boxes, funerals, etc.

On Sunday afternoon, after many letters were written, drawings created, and heartfelt thoughts expressed, Liam, Théa and I finally managed to hold a funeral for Breton. It is amazing to me how important these rituals are to Liam, but you could see he really needed to do it properly. We cut out pictures of her that I had found from over the years and put them in plastic ziplocs with ribbons threaded through them. We hung those from the tree over her grave. We painted pictures on two rocks we got from the beach and varnished them so they wouldn't fade too quickly. Liam placed flowers all around her grave, and then we said a few words about how important she had been in our lives. Liam, I think, may be a natural at writing Halmark cards in his adult life. He certainly is now, anyway. And then I played a song on the fiddle, and we said goodbye to Breton. Both Liam and I choked up as we walked away. Théa ate snow from her mittens. So it goes.



It's been an interesting week - a little winter returned, just enough to remind us where we live, but not enough to really ski on much. We spent some time doing more box deconstruction - the mileage I get out of cereal boxes and tape continues to baffle me. But with temps hovering around 35, I sent both kids outside today before dinner. They went onto the deck and threw snowballs at Hannah, who caught them in the air, much to the delight of both children. Peels of laughter rang from the deck. It was great. I made dinner, played the fiddle a little, and didn't get badgered for at least a half hour and they blew off some steam. Outside=mutually beneficial. I'm really looking forward to spring and spending more time out there this year with two fully mobile and vigorous kids.



Part of my recent trip to Anchorage was to purchase the supplies for the greenhouse I'm constructing this spring. It's a hoop structure, 12x33 feet, modeled after a co-worker's design, which I toured earlier this month. Simple materials, simple construction, and a lot of growing space. Yes! So on Sunday, anticipating being able to plant in this structure on May 1, I planted my tomatoes and peppers, or at least the first batch of them. A little exciting to think that if all goes well, I may actually have the space to grow enough tomatoes to keep us happily in spaghetti through next winter. My, but that sounds vaguely familiar. I guess the apple, or the tomato, doesn't fall far from the tree. I just hope Théa and Liam get to climb this tree, too. It's a sturdy one that makes you feel whole inside.