to be happy

1. What I'm Thinking

It is hard to celebrate happiness when there's a senseless war to the east and a senseless shooting to the south of you. Very hard.

Still, the war wont stop for you and the gun violence will not go away so you can't put your life on hold waiting for people to start acting sane. You continue. You celebrate birthdays. You celebrate the everyday. You celebrate your luck if you happen to be born in a place that hasn't been attacked from the outside or from the inside. No war, no atrocity.

At the same time, you never grow numb to the pain of others who were not so lucky in life.

Sigh....

 

2. Celebrations

Our own celebrations continue. And I actually have two today. First of all, we have a birthday. More on that in a bit. In addition though, on this very wet and cool spring day, I'm celebrating the arrival of my book: Like a Swallow, in my hands right now, for the very first time.

It feels odd to look at these words on paper rather than on my computer screen. I suppose this is true of any long term project: you work on it forever and suddenly you're done and then said item is put to use, or enters circulation and you feel a little off kilter. Like the person who builds her own canoe then after years and years of work, goes out to paddle and suddenly the boat isn't on her workbench but out in the water. Weird!

I am being interviewed about the whole writing project tomorrow and I swear I will think of something clever to say about it, but right now I just keep thinking that it certainly was a slog and honestly, as I reread the text yet again, all I can think of is that 1. we all missed a couple of typos! And 2. I'd like to tackle certain paragraphs once more. Because they are never good enough and the human brain is always capable of coming up with something better. Is that the way all book authors feel? Poor guys.

Breakfast is with the next batch of blooms from the garden: it's lily-of-the-valley time! Oh, the fragrance!

 

In the afternoon, I prepare for Sandpiper's birthday. Meaning I shop -- for party drinks (actually there's a lot of partying coming up this weekend so the party drinks list is long!), for cupcakes, for balloons. [Me to sales person: I'd like you to blow up a bunch of balloons for me. Here, these! Sales person: the balloons are between $3 and $10 and then we charge $8 for each blow-up. Me: did I hear right? $8 for each blow up? Sales person: there is a shortage of helium, you know. Me: I'll just get three balloons.]

And then the young family arrives -- after work, after school, in the thick of a  heavy rain shower. Happy first birthday sweet, active little guy!

(The non-birthday sibs)

Birthday dinner: today Sandpiper sits at the head of the table.

Helping him blow out the candle.

May you keep that good fortune with you all through your life!

Happy, happy birthday!

With so much love...