So the little baby of Emma and Connor--Gus--was born two days ago in Austin. Almost seven pounds, he's already a handsome little guy.
Emma sent us shower hosts each a goddess. My pink one is now hanging happily over my sink.
It was a uniquely wonderful experience to have lunch with three generations of women. I think we should all seek out more opportunities to spend time with older and younger friends! When like-minded women of all ages get together, the vibrant spirit of the goddess shows up to play!
Carlene's 101st birthday is already on GO! She had lunch with her friend Cathy in the dining room yesterday--the same Cathy who hosted a party in her home for her last year.
My Uber is coming at 12 noon tomorrow for a 2:00 flight, Then I'l fly to Atlanta, get an UBER or the shuttle to Athens, and with Bob and Jocelyn leading the way, I'll drive to my Air BnB.
Meanwhile I have been pursuing my pocket book hobby today. Went to North Star mall today to get Elena a red pocketbook for her first day at Durango High School--whose colors are red and white.
Carlene once called me the bag lady--due to my penchant for pocketbooks (aka handbags and purses) --as well as tote bags, back packs, and bag by any other name.
Most of us women love containers--bags and bowls and baskets. I hadn't been to the mall in ages, and what did I look at most: huge arrays of bags in all colors. I got myself a cute little turquoise Consuela while I was there.
Speaking of Consuela: I remember when she was selling her bags at a crafts fair in Boerne. Now she is a big name world wide. She's also now partnering with James Avery and designing all their colorful enameled charms.
My blue suitcase is open and packed on the living room floor. Luci alternates between getting IN the suitcase ("Don't you dare forget me!") and walking around sighing and staring and looking as glum as possible. She definitely knows something's up.
Yesterday we had a baby shower for Emma, Kate's oldest granddaughter--who's just a few weeks away from bringing her sweet baby boy into the world.
What a pleasure it was for us five grandmothers and three young women to enjoy champagne brunch at Silo's and share in the joy of the upcoming reveal of Emma and Connor's son!
Kate and Lisa and Emma--a tribe of three fiercely loving and nurturing goddesses mamas!
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| This lovely dress was made for Emma by Janet, the sewist in our tribe! |
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| Beautiful Emma and Baby Boy Bump are rocking this polka dot dress! |
Happy 24th Birthday TODAY to the glowing Emma!
Back when we were newlyweds, we lived in a second floor apartment on Mulberry Street, a few houses from San Pedro. We had no TV, no radio (except in the car) and no telephone. We were, you might say, poor as all get-out.
One day a red-faced encyclopedia salesman knocked on our door, huffing and puffing from the one flight of stairs. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, Mark was painting, I studying for a test in Texas History.
After he caught his breath and drank some iced tea, he proceeded to set up his display of books for us to peruse. I was particularly fascinated by the volume on the human body: plastic pages overlaying each other, each with a system of the body--muscles, bones, circulatory system, etc.
He could tell we were interested, but he probably knew what we knew: that we wouldn't be a sale.
But he kept up his spiel. $19 a month for all these books? How could we not buy?
He had this mantra: "All you're paying for is ink, string, paper, and glue."
On the 17th time or so, it was all we could do not to laugh. He was our entertainment for the day!
There's so much more to books than ink, string, paper and glue, of course. Behind every subject are historians and scientists and all kinds of experts who'd devoted years to scholarly research. Reductionist as it was, his phrase will remain in my mind as long as memory lasts.
I thought of it this morning when I popped into an antiques store and spied a set of two ink bottles with racks for fountain pens. HAD to have it!
At the checkout counter, four of us of a certain age talked about memories of writing with ink back in the day-- Schaeffer's fountain pens with cartridges taking us through math, penmanship, spelling tests, even math. .
I recently gave Will a handmade journal with a leather cover that I'd made--along with a fountain pen. He talks about how it slows him down when he writes early every morning.
Writing with ink slows me down too. It makes writing feel more intentional, almost meditative.
"Remember how the middle finger was always stained by the leaky cartridges?" asked a woman about my age.
"Remember writing lines with those pens?" another asked. We discovered that in spite of growing up states apart, we were all subjected to writing "lines" as punishment!
A strange and sweet man who works there (I've rarely been there when he wasn't there, seated on the same stool, talking amiably in his high-pitched voice) said he was before our time. "We always used these ink wells!" he said. "That was before cartridges were even invented!"
Funny what things evoke nostalgia. Lessons in penmanship and leaky cartridges and dipping pens in wells of ink!
Today was another remarkable gift of high energy and lower-than-usual pain in my feet and legs! Hooray!
Luci and I went to Trader Joe's AND Central Market and got ingredients for a corn and black bean salad that is my all-time favorite! I've had this recipe for years but it makes enough for an army, so I hadn't made it in a long time. I'm currently recovering from all that chopping and standing, but I'm also wolfing down a bowlful of it.
Here's the recipe if you want a delicious and refreshing salad for these summer days.
Southwest Salad
2 cups dried black beans
2 cups corn
2-3 medium sized cloves of garlic, freshly minced
A heaping 1.2 cup of finely minced red pepper
1 medium sized red onion minced
1 t. Salt
1/2 cup olive oil (plus 1-2 T for the tortillas)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2-3 t. whole cumin seeds roasted in cast iron pan
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1/2 cup minced parsley
1 t. Crushed red pepper
Finely ground black pepper
3-4 corn tortillas.
This is what I woke up to--Marcus and Lucia flying to Spain to Meet The Parents!
Marcus interviewed outstanding VCU athletes for his podcast and one of his interviewees was this adorable girl from Spain, a star basketball player. The rest is--as we say--history!
As you can tell, they are both smitten. Day sent Luci a picture of flowers and she wrote back, "Beautiful, but not as beautiful as your son."
My family has been all over the map this summer. Day and Tom went to Copenhagen (Tom travels a lot internationally for work, but this was the first time Day accompanied him), then they took Marcus and Jackson and Deanna to Ireland (Lucia was in Spain and couldn't go) for two weeks. In Donegal, Tom found so many of his ancestors on the McDonald side and they were warmly greeted by everyone. They loved Ireland (and Irish storytellers and musicians) so much they want to go back and spend the summer next year.
Will's family of four went to Costa Rica for a week, then came back and rented a house in Durango for a month--a week of which I got to join them. They are totally in love with Colorado and Durango in particular. As of a week ago, Will and Bonnie and Elena live there! Yesterday I got a virtual tour of the house they are renting for the year--they like it so much that they'll consider buying it after their San Antonio house sells.
I drove to Colorado, had an amazing week, then flew back. Next up is a trip to Georgia later this month to celebrate Carlene's 101st birthday!
Soon thereafter, a trip to Virginia is due--There's a girl there I want to meet!
After a lengthy absence, "my" birds are back! They are not mine, of course--they belong to themselves and the air--but they give such color and joy to my back yard. Finches, cardinals and doves mostly.
Today I will fill two hummingbird feeders. Joy gave me her recipe, said she keeps her filled year-round. Their feeders need to be carefully cleaned every two or three days. "Hummers are delicate and fierce," she wrote.
I've spent this week helping Elena pack up her room. They will be moving tomorrow!
I'm pausing here because I can't yet quite give words to my range of feelings on that subject--except to say I am thrilled for them and I will miss their closeness so much, geographical and otherwise.
A friend sent me this poem this morning, from a Bella Grace magazine. It inspired me and thought it might inspire you to think of things you brake for!
I spent the morning with Jett, a computer science major at UT, who lives on my block He fixed my computer so that I can now post pictures, so I'm going to give it a try. The error had something to do with cookies.
I spent yesterday at the Pritchett house and will go again later today for dinner. Then probably again tomorrow--as they are actually moving to Colorado on Thursday.
A reminder: Joy's show is still up at Mockingbird Handprints--just in case you missed the opening and would like to see her work on display. It's a beautiful show!
Day and her family are enjoying their trip to Ireland, and Will and his family are selling and giving away things (and returning to me some furniture I gave them) so that they can travel light to their new home in Durango.
Yesterday Elena was feeling a little sad. "I need to play the guitar, then I'll feel better," she said. So she and her dad sat down and played and sang for a while and she was right--it perked her right up.
She loves music and plans to take classes at a music school she's found in Durango.
Here are a couple of photos from the week I spent there with them;
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| One of her rodeo events in Durango this summer |
Jan and I have another thing in common: Kate and her boys are moving on the same day the Pritchetts are moving. Her husband Lee has already begun his new job in Albuquerque and Kate and the boys will finally get to join him--they were waiting for Sebastien to graduate high school.
SO Jan and I are lucky to have each other as we see the last of our families move away from San Antonio. So far, I've only gotten teary once--watching my girl play my daddy's guitar and remembering so many happy memories of these almost fifteen years of her life! I'm going to miss them like crazy--but I'm also thrilled that they are following their dream to relocate to Colorado, their happy place.
