Powerful wings
Hello there. The rains came and gave us a few lovely indoor days. Jacinta and Genevieve are not used to being inside for long, not growing up in the cold Midwest. But I LOVE being stuck inside as it diminishes the overwhelming choice of what to do in a day. Hard rain and kids with colds mean reading stories, singing, organizing toys, rearranging furniture, getting rid of things, cooking, nut cracking, relaxing inside, and running laps of the house to release pent up energy. Another good energy release for the girls is “Poppy time,” one day painting to their hearts content. Keith is much more patient with the mess than I will ever be. The rain pounded down noisily on the tin roof, the tank overflowing from the first day of rain. The gardens surely enjoyed the rain, still damp after a full day of warm sun and wind. The hyacinths have finally died, having lost their color and wilting before Genevieve picked them, amazing! Jacinta is bewildered by their short life span. Bulbs are a bit like that, a lot of work for a quick pretty show. Perhaps this is why they are such a thrill.
I sometimes ponder the amount of time I spend preparing food and how quickly my efforts are either consumer or snubbed. This week I realized for the first time, how truly worth the effort it all is. Since we have started trying different types of milk, diversifying grains and focusing less on fruit and home-baked goods but more on veggies and dips (pumpkin spiked salsa and guacamole), the general attitude of the day is more stable, more easily anticipated. There are also less dishes as I am not baking as much. For once, I am trying to transition slowly and not go cold turkey on normality as I have done in the past.
But honestly, I now understand what an addiction sugar is. The girls don’t beg for food near as much, they play more and actually enjoy the food they are given. They don’t eat just to make it to dessert, because there often is none. Yet on Thursday at playgroup where the sugar flows freely, Jacinta tried a bit of everything she was allowed and asked for more every ten minutes. For the remainder of the day she was disengaged and whiny and said flat out, “I don’t want lunch. I don’t want anything that is not sweet.” I’m sure you could say that it was just the shock to her system, but she used to be like this more often, not just on playgroup days. Matt, Keith and Mary all have made a major effort to go along with the changes and since we are all working together, it is going really well. Most importantly, the girls don’t know there is any major regime change. It is what it is. I might be spending even less time preparing. But we are getting more good energy from our food, which makes the whole day better.
Speaking of good eating, tonight Mary made corned-beef. This is something I loved in America, especially on a Rueben sandwich, covered in sauerkraut, swiss cheese and dressing. Here there are no Rueben sandwiches, not a big deal as I wasn’t eating beef for a long time. It’s often served with chutney on bread. What a let down this was when I tried it at a restaurant a few months ago! Sauerkraut is not something common here, but you can find it in a can at the supermarket, made in Belgium. Mary actually made a special trip to buy me sauerkraut, in addition to cooking the whole meal. I ate half the can, just couldn’t get enough. Until today, I didn’t realize I was homesick for sauerkraut. Funny, things that you didn’t know you loved until they weren’t there. Needless to say, I will start making my own. Belgium is a bit far to go for fermented cabbage. I don’t expect anyone to eat it, it will be a “Momma thing.”
Genevieve now understands this concept and will back away from things she is stubbornly trying to do. It’s like a self-assurance, “a Momma thing,” it lets her off the hook. She can give up trying to poke her horn into whatever it is that she shouldn’t be doing. She can watch closely and learn, better to imitate the next time. Even with her cough and her sore gums, she ran pretty hard all week long. She slept well in the day and terrible at night. One night at 1am she broke into new speech territory, noun+ verb. After a nappy change, she sat up and said, “Grandma……make soup! Poppy….paint!” Just shows how much is being processed in their sleep.
Jacinta woke up each morning this week, climbed up and sat down on top of the wooden rails three feet above her bed. She then called out to either Matt or I, depending on who she felt really needed to see her trick that day. She tries out reaching for different light switches to see if she has grown taller in the night. Matt had to start a new wall marking system this week, not merely where her head is, but now the height of her outstretched arms. Yesterday she exclaimed, “I’m five meters happy!”
I was equally excited yesterday, for different reasons though. The other day I popped an email to my Senegalese host brother who has lived in France for over six years now. He replied with shocking news. Not only is he engaged, but he also published his first book! Oedipe le batard des deux mondes, by Massamba Diadhou. I remember Massamba and his younger brother Chiccy playing writing games, ten years ago. They passed a journal back and forth, adding on pages at a time to one really long, detailed story. It was a secret though, they never shared the stories with anyone. So now, Massamba has written a 250 page novel about a bastard child of a Senegalese woman and a French humanitarian doctor who goes to France in search of cultural understanding, of himself, and of course, his parents. I logged onto Amazon.France and ordered Massamba’s book along with a few French children’s DVDs. Bursting joy and anticipation for my friend’s recent success made sleeping difficult.
Difficulty sleeping, poor Evie. She whimpers almost every fifteen minutes. It’s amazing though, she makes it through the day as if she has had a good sleep. Yesterday afternoon, my friend Anissa picked the girls and I up in the rainstorm and drove us out to her place to spend the afternoon and evening. Genevieve napped for about 15 minutes total, until 5pm when she crashed for 45 minutes and woke up for dinner and Matt’s arrival. She loves going out and seeing people, both girls do. Good thing! She has started telling strangers in town about her friends. This weeks’ litany of people always started with “Shelle (Michelle)? Rory? “Ayan?” nodding all the while.
Our friend Michelle asked the other day in an exasperated tone, “When will you all just elect someone?” In other words, Australians hear almost as much, minus the obnoxious political advertisements, as Americans hear and it is not even their election. I enjoy the discussions on the news, but compared with the Aussie system, we do have an incredible amount of hooplah before the election actually happens. Just this week, here in the New South Wales state government (our state), the premier (Governor) resigned. The next in line sacked the person below him, then the parliament sacked him. There is already a new premier from the opposing party and work is going forward. I do not presume to know which is better or more democratic, it is simply a difference in systems, and one is quicker and less expensive.
Matt keeps up on all the news and world happenings. He downloaded Obama and Clinton’s speeches from the Democratic convention. I’ll admit I broke down and cried hearing Obama’s speech. I realize he is a politician. Whether or not I can take him at face value, he claims to desire the very things I dream of in the USA. Just hearing him speak made me ten times more proud to be American than I have felt in the last eight years. As I write Matt is keeping up with the Sydney Swans, making sure they win
It was a busy work week, there are lots of sick people at this chilly time of year and Matt has more cases than he really should. But he had “Flexi-time” on Tuesday morning. We took the girls out on the Taylor’s Arm River in the canoe for the first time. It was quite peaceful, given what Evie usually does. Water, birds and being off balance might have provided calm. What a treat: carrying the canoe down the hill, walking through muck (falling in wasn’t very fun with Evie in my back), and pushing off into a big river with Matt and the girls. I didn’t row much, but kept Genevieve happy and safe while Matt and Jacinta rowed.
No longer on call, Matt is allowed to leave the house without his computer and cell phone. Freedom! Full of physical energy, he attacked the chicken pen today. I was able to join for a little while, while Keith worked on making a kite with Jacinta. Matt actually took a break to work on the kite too, but not for long. It’s hard to sit inside when there’s a massive project that has been sitting undone, staring you down through your front window, for over six months. Perhaps by October we could have spring chickens! We shall see.
I actually rented a movie with the girls the other day. Ok it was a bird documentary, Winged Migration., which for some dumb reason they renamed Travelling Birds here, as if people don’t understand the term Migration. Jess and I watched eagerly for a while, after all it was the first movie she ever saw. It put Genevieve to sleep after the initial excitement of all the birds. What a majestic film, birds are magnificent, gifted with the sense to know when and how to travel thousands of miles.
Today my step-mom Barb was en route to the hospital where her mom was trying to overcome some severe health issues. Barb drove about an hour each day going back and forth caring for Molly. Today she saw an egret flying overhead en route, as dad explained it, extraordinary. She began to cry, knowing that this meant something. She arrived at the hospital and Molly, her mom, Grandma Molly to us, had left this world. Molly was and is an amazing woman, and will leave a great hole behind. Luckily amazing people do more than leave a gaping hole in their wake. They create so much beauty in the world that lives on and inspires beyond their bodies, it just takes a while to get past the hole.
This evening Jacinta was laughing with Mary and Keith, wondering about the future. It started with Mary gasping at the weight of Jacinta as she picked her up. “What will we do when you’re fifteen?” Mary asked. Jacinta went on and on, wondering, “What will we do when I’m 50?” Well, given that Mary and Keith are over 60, we just laughed and made up stories. She went on and on, finally topping it all, “what will we do when I’m 177?” Certainly we will all be part of the earth, hopefully enriching the soil, helping some tree grow. Keith told her we could all row to Taylors Arm then.
Hopefully Grandma Molly is dancing in the Manistee forest in Michigan, surrounded by her family.
Peace to you,
Shana
I sometimes ponder the amount of time I spend preparing food and how quickly my efforts are either consumer or snubbed. This week I realized for the first time, how truly worth the effort it all is. Since we have started trying different types of milk, diversifying grains and focusing less on fruit and home-baked goods but more on veggies and dips (pumpkin spiked salsa and guacamole), the general attitude of the day is more stable, more easily anticipated. There are also less dishes as I am not baking as much. For once, I am trying to transition slowly and not go cold turkey on normality as I have done in the past.
But honestly, I now understand what an addiction sugar is. The girls don’t beg for food near as much, they play more and actually enjoy the food they are given. They don’t eat just to make it to dessert, because there often is none. Yet on Thursday at playgroup where the sugar flows freely, Jacinta tried a bit of everything she was allowed and asked for more every ten minutes. For the remainder of the day she was disengaged and whiny and said flat out, “I don’t want lunch. I don’t want anything that is not sweet.” I’m sure you could say that it was just the shock to her system, but she used to be like this more often, not just on playgroup days. Matt, Keith and Mary all have made a major effort to go along with the changes and since we are all working together, it is going really well. Most importantly, the girls don’t know there is any major regime change. It is what it is. I might be spending even less time preparing. But we are getting more good energy from our food, which makes the whole day better.
Speaking of good eating, tonight Mary made corned-beef. This is something I loved in America, especially on a Rueben sandwich, covered in sauerkraut, swiss cheese and dressing. Here there are no Rueben sandwiches, not a big deal as I wasn’t eating beef for a long time. It’s often served with chutney on bread. What a let down this was when I tried it at a restaurant a few months ago! Sauerkraut is not something common here, but you can find it in a can at the supermarket, made in Belgium. Mary actually made a special trip to buy me sauerkraut, in addition to cooking the whole meal. I ate half the can, just couldn’t get enough. Until today, I didn’t realize I was homesick for sauerkraut. Funny, things that you didn’t know you loved until they weren’t there. Needless to say, I will start making my own. Belgium is a bit far to go for fermented cabbage. I don’t expect anyone to eat it, it will be a “Momma thing.”
Genevieve now understands this concept and will back away from things she is stubbornly trying to do. It’s like a self-assurance, “a Momma thing,” it lets her off the hook. She can give up trying to poke her horn into whatever it is that she shouldn’t be doing. She can watch closely and learn, better to imitate the next time. Even with her cough and her sore gums, she ran pretty hard all week long. She slept well in the day and terrible at night. One night at 1am she broke into new speech territory, noun+ verb. After a nappy change, she sat up and said, “Grandma……make soup! Poppy….paint!” Just shows how much is being processed in their sleep.
Jacinta woke up each morning this week, climbed up and sat down on top of the wooden rails three feet above her bed. She then called out to either Matt or I, depending on who she felt really needed to see her trick that day. She tries out reaching for different light switches to see if she has grown taller in the night. Matt had to start a new wall marking system this week, not merely where her head is, but now the height of her outstretched arms. Yesterday she exclaimed, “I’m five meters happy!”
I was equally excited yesterday, for different reasons though. The other day I popped an email to my Senegalese host brother who has lived in France for over six years now. He replied with shocking news. Not only is he engaged, but he also published his first book! Oedipe le batard des deux mondes, by Massamba Diadhou. I remember Massamba and his younger brother Chiccy playing writing games, ten years ago. They passed a journal back and forth, adding on pages at a time to one really long, detailed story. It was a secret though, they never shared the stories with anyone. So now, Massamba has written a 250 page novel about a bastard child of a Senegalese woman and a French humanitarian doctor who goes to France in search of cultural understanding, of himself, and of course, his parents. I logged onto Amazon.France and ordered Massamba’s book along with a few French children’s DVDs. Bursting joy and anticipation for my friend’s recent success made sleeping difficult.
Difficulty sleeping, poor Evie. She whimpers almost every fifteen minutes. It’s amazing though, she makes it through the day as if she has had a good sleep. Yesterday afternoon, my friend Anissa picked the girls and I up in the rainstorm and drove us out to her place to spend the afternoon and evening. Genevieve napped for about 15 minutes total, until 5pm when she crashed for 45 minutes and woke up for dinner and Matt’s arrival. She loves going out and seeing people, both girls do. Good thing! She has started telling strangers in town about her friends. This weeks’ litany of people always started with “Shelle (Michelle)? Rory? “Ayan?” nodding all the while.
Our friend Michelle asked the other day in an exasperated tone, “When will you all just elect someone?” In other words, Australians hear almost as much, minus the obnoxious political advertisements, as Americans hear and it is not even their election. I enjoy the discussions on the news, but compared with the Aussie system, we do have an incredible amount of hooplah before the election actually happens. Just this week, here in the New South Wales state government (our state), the premier (Governor) resigned. The next in line sacked the person below him, then the parliament sacked him. There is already a new premier from the opposing party and work is going forward. I do not presume to know which is better or more democratic, it is simply a difference in systems, and one is quicker and less expensive.
Matt keeps up on all the news and world happenings. He downloaded Obama and Clinton’s speeches from the Democratic convention. I’ll admit I broke down and cried hearing Obama’s speech. I realize he is a politician. Whether or not I can take him at face value, he claims to desire the very things I dream of in the USA. Just hearing him speak made me ten times more proud to be American than I have felt in the last eight years. As I write Matt is keeping up with the Sydney Swans, making sure they win
It was a busy work week, there are lots of sick people at this chilly time of year and Matt has more cases than he really should. But he had “Flexi-time” on Tuesday morning. We took the girls out on the Taylor’s Arm River in the canoe for the first time. It was quite peaceful, given what Evie usually does. Water, birds and being off balance might have provided calm. What a treat: carrying the canoe down the hill, walking through muck (falling in wasn’t very fun with Evie in my back), and pushing off into a big river with Matt and the girls. I didn’t row much, but kept Genevieve happy and safe while Matt and Jacinta rowed.
No longer on call, Matt is allowed to leave the house without his computer and cell phone. Freedom! Full of physical energy, he attacked the chicken pen today. I was able to join for a little while, while Keith worked on making a kite with Jacinta. Matt actually took a break to work on the kite too, but not for long. It’s hard to sit inside when there’s a massive project that has been sitting undone, staring you down through your front window, for over six months. Perhaps by October we could have spring chickens! We shall see.
I actually rented a movie with the girls the other day. Ok it was a bird documentary, Winged Migration., which for some dumb reason they renamed Travelling Birds here, as if people don’t understand the term Migration. Jess and I watched eagerly for a while, after all it was the first movie she ever saw. It put Genevieve to sleep after the initial excitement of all the birds. What a majestic film, birds are magnificent, gifted with the sense to know when and how to travel thousands of miles.
Today my step-mom Barb was en route to the hospital where her mom was trying to overcome some severe health issues. Barb drove about an hour each day going back and forth caring for Molly. Today she saw an egret flying overhead en route, as dad explained it, extraordinary. She began to cry, knowing that this meant something. She arrived at the hospital and Molly, her mom, Grandma Molly to us, had left this world. Molly was and is an amazing woman, and will leave a great hole behind. Luckily amazing people do more than leave a gaping hole in their wake. They create so much beauty in the world that lives on and inspires beyond their bodies, it just takes a while to get past the hole.
This evening Jacinta was laughing with Mary and Keith, wondering about the future. It started with Mary gasping at the weight of Jacinta as she picked her up. “What will we do when you’re fifteen?” Mary asked. Jacinta went on and on, wondering, “What will we do when I’m 50?” Well, given that Mary and Keith are over 60, we just laughed and made up stories. She went on and on, finally topping it all, “what will we do when I’m 177?” Certainly we will all be part of the earth, hopefully enriching the soil, helping some tree grow. Keith told her we could all row to Taylors Arm then.
Hopefully Grandma Molly is dancing in the Manistee forest in Michigan, surrounded by her family.
Peace to you,
Shana
posted by Matt & Shana & Jacinta & Genevieve Henry at
10:50 PM
1 Comments:
Bonjour and Guten Abend Shana.
It's lovely to read about your life:) A quick hello because Brigitte would like to get in touch with you. She is back at OSS ;)
Can you get in touch with he?
Martina
brigitte_souamy@yahoo.com
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