Eight More Weeks--

Tuesday marked eight weeks from the day we plan to wrap up our time in New Jersey. For some reason, with the arrival of May came not only "May flowers," but a sense of "it's almost time to go." I wonder whether the Canadian Geese whose migration we witness experience the same sort of sensation.

Driving

If things go according to our current plan, this time eight weeks from now we will be on the road again. It is difficult to describe the complexity of emotions I experience as I ponder this. This week, I have been revisiting a song that has cycled in and out of my regular playlist over the past couple of years: "The Littlest Birds" by the Be Good Tanyas.

Well, I feel like an old hobo
I'm sad lonesome and blue
I was fair as a summer day
Now the summer days are through

You pass through places
And places pass through you
But you carry 'em with you
On the soles of your travellin' shoes

The contrast between the cheerful music and sad words reflects something of how I feel now that May has arrived. The music always makes me want to dance. 

And summer days are not through! They are marching closer every day. Nearly every day we have some new delight pop up. Because we have never been here in spring, I had no idea what hidden gems were waiting in the yard for us. Now, the kids can recite flowers in order of appearance, one wave coming after another:

snowdrops
daffodils
hyacinth
forsythia
tulips

And then, when I thought we were wrapping up, a dogwood exploded in bloom.



A few days later we found a blooming lilac bush back by the sledding hill.

lilacs on Sunday, our first summery day

This morning, without warning, both fuchsia and white azaleas! WHO KNOWS WHAT DELIGHTS ARE COMING is kind of the mentality of right now around here. Sooner or later, I know, things will settle into nice steady summer.

And then we will pull up stakes and head back to the land where summer is pretty perennial. It seems a little bit like the final curtain is about to drop on a fierce dramatic performance; and we're shifting in our chairs, getting ready to go back blinking into everyday life.

Pixie's first time driving the riding mower

Bud

I have started thinking about our return route home. The northern route? The southern? Checking locations for our favorite hotels, and seeing which little trips and sightseeing we can squeeze in along the way.

However, even as we start to plan the return and my mind fills up with images of Louisiana (or wherever), we are still very much here. Our kids met some kids at a park last week and then their whole family turned up at our church's family fun day on Saturday. Yesterday they all came over for a playdate. New friends, with eight weeks to go. Because we are not done here yet.

Family Fun Day at BRC Highlights

In the months leading up to our move out here, I started a google doc with a list of good things to anticipate here; it helped me look for the possibility of good in Princeton. Some of the things on the list were lightning bugs and thunder.

Looking back at it now, that list is pretty sparse; from my present vantage point, I am astonished by all of the things I had to look forward to that I didn't know about yet.

It's a little bit like our yard this spring, and all of the marvelous beauty that I didn't know was waiting. God has been very tender with me this year. There has been so much I didn't know was in store. I hope I have a chance to share more about it.

Our year has passed through us even as we have passed through it, and we've all grown (especially the children!). We will carry it with us on the soles of our travellin' shoes, yes, but in other ways and places, as well.

The song continues in this way, which is a fitting end to what I have to say for tonight:

Well, I love you so dearly, I love you so clearly
I wake you up in the mornin' so early
Just to tell you I got the wanderin' blues
I got the wanderin' blues

And I'm gonna quit these ramblin' ways
One of these days
Soon