it's him and I, the geminis

eric,

today is the tenth time I have celebrated your birthday. I remember the first one: you called because you had just gotten back in town from california. "come over," you said. "people are coming to cook out and stuff." I brought a salad and two pints of ice cream from sweet heaven. I was the only girl there with a bunch of rowdy boys. was that the night we tie dyed tshirts, too? you lived way out in candler with a garden bigger than your trailer. we laughed in a hammock together just as it was getting dark. you walked me back up the driveway to my volvo and bumped your shoulder into mine. you said that shoulder bump was the first time you knew. nine birthdays later has it turned out like you thought?

I like you so much. and so does everyone else. little old ladies at the grocery store wait to shop on days they know you'll be working. kids from the hippie woo woo school call your name across parking lots and playgrounds. we can barely walk when we go to the farmers' market because we are always stopping to talk to someone you know. and people love you with good reason. you've made this town home, drawing folks into community and into a tight-knit tribe that inspires potlucks and plantings. and you look so good in overalls.

I have never seen you as happy as you have been this spring. you are farming full-time at a place you love with people who know how valuable you are. you come home dirty and inspired every day, but frustrated you are not getting time in your own yard with jamin and cora. but I think it is worth it. I can see all you are learning, not just about plants or the business of running a farm, but also about your own priorities and what's next. you love growing food, trying new things in the garden, learning new methods to make it all happen. but you also love people and the relationships that come from feeding each other, both physically and spiritually.

 you are such a good papa. our kids love you with a kind of recklessness that I can be jealous of if I am not careful. they call you "jella," a word they made up that jamin says means "I love you so much." it is an apt title. they are learning so much from you. your willingness to take on new homesteading challenges is probably the best homeschooling tool we have. they are learning as you are learning, and you are adamant about including them in what you do. it would drive me crazy to have them in the mix in some of those farm chores, but you patiently mow the grass with cora walking between your feet and let jamin help you plant things you know you'll have to restart later. they know more about gardening than I ever will, and that is largely because you are such a patient teacher.

our life is so stinkin' good. it is easy for me to get caught up in the things I don't like or what I wish I had instead, but the life we have carved out is full of truth and beauty and light. there is magic in watching you make omelets from eggs we gathered from our yard, filled with spinach you harvested at the farm. there is joy in the room when you bust out a couple of wutang verses while you brush our children's teeth at night. you asked me a few nights ago as we were crawling into bed when we would stop sleeping with our bodies touching. "when do people stop snuggling?" you wondered. not yet, not at the ten birthday mark is all I know to tell you.


so happy birthday, e-rock. I love you so so much. I think about how different that love looks today than it did all those birthdays ago, and I am so thankful that every adventure has brought us exactly where we are. there is no one else that I'd rather be trailblazing with.

 here is my song for you. it is still true, every word.

love and balance and compost,

slick

may daze

here's what you need to know:

1. tomorrow begins gemini time. all the best people are geminis, and mudflower kicks it into celebration-mode tomorrow starting with rabbit's birthday. then eric's, then mine. rabbit and eric don't care much about birthdays, but I care enough for all three of us combined, I'd say. so it is a good thing my birthday comes third. more time for everyone to prepare.

aren't those the tidiest beds you've ever seen?

I heart my farmer.

2. saying that eric loves his job really just doesn't convey how happy he is these days, but I can't figure out a better way to say it. he gets out of bed without prompting every morning. that alone is a huge deal, but that he is out the door by seven most days is even huge-er. he is spending most of his time on the farm weeding right now, but I have not heard him complain even once. he comes home in a great mood every night, tired but happy. and so we are all happy. except cora who often moans to herself from a corner of the couch that she miiiiiiiiisssssses paaaaaaaaaaapa. but it could just be that she is four years old. I am sensing a lot of that about her lately.




3. on saturday two things happened to jamin within a thirty minute block, and one of them changed the way he sees the world; I just can't figure out which thing it was. first, he got a hair cut. a REAL haircut at a REAL haircut place that we actually PAID for. just after that we got a call from the director of our local hippie woo woo school saying that jamin was first on the waiting list for a spot in the first through third grade class there. so I told jamin he was probably going to school next year and he said, "okay." just like that: "okay." like we had not always had these huge meltdowns anytime anyone mentioned the possibility of him attending school at some distant future date. just "okay." and ever since saturday, we've got this even-keeled, helpful, too tall kid living in our house. maybe we should get his haircut more often.

4. we have too many chickens. there are 32 of them in various locations around our yard and that is about twelve too many. in their defense, however, they are the best babysitters we've ever had. jamin and cora love to go "check" on them, which usually involves singing to them and carrying them around and playing some game where they try to sort all the chicks into groups. they can play in the chicken pen for half an hour, easy, these days. lots of hand washing and lots of poop-covered shoes, but it is a pretty nice trade off.


5. we got a new car. don't feel a bit bad if you never notice though because it looks exactly like our old one. we now have twin honda fits (ignacio and penelope, in case you are keeping track), but eric prefers to refer to his as a pickup truck. I am now on the search for the perfect bumper sticker to distinguish myself in traffic. I'll let you know what we come up with.

6. our friend stevie will be here from ireland in only two weeks! he's visiting for almost month and we are totally pumped. we're putting together a brevard bucket list and are happy to take suggestions. and invitations. we want our irishman to get the full southern hospitality experience, so if you are having potluck or cookout in the month of june, be sure to put us on your list.

7. we also have bees now, and I don't know enough about them to really say much. eric and a neighbor friend have taken that project on. all I know is that he is hammering new frames in the kitchen right now which means I do not have to sleep with beehives in my bedroom anymore. (he's been keeping them in here until he had time to add them on. or something. I shouldn't pretend I know what I am talking about.) the adventure continues!

and the winner is….

I am a little late on posting the winner of our free photo shoot and night on the town, but look at all the photographic evidence of excuses I have! I have been terribly busy taking my photo with long lost friends and loved ones, see?

(also, for those who are dying to know, outkast was fantastic. we drove down in the middle of the night, sat in the car in the rain for hours while the festival was postponed, then stood crammed in with all of atlanta's finest for SEVEN HOURS while we waited for the show. totally worth it.)

but now, onto the important stuff! here at mind those manners we use only the most scientific random-number-generating technology. (I actually had to interrupt jamin from chasing chickens to get his help.) 

and the mason jar says our lucky winner is……BLYTHE CLIFFORD! so excited for this sometimes brevardian to make some really fun memories with friends. maybe this will convince her to move here full-time, who knows? :)  congrats, blythe! can't wait to see the results of your photo shoot!