Live Free

To Louisiana.

To backtrack from my last post about New Orleans...Beatrix and I made our annual summer trip to Louisiana to see my mom and family.  

What a sweet time! I love the quiet and open space of home. And coming from Texas, one could spot me easily as I could be found gawking over all the green there. It. was. so. green.  And so was I with a tad bit of envy. 

Highlights to this year's trip:

• My mom gave Bea a handmade stick horse, and the girl truly thought life could not get any sweeter. The entire time we were there, she galloped around the yard on her pony, Nay. So dear. 

• We enjoyed swinging, riding the golf cart around the property, checking on the garden, and just enjoying the simple and slow, easy-going summer life. 

• Visiting with my dear friend and her girls. It feels so good to have a friendship that picks up right where we left off (and to see our girls respond to each other in the same way!) 
• Our quick getaway to New Orleans. 
• I'll remember this road trip as the By the Shores of Silver Lake one as we listened to this Little House audio book on both ways of our trip. Otherwise, I kept the car-trick inventory simple and to the point. She brought a bag of her favorite books, some color pencils and a notebook, Dolly, and her stuff dog, Jack. She doodled, talked to Jack and Dolly LOTS, and "read" her books. On the way home, she literally spent a couple of hours talking to her pony, Nay. She even excercised Nay in the back seat as far as her arms could move her back and forth.

 

• And always, bonding with my mama. Nothing much compares. 

I was somewhat concerned about the trip there. It's an all day affair at about 8 hours and Bea has a history of being not a necessarily laid back car passenger. But I remember our trip last year and I remembered that it went well, considering. This year was slightly different because Bea was truly fantastic and a joy to be with.  I'm so glad we get to have these mother/daughter excursions every summer! Now, she is recuperating from all of the cooperation she took part in last week...and this week looks and feels good deal different... 

mid way through summer.

Today is July 16, 2012. I'm sitting here in the quiet, gray dusk of an ever so ordinary summer evening. I can feel this season, this time of endless days and weeks home together, slipping away ever so lightly. The cycle continues. My little heart resist just a bit for the uncertainty of what lies ahead. 

These weeks have been good. There's been rumbling thunderstorms, slow mornings, the occassional afternoon ice coffee pick me up, bike rides, and swim lessons. As  uneventful as it all sounds, it's the kind of eventfulness that I cherish the most. 

In lieu of daytime blogging hours, I try to jot down or photograph a bit of this and that through instagram, facebook, and momento.  I find myself wanting to record her words, songs, and stories more and more.  A new phase in the constant fleetingness of all this, I suppose.  And so I might snap a photo with my phone of a moment, but then include a quote of something ridiculously funny, thoughtful, or just cute that she says to help capture the essence of  our days. I don't know. I'm trying to develop a habit of letting go when it comes to journaling. To focus more on the now than on what I want to say about the now, the yesterday, the tomorrow, etc.  

A little more moderation. A little less pressure. 

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago. Beatrix and I took a road trip to Louisiana all by ourselves. It was our first time to make the 8 hour trip there just the two of us. Mother/daughter bonding at its finest, I suppose. While in Louisiana, she and I daytripped to Lafayette, where my brother lives and where I went to college. It's a sweet little town. We spent the morning at Vermillionville, an Acadian living history museum that I had not visited since we moved from the state many years ago. She had a blast going in and out of all of the village buildings and homes. "Oh, this is a lovely home!" She would exclaim over and over at the entrance of each house.  

At the sight of some gathered green beans in the outdoor cooking area, she took to shelling them. Just like that. Like it was the most natural task to do. It occupied for a good 15 minutes. She even snuck off with a few red beans in her pocket, "to plant, mom."  Love the self-starter in her. 

When we visited the chapel, she perched herself at the front of the alter and broke down into her own version of  "Alleluia" from The Sound of Music. 

I fell in love with this color combination of the schoolhouse and was transported to my childhood at the whiff  of a fig tree full of ripe fruit. 

It was fun to geek out over the architecture and the rustic furnishings in the buildings.