So today hasn't been the best ever. After two weeks here, some of the excitement is wearing off and I'm probably feeling more of the lack of comfortable connections. It has been chilly and pretty rainy. Seriously, some days I've been walking around my house with long-johns under my jeans and a heavy sweatshirt on. Yes, in July. I wasn't prepared for that. According to weather.com, Red Lake's highs and lows since we've been here have been 81 and 43. So, there have been some warm days. The average temp for right now is 75 and it has mostly been below that. And somehow, our house stays especially chilly. So sunshine is much more precious than I expected.
This morning I woke up feeling crappy even though I could see the sky from my bed and it was bright blue. Before I ever got out of bed I decided that I would take the boys to the beach for a little bit this morning. I was craving just sitting in the warm sunshine. I took care of a few chores before we left and by the time we were driving out the lane, the sky was gray. I was ticked. I said outloud, "Crap. The sun's not shining." From the back seat my eldest angel piped up, "Don't worry, you can still have lots of fun playing with us. You love us more than the sun maybe." That's right. I assured him that I loved them way, way, way more than the sun. I told him I could live without the sun, but it would be horrible to live without him. So, even though I was still deeply disappointed, we went to the beach and I sat there in the cold breeze watching the boys play in the water. They were half-frozen, but they weren't the only kids in there. Apparently, you take any bit of summer you can get up here.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao-tzu
July 1, 2008
This journey so far has taken me one thousand and four miles from my hometown, but I’m having trouble putting my finger on the single step that began it all. Was it Monday afternoon at the border when they gave me my official document allowing me to pass? Was it Saturday morning when we started the car and drove out of Goshen in our funny little caravan? Was it in February when we came up to Red Lake for a job interview at the hospital? Was it two Christmases ago being up here with Kendall’s family and all of us rating our desire to live up here? (I can’t say my number on a scale of 1 – 100 was high, but it was the highest of all the in-laws, so I guess I’m the chosen one.) Was it three years ago almost to the day that Kendall first said, “What if we’d move up here?” (I tried to ignore that one for several months, thinking surely it would go away.) Or was it June 10, 2000 when I married Kendall and made some solemn promises before God and all these witnesses? Was it a night before Kendall and I were married when we talked about moving to Red Lake? (It was a far off and romantic possibility at that time.) Or was it living in and visiting different cultures at different times in my life? Could the first step have been when my parents brought me as a baby to this same area for a year of voluntary service? (Kendall wasn’t born yet, but I surely saw his parents as they chatted with mine from time to time.) What about when my dad lived on a nearby reserve for two years before he was married? Or when my mom visited this town with her family as a teenager? Or maybe it had something to do with choices my grandparents made? Or other ancestors farther back?
At any rate, moving into this house where I slept for a few weeks as a baby and where my dad stayed as a teenager, has made me very aware of roots. And how they affect our lives and choices and passions.
I suspect there is no single step that began our move a thousand miles away from Indiana. It seems, rather, to be a coming together of so many different factors. (Not the least of which is marrying a man who has taken this land as a very part of his being. And for all the ways I can tease him and get annoyed at some of his woodsman ways, I really do mean that in a reverent and respectful way.)
So here we are, a thousand miles from nowhere. (Oops…I meant a thousand miles from Goshen.) I know that we safely made the journey here, but mostly our journey is just beginning. And mostly I’m excited.
This journey so far has taken me one thousand and four miles from my hometown, but I’m having trouble putting my finger on the single step that began it all. Was it Monday afternoon at the border when they gave me my official document allowing me to pass? Was it Saturday morning when we started the car and drove out of Goshen in our funny little caravan? Was it in February when we came up to Red Lake for a job interview at the hospital? Was it two Christmases ago being up here with Kendall’s family and all of us rating our desire to live up here? (I can’t say my number on a scale of 1 – 100 was high, but it was the highest of all the in-laws, so I guess I’m the chosen one.) Was it three years ago almost to the day that Kendall first said, “What if we’d move up here?” (I tried to ignore that one for several months, thinking surely it would go away.) Or was it June 10, 2000 when I married Kendall and made some solemn promises before God and all these witnesses? Was it a night before Kendall and I were married when we talked about moving to Red Lake? (It was a far off and romantic possibility at that time.) Or was it living in and visiting different cultures at different times in my life? Could the first step have been when my parents brought me as a baby to this same area for a year of voluntary service? (Kendall wasn’t born yet, but I surely saw his parents as they chatted with mine from time to time.) What about when my dad lived on a nearby reserve for two years before he was married? Or when my mom visited this town with her family as a teenager? Or maybe it had something to do with choices my grandparents made? Or other ancestors farther back?
At any rate, moving into this house where I slept for a few weeks as a baby and where my dad stayed as a teenager, has made me very aware of roots. And how they affect our lives and choices and passions.
I suspect there is no single step that began our move a thousand miles away from Indiana. It seems, rather, to be a coming together of so many different factors. (Not the least of which is marrying a man who has taken this land as a very part of his being. And for all the ways I can tease him and get annoyed at some of his woodsman ways, I really do mean that in a reverent and respectful way.)
So here we are, a thousand miles from nowhere. (Oops…I meant a thousand miles from Goshen.) I know that we safely made the journey here, but mostly our journey is just beginning. And mostly I’m excited.
Blog Archive
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2008
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July
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- Norseman Festival
- A Bit of Kendall's History
- My Helpers
- Eli Helps
- Always Remember Repellent
- Sandflies/Blackflies: Bites Taken Out of Our Skin
- Strawberry-Picking
- Okay, I Admit It's Really Beautiful Here
- Overheard
- Evan Makes Very Big Fountain
- Different Doorknobs
- Peaceful
- Canoeing
- Guest House
- What Bible School is All About
- P.S.
- Cloudy
- Two Lists
- Evan's first fish!
- Our home
- New Buds!
- "Fish poop spicy!" -Evan
- "This is great!" -Eli
- Breakfast
- Fishing
- Groceries
- Mosquitoes
- “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a singl...
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July
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5 comments:
I love your blog- it reminds me that everyone has those cloudy days (probably even in New Zealand, even though in all the movies it appears to be the perfect lush, green, sunny spot to live and one of my current dream vacation spots).
I love your blog too! It's fun to see what is going on. I've had feelings/days like that recently - just from coming back to Wichita after a visit - much less change than you all have had. It's hard -I'm glad talking to Rod helped. :)
I love Eli's response. It takes little ones to keep us grounded sometimes. Hope your day goes better tomorrow.
Yesterday when Isaac came out of his room he said, "I was sad in my bed because I want Eli." Maybe you could email everyone your snail mail address so we could send you some sun.
i´ve also loved reading your blog although it makes me miss all of you guys even more! im looking forward to hearing more smart comments from eli and evan when we come visit really soon! love and miss you all!
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