holidays and celebrations

Camp Dreams
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Camp Dreams

One: Getting Here It’s hard to remember, with the weeks of excitement and anticipation leading up to family camp, that what I should be reminding the kids, at least the older ones, is that the first day of camp can be tough.  Not for Jaden. Our 4-year-old is at home everywhere we’ve ever taken him….

Put On the Curb

Put On the Curb

After the New Year, I get an itch to take down the decorations and get everything “put back.” Part practical, part compulsive. Use that vacation time productively! Don’t have pine needles and sorting out light strings and boxing up hanging over my head. But I’m always sorry. There’s nothing sadder than the cold January week when…

Take Me to the River

Take Me to the River

I’ve always felt at home in the water, refreshed, reconnected to something at my core. In Maggie Shipstead’s Seating Arrangements, there’s this great passage: Whatever the root of Biddy’s affinity for water, as long as Winn had known her, she had been able to submerge herself and come out, if not entirely healed, at least…

Our Historian
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Our Historian

It’s been a year since we got married, and following a tradition I’ve heard about but never known anyone to actually do, we defrosted the top layer of our wedding cake and had it for dessert after dinner. It was delicious. Jaden loves cake, and somehow he talked me into putting Hershey’s syrup on it, so he…

Christmas and My Hamid Karzai Hat
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Christmas and My Hamid Karzai Hat

I was smug at Thanksgiving when I didn’t get the bug going around. The kids puked onto me liberally, they spiked 103 fevers. I handled it calmly, even pleasantly, and I didn’t get sick. We had a nice Thanksgivikkuh! But if you believe in retribution, karmic payback came today. I got it, possible punishment for arrogance. 101…

Head Cold Christmas

Head Cold Christmas

Christmas was not the disaster I’d prepared for, it was a different disaster altogether.  I was ready for emotional upset from the kids, remembering other homes and Christmases, big drama. They did fine. My disaster was more usual: petty, insignificant, embarrassingly mundane. The headcold from hell probably caused it. Not a serious, wow-this-might-be-bronchitis type cold. Just…

Wait Over! We Meet The Kids!
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Wait Over! We Meet The Kids!

I’ve been in a happy shock, as well as a whirling-dervish of childproofing and preparation. We’ve met our kids! It’s been a blur, but here are the high points. The same week we celebrated freedom from bondage at Passover and new life at Easter, we met the nearly-two-year-old boy and nearly-five-year-old girl who have been…

The Camping Box
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The Camping Box

What a lovely bittersweet feeling to dig out the camping box before our recent, disastrous camping trip. The charred cookware, chipped plastic plates, and other musty survivors of outdoor adventures past are like a little hope chest. The wishes and dreams of the naturalist, the visions of perfect forest visits and lovely outdoor excitement, and rest. As wonderful as…

An Unearned Feeling of Hope
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An Unearned Feeling of Hope

Is it just the slightly longer days, or has something shifted and lifted? I’d say things are looking up. A caveat: Jay will tell you “things are looking up” can be used in my family after the worst announcements. For us, he claims, news of an ill relative, setback, stress or disappointment is followed by “but things are…