.
Feels good then to simplify our home and help the tiny space we dwell inside appear more open. Now we have more room to dance and breathe and jump, which is good for the six-year-old, and good for his parents, too.