I'm Still Here

After my last post almost two weeks ago, I put down my pencil and put away my camera.  It happens every once in awhile: the urge to let go.  The desire to let the words and the images go without posterity or permanence. The thing is that writing and taking pictures is natural to me.  Clicking away and snapping away are rituals that define my every day.  Capturing a moment, sitting with it and making meaning on some level connects me to the world around me, my family, myself.  When I'm not telling stories, I feel a little off, anxious, unsettled.  It makes sense: this recent propensity to hole up, hunker down. This was a bit of a heavy week. The loads I carried, I'm not exactly ready to put down yet either. Truthfully, there are parcels I'm not sure belong here at all.  Time will tell.  When the urge to share starts to strike though, it usually means that I'm connecting the dots again.  It's a weighty often lengthy process of figuring things out, seeing them for what they are and then deciding how to live with or without them. Let's just say I had a hundred aha moments this week and now I'm exhausted.  That being said...it was a good stretch of days. The evidence is below. I did manage to sneak a few shots.  

1. Teddy on Easter morning.  He dressed for the occasion...pink, polka dots and seersucker.  He is as beautiful inside as he is handsome outside.  Lily attended church with Grandma Judy and then joined us at home with the rest of the family for brunch. While I failed to get a picture, she looked so pretty and springy.

2. We spent a fair amount of time creating this week.  It's so much better than getting sucked into the electronic world, and I love that she gets that even if I always have to provide the prompt.

3. I love to set my table early and then admire it for days.  Peanut and Tigger share my anticipation

4. The peach Bellini was our Easter cocktail.  I blended frozen peach slices with simple sugar, topped it with Prosecco and a sprig of fresh mint.

5. Came upon this hawk on a walk.  He was calling out to a mate and caught my attention. 'Tis the season.

6. I managed some kitchen creativity this week too.  These peppers are filled with Italian sausage, whole wheat orzo, san marzanos, shredded zucchini and pesto.  I baked them with a thick slab of fresh mozzarella on top and they were tasty.

7. Lily spent time with both sets of grandparents over spring break. She went to a horse show with one and to see River Dance with the other.  Lucky girl.

8. Easter brunch salad perfection: spring greens, toasted pecans, ripe pears and good blue cheese topped with a homemade vinaigrette.

9. There is one piece of this coconut cream cake left.  We almost never finish a cake in this house.  It's that good!

10. Lily ready for flight.

11. Ted and Jack also suited up.  

12. Escargot and Pinot Noir with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants in the middle of the day in the middle of the week.  All good.

13. Spent all day with Lily on Friday and we had such a great time making our own fun.  I think it's a day we'll both remember forever.

14. Lily airborne.

15-16 Ted too.  We took a day trip to the suburbs of Chicago for an exhilarating flight or two and lunch.