What I will remember is this. Not the way he flashed our I love you sign when the principal told the kids to wave to their parents in the crowd. Not the way he snapped his fingers all cool-jazz-like to the peppy beat of the classic kindergarten songs, a happy hipster belting out tunes about flowers and sun and roots and wings. Not the way he asked twice (twice!) for his picture to be taken with a friend, our shy guy now hamming it up for the camera with his arm draped around his buddy. Not the way his teacher teared up at end of the ceremony and my husband standing at the back of the room, jostling the tired baby, said to me later that's how you know she's one of the great ones, isn't it? That she still gets misty after 25 years of teaching. I hope I remember all that, of course. I hope I remember the moments wrapped around the milestone. But what I know I will remember is the astonishing sky as I drove away tonight. Heavy grey storm clouds peeling away in layers. … [Read more...] about mountains and horizons and kindergarten graduation
perspective
harvesting hope
We go every year. Maybe you do, too. We pick a perfect fall morning, bright and clear. We drive through rolling country roads, farms and hills and trees ablaze with orange, yellow, red. We grab our bags and head for the rows of trees upon trees. We pick, pluck, pause and pick another, piling the apples high. We eat them off the branch, munching as we crunch through the leaves. The kids kick the fallen fruit; the adults haul the harvest in heavy paper sacks. We head back to the farm for cool cider and warm donuts. Then we wind our way back home, plans of pies and sauce and crisp and muffins wafting through our weekend. The annual apple orchard trip. This year we found a new farm, smaller-scale, family-owned. I laughed with another mom as we circled the gnarly trees, branches heavy with shiny red fruits. "Isn't it great to beat the crowds here?" she said. I agreed, nodding. A bulky black camera swung from her neck. "We're yuppies, don't get me wrong. We're not really here for the … [Read more...] about harvesting hope
