So we've moved again to Illinois this time. To the childhood home of my husband -- where a great deal of his family still lives. It's beautiful here. I love the new house and the land is awesome. It's a breath of fresh air literally. We wake-up to the sun in the morning and look outside to green as far as the eyes can see. We have a horse farm on the left of us and I think corn or soybeans on the right. After years in the city plus a brief lay-over in CT we've finally found our little slice of Shambhala.
It's a place where you can see your son growing up. Catching frogs, collecting rocks, burning things out back, you know the country-life. It comes pretty close to how we were raised as kids in the summer on my grandfather's farmette in Ocean View, DE. We would grow organic vegetables and then sell them to visiting beach tourists. Run around outside, go fishing and the like. Pick a switch off the cherry tree when we deserved it. It was great potting soil for the imagination and a down-to-earth nature.
I suppose that is what we are hoping for Owen. Give him plenty of space, fresh air, and green grass and hope his roots drive down deep. I want to raise him in one place so he knows what "home" is. And travel -- lots and lots of travel, so he is eager and interested in stretching beyond his foundation into the world.
Of course this place is good for a mother's soul too. Aside from the daily stress of life (and moving 2 times, working nearly FT, and raising a one year old) it is just lovely to sit out back and watch the fire-flies light up the night sky. To throw a ball for the dogs and not have to worry about hitting a neighbors house. To entertain family and friends in our garden with good food, wine and vistas. I finally feel at home.
Everyday there is something new among all the birds and creatures we share our land with. One night we were scared off the front porch by what had to be a 30 lb. Raccoon. I was visited by the shell of a cat we'll call "Lucky" battle worn and weary from protecting himself on the Prairie.
But it was a walk on the back 4 acres the other day where I saw something most spectacular. Something I had never seen before. A beautiful Monarch butterfly carrying in his legs another Monarch butterfly who was very still -- perhaps injured or deceased.
The fervor with which the transporting butterfly moved was what caught my attention. And I thought to myself, how lucky they are to have one another. To know how to care for each other. It made my day.
Later that week, I mentioned it to a friend who reminded me that the Monarch in the Catholic tradition represents a soul passing. And it occurred to me that we are all individual souls carrying each other in little ways and big ways. But, the feeling of interdependence, one people, one planet is something I don't want to lose as a lesson. It became clear to me in fall of 2001 and I appreciated the little Butterfly medic as a reminder.
Signing off now...
