11/27/07

peep show

lately i've been going to peep shows. for the last three nights actually. it's truely amazing. i feel like i'm the only one watching. i find myself getting all worked up. wondering if anyone else is seeing what i'm seeing. i have to be in just the right spot though. driving on backroads out along the prairie. or hiking up to the hilltop at dusk. all alone, i watch intently.

one night, she's big and round and white. the next night, blazing gold. slowly making her way up over the horizon. causing me to gasp as her peep show begins. then, as if she feels self-conscious showing ALL of herself to me, she covers herself back up. in a shawl of clouds.

the moon.
she's been giving me a private showing each night...

11/22/07

thanksgivings past

reminiscing about thanksgivings past this morning as the snow falls over our sleepy house. it's good to be here. and by here i mean here, at this point in our lives. so many things have changed over the years, evolving to this very moment. this perfect moment in time.

recalling one of our first thanksgivings spent together in duluth, eating mama mia's pizza in my third floor apartment overlooking the lake. we sat on the floor with the box feeling only slightly homesick together. later that evening we went dancing at the raddison hotel downtown. we were the youngest couple there by at least 30 years. we laughed as we left there at midnight, trying not to slip on the ice as we made our way home tipsy and in love.

the following year, still in love, we were busy planning our wedding. thanksgiving day was spent with the new baby Charlie and in six short weeks we were married.

then, having survived a year on the farm, the death of matt's dad, and some small and some slightly larger marital bumps in the road, we took off for Europe to reflect on the last year. we spent thanksgiving day in st. ives england. on the cornwall coast. we ate this amazing turnip soup with garlic bread for lunch and then spent the afternoon on the beach soaking in the sun and watching school kids surf. no one there knew that it was american thanksgiving day. and that was just fine.

fast forward a year. we're in st. paul. living on portland and howell. pulling shots for pumpkin pie and eggnog lattes at starbucks.

now, for the fourth year in a row, we are here. in our very first (an hopefully last) home. and we're not alone either. baby avery sure has a way of making everyday more full.

and finally, today. brings the birth of another babe. melina jane bell. a new life comes in. and everything changes again. the world is shifted. our lives are spun off axis, then back into alignment. each year better than the one before.

we have much to be thankful for...

11/12/07

ahhhh november

i've never really liked november. it seems to make winter "official", or something. plus it's dark, and windy, and not really any snow to speak of, so the cold hardly seems worth it. if you ask me, we could do away with november. ahhhh, but alas, i'm trying to be more positive this year. about winter. and about all sorts of other things.

so, i'm sitting in my kitchen, relaxing while ave is asleep. squash in the oven. listening to christmas music. sipping coffee with eggnog. learning to like november.....ahhhh november.