A Running Collection

Thursday. It wasn't grand at all but then again, there wasn't some storybook version of Thursday that I wanted. It was just exhaustion and teething and energy. Then my new friend Katherine taught me to me to spin wool into yarn with the spinning wheel my Aunt gave to me four years ago. Then, George took me on a motorcycle ride while a friend played with the children. Then, the children played in the mud while George and Russell made beautiful music on the back porch. Better than the Last of the Mohican sound track music. Then my sweet friend Emily came over with a most lovely bottle of wine. She said I'd had an eager day. It is true. These pictures are from a visit with friends Tuesday, a fishing trip Wednesday and Eager Thursday.

This morning George Wilder thought cereal would make a nice breakfast; however, I'd already made grits and eggs. He does really like grits and eggs, but he soured in a split second and, no matter how hard he tried, he could not pull up out of the pit of breakfast despair ! We've told him that whiners can't stay in our house, so we sent him out to the back porch with his breakfast. Now the weather is quite pleasant. So pleasant that Amelia thought we should all go out for a picnic breakfast, but that would defeat the purpose. So, George Wilder sat with his breakfast and cried and cried. Then he figured he wasn't getting very far with the crying, so he enjoyed his breakfast and came inside happy and whine free. Some mornings I should probably eat my breakfast outside as well. It was definitely the breakfast of a champion this morning!

Yes. We are moving. This is a big word for my vocabulary right now. It is a packed word. Literally. Packed. We start packing. We will move. Writing it is a huge step. We are saying it out loud. For four years we have known this would come. Finally, the studying, the writing, the researching, the living on love, the stress, the joy, the fun -- our stay in Athens is over. George graduates. We knew we couldn't stay and now, we have the opportunity of a life time. George will be teaching and researching at Florida State University. We move to Tallahassee this summer! We went last week to find a house and we did. We took the children to see this new town we will live in. It wasn't one of our more grand moments -- the entire trip wasn't a grand moment. House hunting with children and navigating a new town with children don't really go together. It was filled with patches of perfection. The trip to the nature museum to see red wolves and emus and panthers. An afternoon at a lo...

Listening is hard for me. It often seems to be the case that I listen to fear and doubt and worry and whines and tantrums, and a crying child. And the sizzle of burnt food and the ring of loud dogs and banjos. And when that isn't what I've tuned to, then it is myself. My sore throat and sore ears. My inability to get anything accomplished, my disorganization. What a terrible sound this is. It rings in my ears and it is death to my joy. Today, it is quiet. George took the kids on an adventure to let William and I heal a little from allergies and lost sleep. We walked through the neighborhood and returned home. He is still sleeping in his stroller and all seems silent. Wait . . . I hear a woodpecker drilling, birds singing, chickens squawking, the bristle of the wind in the long grass, a few voices in the distance, the rattle of tin. The flap of the birds wings. Yes, the flap of a wing. What a sound! It is usually lost to my ears, but if I listen . . . I will hear it. The sound o...