Our first baby-of-the-family turned 20 today. Christopher Avery used to tell folks his birthday was in July 8th instead of on. This was usually accompanied by a prolonged session of jumping on one foot. Avery is now a grown man, thousands of miles away from us. Happy to report that so far, he’s never been too old or cool or busy to snuggle with the other baby-of-the-family or text us back. 🐽🐷🐵🐒
The peonies have begun to bloom. I love my life.
Today I moved into my new office. Humbled, excited, ready. Grateful.
Note to self: say yes more. Also note to self: hammock camp-outs in the land of the midnight sun will prove challenging and most likely unsuccessful just after solstice.
Back in the day, we did a thing called Pasta with People. Today, we invited nearly everyone we know in Alaska to a crawfish boil on our property. Nobody tells you how long it takes to get a groove going in a new chapter, especially when you already had one in the last one, but we’re finding ours here and it feels like home.
Tomorrow, my husband and I will gather people on our property, hoping to connect the hospital folks with the church folks with the non-profit folks. We will wear black. We will speak truth and hope, to our kids and over our country. Let freedom ring.
We hiked somewhere around eight miles today, followed by a three-hour drive home with pizza and This American Life. There are days like these when everyone mostly gets along, blisters and all, and I grind the words “get after grateful” down deeply down into my bones for the next hard day.
