A Few Things

1. I think I was the only vacationer in beautiful Walker, Minnesota this weekend who spent time (and was rewarded for said time spent (thanks, Seeester!)) searching for deceased dragonflies.

2. Leech Lake does indeed have leeches - mud leeches!

3. My family is my heart and soul: here in Minnesota and in California, too.

I feel held in both places, and it is so good.

4. I had a wonderful, poignant moment in the glow of my parent's home one evening this week:

a realization that this is one of the last independent, do-as-I-damn-well-please-come-and-go-at-leisure trips I'll likely take for some 18-odd years.

I have had the luck and the pluck to do so much traveling by myself

(so rarely does my Schmilly find himself without a game ship date that prevents his napsackery, but Lordy Lou, how I love the coming home to him!)

over the last five plus years: trips to gem shows, gigs in distant cities

just-because-I-missed-you visits,

classes with friends,

voiceovers

and the odd overnight up in Petaluma...

as with every important transition, I shed a few tears at the realization that I get to grow into this new role,

that of a caretaker and mama

and grew sentimental

because I saw different iterations of myself at 25, 28, 32 waving goodbye

from her coach seat,

one carry-on bag neatly tucked beneath her pedicured toes,

the wide world hers to pluck.

I've been so fortunate to travel, to meet new friends along the way

and discover

gems and adventures around unexpected corners

highways and curves to hug and navigate

To illustrate this shift in focus, I will use Allende's beloved House of the Spirits as an example -

.

As a sweeping epic, each generation gets their time in the literary spotlight and passes

the important storyline to the next,

a fictional lineage, documented.

When I was in my twenties I would actually cry

as the story shifted in years and personal focus,

so in love was I with the lives I had just imagined so fully

(I re-read this book every once in a while, a good habit)

-

even a few years ago I wished for nothing more than

to linger on the happy times of just one generation, a partial story

but a few months back I had the opportunity to see the film version of the book

and I found myself eager to see what the changing scenery and generations would

bring to the screen:

it was a strange and lovely way to sense a big shift,

through a work of art I've long held dear

whose meaning grows and shifts with age and understanding...

I feel prepared

and even somewhat elated to help usher a new soul's tale

onto this earth,

into my family history.

I feel like a grown woman.

I know this is rambling, and I don't even know if it makes sense... all of this to say that I am at once saying a trembly-chinned 'goodbye' to a wonderful era

and a vibrant "Hello, Nurse!" to such an important new gift...

5. I am craving orange juice and spaghetti, but not at the same time!

6. This post was brought to you by the hormones Estrogen, Progesterone and hCG.

Burp.

xoxox,

Allison