Sunday, November 05, 2006

Joyful howls

The snow isn't falling yet here, though my niece called me this morning and told me it was snowing in Ottawa... this is the interlude where fall is really gone and winter hasn't set in yet, and it was a full-voiced and warm weekend.

Had a stellar time with F -- intimacy increasingly intertwined through everything we do together, cooking and eating and walking and shopping and of course the barely- being-able-to- pry-ourselves- off-each-other long enough to make coffee thing... but we also shopped -- introduced F to the street cred of Fluevog -- and went to see Shortbus, which we both thought was brilliant.

Then today, a huge chunk of my family came for brunch -- the place was full of punks and scientists and little girls -- and I fell in love with S's guy's daughters. I love to see the kind of quasi-parent S is with them -- she just slots into the role perfectly, still able to be herself fully, relaxed and so present with them... and J is such a sweet and clear and firm dad whom the girls clearly adore.

My sisters' mom seemed to think F was a Divine Intervention sent to provide E with career advice, which was fine with me -- he was happy to give her some ideas, and she was grateful for them. He just fits with them all in a sort of astonishing way. We all had lots of food and interwoven conversation and the little girls' shyness was thawed by the colony of finger puppets. When Molly asked me politely if she could keep the sheep, and if her big sister could have the mermaid, I decided it was time for those puppets to emigrate... and they were happy then to whirl themselves into my arms,and in a few moments we were dragging the little girls around the cork floors by their arms while they squealed.

Metaphorical cartwheels all over the place here, full-throated joy. The dishwasher churns and the dryer hums and I try to reset myself back into work... need to set Real Goals for the week, before I go off to Ottawa for a weekend full of more gorgeous little girls and sisterlove.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for having us over, it was such a lovely visit. The monkeys are a bit shy, but not as shy as I am (hehe). They've been introduced to so many people, and I am always astonished at how well they're doing. S really is so good with them and for them, and I feel so very lucky. I feel so lucky that they get to be with everyone in this new family, and I feel so lucky that I get to be in this new family. And though we've managed to hang out, what, three times now, it is great to see you happy and it was a pleasure to meet F.

CateC said...

{{hugging my sorta BIL}}

Awww :-)

Anonymous said...

it's so nice to discover that even just sitting back and watching, my family is making all these little connections and building-up of this extending family without me having to strong-arm or push people into doing it.

thanks, guys :)