Another Day of Celebration!

 

This Great girl 
lights up

every room she enters

creates things

laughs

makes others laugh too

loves learning

hikes

dances

camps

caves

cares for her pets 

teases

jokes

bursts with energy

radiates joy

empathizes

loves people

and tells them so:

today

she celebrates

and we all celebrate

her birthday!

Effervescence

My grand-niece A radiates the pure energy of life writ large. 

When she wakes, she does so with the embrace of a new day that makes me envious: she knows each day a miracle and she makes it miraculous for those who love her. Charmed and charming, like the bubbles in a glass, she spreads cheer and love wherever she is, and for her I am grateful.

May her day be as joyful she has made mine, thinking on her.

The Cure for What Ailed Me

Labor Day in North Carolina with my niece and her family provided the balm I long needed.  My niece E said sometime Sunday evening, "You're such an easy guest."  That's because all I wanted was time with four of my favorite people and time is what I got.

C and A scouted out spiders and big leaves and caterpillars for my camera.  O made me the best cocktails I've ever drunk and took us all to Shining Rock Wilderness where, despite the rain, we fished and swam and laughed at the Red-spotted Purple that landed again and again on Kiva, the family dog.  E showed me her van and place of business.  And we played games and watched The Gruffalo's Child and The Lorax and ate popcorn, and while E read Harry Potter to C, I read Miss Spider's Tea Party to A.

Better than vacation, Labor Day was homecoming.