Red Line To Shady Grove – 3:49pm

Continuous yawns stretched the muscles in my face.  I was awkwardly aware that I even sighed out loud a few times.  The man on my left shifted in his orange seat.  I was in the midst of dashing again.  Hurrying from one thing to the next.  I wondered how the day became so busy considering I wasn’t even really supposed to be in town this week.  How is it that I let precious time get eaten up by so many things.  Things to do.  Places to get to.  On the Metro again and completely in sync with the forward motion of the train. 

The breaks screamed coming into Union Station.    My feet braced the floor.  The wheels scraped against the rails and scratched and clawed and brought the train to a stop. 

Yes.  Somedays we need to do that for ourselves too.

Nanny Job In Georgetown – 1:32pm

Finally a peaceful moment after a long morning.  The baby wanted to be held,  and the two year old wanted to be…two.  The nap.  Thank God for the nap.  Time to catch your breath.  Time to look up and see who else is around. 

Oma was in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  The window propped open on a blustery day in Georgetown so the garlic base wouldn’t waft through the house.  Alright by me if it did.  I walked softly into the kitchen.  Where a grandmother cooks is holy ground. 

“Your name is beautiful,”  she said to me stirring the pot.  “But my English is bad and in Arabic you won’t know.  Your family calls you what?”

“My family calls me Rie.”

“Then I call you Rie too because now you in our family. You need hot tea to take care of children.  If you are warm they will be warm.  You get me?  Come and sit now with Oma.”

And I sat.

Irish grandmothers and Egytian grandmothers are incredibly alike.

Waiting For The Bus – 7:15am

The tiny little bits of ice that formed and clung to the trees overnight  just couldn’t hang on for another moment.  Morning broke with each passing second and soft rays of yellow and gold beamed stronger as the sun peaked over the horizon.  The frozen pellets swooned in its presence…and simply…melted.  One by one they fainted and dropped from the tips of the high branches.  they fell with pops and bursts and lovely little splashes.  They rested in the grass and gathered curbside to linger and glisten as the sun stretched and climed into the sky.  Standing there, in the stillness, I could hear the melting taking place.  Transformed by light.  Changed by warmth.  Conversion has a sound. 

Here We Go

So here it is…

The new site.  Eeek, I admit that I feel as if I had butterflies for dinner and now they are all ramping about in my stomach.  But there is also a tugging at my heartstrings that says this is going to be okay.  It feels authentic and I think that means that butterflies in the tummy and a sense of peace are appropriate responses.  Phew.

This site is dedicated to a very different kind of writing for me – one that is intentional about recognizing and reverencing the moments that make up an hour, a day, a year, a lifetime.  Here, I want to try and capture little snippets of daily life.  Vignettes…scenes from the day to day, seeing as how we each share them - and they thrill me so.  I hope to bring about an awareness for myself and anybody else that is up for the ride,  just how awesome the here and now is.  Whether it is an ordinary little bit of the day or something majestic or sacred.  Or something discomforting or compelling.  Life is being lived all around us.  One moment at a time.

And with that – we’re off…