Week 19: Heirloom Tomato
We're getting big!
And by "we," I mean both Bean and me! According to BabyCenter, Bean is around 6 inches long and weighs about 8 1/2 ounces. (I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh, so you can quit holding your breath!) Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid. Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear voices now, too.
As I write this post, I'm still propped in front of the TV, where I've been for most of the day. I had the foresight to know that pretending to work today would not be my best use of my time, so I decided to take the day off to watch all the inauguration festivities in the comfort of home, with the doogles. I'm so glad I did! To label this day simply as "special" or "historic" would be such a gross understatement. This is one of those days in history that people will remember forever. Today marks a whole new beginning for humanity, our country, and the world. I feel so happy, lucky, and proud to have seen this day in my lifetime, and so very thrilled and excited that Bean will be born into a world where anything is truly possible. With the election of President Barack Obama we can all look forward with a renewed sense of pride, and with optimism for the future.
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."
- President Barack Obama, January 20th, 2009.
Happy Inauguration Day!
ps: Congratulations to my dear friend Heather and her husband Jeff, who welcomed their first son, Ryan, into the world yesterday! I can't wait to meet him!
And by "we," I mean both Bean and me! According to BabyCenter, Bean is around 6 inches long and weighs about 8 1/2 ounces. (I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh, so you can quit holding your breath!) Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid. Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear voices now, too.As I write this post, I'm still propped in front of the TV, where I've been for most of the day. I had the foresight to know that pretending to work today would not be my best use of my time, so I decided to take the day off to watch all the inauguration festivities in the comfort of home, with the doogles. I'm so glad I did! To label this day simply as "special" or "historic" would be such a gross understatement. This is one of those days in history that people will remember forever. Today marks a whole new beginning for humanity, our country, and the world. I feel so happy, lucky, and proud to have seen this day in my lifetime, and so very thrilled and excited that Bean will be born into a world where anything is truly possible. With the election of President Barack Obama we can all look forward with a renewed sense of pride, and with optimism for the future.
Praise Song For The Day
Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, “Take out your pencils. Begin.”
We encounter each other in words, Words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; Words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp — praise song for walking forward in that light.
–Elizabeth Alexander
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."
- President Barack Obama, January 20th, 2009.
Happy Inauguration Day!
ps: Congratulations to my dear friend Heather and her husband Jeff, who welcomed their first son, Ryan, into the world yesterday! I can't wait to meet him!
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