Ah Peace Reins...NOT Eternal

The first week of school is past.  Everyone (EVERYONE) is settled in as student or teacher. We've all got our assignments ironed out.  We are at peace with a side of daily chaos.  Life is good.
Laurel continues with Nursing school; it is obviously her calling, she's so good at it.  Her natural empathy makes her uber aware of others' needs; her father's intellect help her "get it" scientifically.  I'm so proud of her.  I never had the intellect to do the things she does.  I had trouble remembering my blog name this morning!  She constantly blows me away.
Jesse, of course, continues to do his magic in the world of acting.  He finds the reality in make believe so that the actors and audience can share unique and sometimes life changing experiences together.  I don't know how he does that either.  It is his innate ability to impart confidence and inner discovery to the young with whom he works.  It is something as nebulous but as true as the scientific facts that Laurel is learning.  Yet so ethereal!
The big girls have begun the year at a very special school, Charlotte Mason, which has been given two thumbs up plus both big toes by their Auntie Cousin Leanne, the Baby Wishperer who KNOWS these things. They come home tired (in a good way) and stretched to the full by gentle challenges of learning.  Our dear friend's son, Abe, is also there, a fact Alana delights in!  I get to help out with kindergarten art Monday - absolutely can't wait.
And so, the middle of the days are quiet for me.  So far I've spent the time cleaning, laundering and putting away clothes.  Will continue!!!  I find it's surprisingly satisfying!  I hated it as a young woman!!!  But there's something about THIS house.  I can do a level, see it done, then do the next.  The house kind of says "Thank's" Grammy...  And Laurel's face when she walks in and it's tidy (at least) says that too.   But this NEXT week I'm scheduling something special!!!  I'm going to PAINT!!!  Next time I feel like napping, I'm going to RUN upstairs and pick up the paints.  Heck!  I can sleep at night!!!  Tuesday I PAINT!!!

Happy birthday, America

Last night I saw fireworks...God's fireworks.  The people fireworks were down the street out of sight...God's were right outside my bedroom window, floating around the miraculously beautiful empty house across the street, like fairies celebrating summer.  The fireflies were out in force last night - as glorious in their silence as the Target Fireworks were in their booming grandeur a week ago.  The sublime...

Which makes me think of the ridiculous!  Our first night here, still deep in boxes, Laurel and I took a break on the front porch, the evening breeze refreshing after the sticky, hot, busy day.  I felt something pelt down into my shirt!  Coming from the burbs, of course I thought "MOSQUITO!!!!!  AAAARGH!!!"  and began slapping at my chest - not a wise action unless you're on fire.   Looking down at myself in amazement, I watched a tiny flashing light moving around inside my t-shirt!!!!  Ack!!! I'd been molested by a firefly!!!  I thought Laurel would smother, laughing, as I went diving for the bug!  I must say, it was easier to find than a mosquito with it's little beacon leading the way.  Squirmy little rascals!  Yes, Laurel laughed, until I set the bug free and it tried to crawl into HER shirt!!!!   Then I laughed....heeeheeee...

So, happy birthday, land of the free.  God lit some candles just for you.

Greetings from the D

New days in a new place...

After a harsh winter in the hinterlands of Royal Oak, Michigan, my family (daughter, son-in-law, 3 grand-girls) packed up, lock, stock and barrel, and moved into Detroit, the city.

Friends said "Why would you want to move to Deeetroit!?!  It's Dangerous there!!!"

Honestly, this may sound odd, but we were called to be here.  Something has been calling this family since we moved here 3 years ago.  Look at me, a woman who raised her kids in a tiny, perfect mountain town in the Columbia Gorge, loving the view of Mount Hood from my front porch, living 5 minutes away from my job where I was lucky to work with the nicest teenagers God ever created.  Thirtyfive years in Eden!  Why would I want to come into the big city, with it's financial worries and burned out and abandoned buildings.
Drive down Woodward.  Yes, there's burned out buildings, but their black bones are beautiful!  There are buildings to rival European capitals; churches built by artisans' loving hands.  I walk past one of these grand old houses, and my breath catches.  Beauty is here.

The people living here are beautiful.  I've been in our elderly house for a week and have met all my neighbors. If I had any sort of actual memory (can't blame it on age, always been this way) I'd know all their names!  I could take little Roscoe on a walk all by myself and be safe...if it wasn't so darned HOT today!  I have found the kind of neighbors I left behind in Hood River; people who are eager to know you and care instantly.  This is Detroit.

So, watch the national news; think, with pity, how far the great city has fallen.  Look again.  Where there is love, there is greatness.  Detroit will, like the phoenix, rise from her ashes, as long as there is love.