January Snowdrop

On this day, the sun rose at 7:29 a.m. It was the coldest night of the winter so far. -8F.

There was a full moon in a clear sky -- recorded officially in the annals of lunar history at 4:54 a.m., Madison time.

49 minutes later, at 5:43 a.m., a Little Snowdrop appeared. You know the Snowdrop is January's flower?

This one is the most special of all this year's flowers. Here she is:






Of course, her recorded name isn't Little Snowdrop, but close enough. With her birth, I became a grandma.






And they became parents:






Last night, at dinner, my girl was already having contractions, so you could say her labor began at the farmhouse. Of course, I couldn't sleep all night. And I had plenty to do: chase down a mouse (success!), clean up after an ill Isie boy, pick myself up after stumbling down the stairs in the dark -- all that robbed every bit of rest from under me.

But it didn't matter. When the news came of the birth, I was elated. I cannot find a proper word for it actually: relief coupled with joy, with lots of emotion thrown in for good measure.

The world was a beautiful place. Here's Little Snowdrop's first sunrise:






I was just setting out for the hospital then.

No breakfast photo today! My makeshift, straight out of a bag morning meal, while Ed still dozed and waved me off with a cheery "congratulations!" looked like this:





Ah, but it's a tremendously happy day over here, in Ocean land. A thrilling, love-filled, gorgeous day.