Home on Moraine: When The Ship Comes In

We're really rolling along now. Baseball and errands and frequent weather checks are priorities these days. Everything else comes second. I got my first sunkiss, can hardly call it a burn, but it's a sure sign of the days ahead. Today was chilly and pretty uneventful, although we did attempt a hike at the dunes. Sadie still hasn't mastered the leash and trying to maneuver her 120 pound body down the trail at a reasonable pace while she wants to jog is a nearly impossible feat. Toss in a charismatic 2 year old boy who also wants to run, and you've got a fiasco on your hands.

little brother has officially requested that we not call him little anymore. He prefers 'big boy' or 'big guy', but little is unacceptable. Please note this, as he will not hesitate to correct you, should you slip and call him little anything anymore.

For our purposes, and because he is still too small to read as far as I know - I will continue to refer to him as little brother. This stays between us, dear reader. But if he finds out he will have.my.head.

The spring birds are visiting. The full feeders are fleeting. They prefer black oil sunflower seeds. D! has done great at keeping them fed. This morning, around 5:45, as D! and little brother slept in the recliner, he frantically called me from the other room "oriole! oriole! oriole!" and for the second time, we watched her just long enough to smile at her and haven't seen her since. We have several male red-breasted grosbeaks at once. The eastern towhees are active and quite fearless. The red bellied woodpecker doesn't care if we are out planting flowers just a few feet away. We've already seen a ruby throated hummingbird several times.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Thrush

I don't know what will become of our garden this year. My seeds are slow going. The evenings are still quite chilly. D! is very optimistic. I believe him. I always believe him. We're getting the ground ready for whatever we can grow. The local farmer's market started yesterday and there was no produce available this early in the growing season. We did get a few perennials, including 4 lavender plants, which I am very excited about.

White Trillium

Marsh Marigold

Lately, I've been working hard at getting the house to where I would like it to be - less cluttered, clean, and easier to manage. We have been here 2 years (time flies!) and it's so hard to feel like I have everything just how I like it. Do you ever feel like things are 'just so' or is that a mirage? I just don't know. After a few weeks of working at it, I realized it's not nearly as easy as it should be. Taking the boys to play in the sand at the beach is much more rewarding. Maybe some day.

I certainly hope these boys of mine embrace those evenings at the beach and forget about how their crazy mother would frantically toss wet clothes from the washer into the dryer - trip over the dog mid-sprint to the kitchen - flip their dinner - crawl into the shoe closet to find the second shoe only to find the laces have been chewed - race to the bedroom to find different shoes - run to the kitchen to simmer dinner - scream at the dog to go outside, then come back inside - jog barefoot to the car to recover missing freight cars - back inside to put dinner on the table - wash hands - and sit down to eat a lovingly prepared overcooked meal.

I hope they practice storytelling, think in words instead of pictures, turn down the volume sometimes and listen to the squirrels running on the roof. I hope they soak in the tub with only the sunlight. I hope, someday, these boys of mine take the time to watch the progress of a single plant, miss it when the season is over, remember it periodically while they wait, and celebrate when it finally thaws and unfurls. I hope they marvel at the plan in place all around them - even the smallest plan in motion.

Welcome Fiddleheads

Magnolia

The next few weeks will be a bit busy. Mother's day is next Sunday, D!'s birthday is this month, and Big brother has running club, baseball, or both every weeknight. The busy weeks make me love our weekends together much more. The occasional weeknight where we can visit the beach and watch the sun make it's descent provides a peace that energizes us all to get through our responsibilities as a team.