They said it would come.
We didn't believe them.
They said it would come this week end.
We still didn't believe them.
They said it would last all week end.
Of course, we didn't believe them!

However, we believe them now.......snow has covered dancing daffodils and
tenacious tulips....ravenous redbuds..........aspiring apple trees.... The winds have howled...the heat has come back on and here we are in sweaters
and jeans and woolen socks peering through windows covered with steam from
whistling tea kettles for hot chocolate. I almost pulled out an old January
Passage, changed the date and sent it through the airways..but alas...no frozen
daffodils.

Dear friends, this is the third anniversary for Sunday Passage. Have I
really sat quietly Sunday after Sunday sending notes through the cosmos for you to
read on family and weather and storytelling and life...you have been with me
in the joy of buying my house...woes of a home owner...countless nights of wine
and candles contemplating all that is in me and all that is yet to
come....you were there when I met Philip...the weddings of two of my sons...the new
babies...the fire...and so many travels. My Dad and my Uncle have kept copies of
all the passages (well, so have I)..maybe a book deal will come my way...a new
kind of Bridget Jones??? And then again maybe not. The joy is in the
writing. Thank you all for being such faithful readers...for your reactions and comments...encouragement..and tonight I welcome even new readers. The entire
last year is on line as well as my daily journal on my website: www.louannhoman.com

Tonight my theme is a bit of Farrago...one of my favorite words...a little
bit of this and that.

The Cottage at White Picket Gardens is not quiet tonight...actually I am in
the library with a glass of wine..a lone candle burning and the door shut...but
I can still the buzz in the other parts of the house. Aaron and Karen and
the babies have moved in with me until they can move into their house in June.
They left Florida last week end and arrived here with a van full (where did
they put all of that stuff???) We have since emptied dresser drawers...spent
time trying to get reacquainted...how can a baby grow that much in just a few
months? Jonah is reaching and grabbing and rocking on his knees back and
forth..he is cutting his first tooth and is a happy go-lucky baby. His big
brother, Matthew, is sweet and adorable and calls me Nannie. Things will be
different for the next month, that is for sure. I found a giraffe in my bed this
morning.

I spent last week with Philip on Ocracoke. He picked me up in Norfolk early
in the evening and even though we straight to the ferry dock in Hatteras...the
ferries were not running because of the storm..high winds and rough seas. We
spent the night in the truck in the ferry line hoping we would be able to
cross in the light of morning. At 5:30 a.m. there was a knock on the truck
window...they were going to make a run for the island...we were so glad we had
waited out the night..as the weather grew worse and the ferries did not run for
the next two days.

It was cold...I had to borrow Philip's winter coat, hat, gloves...we worked
in the shop and biked around the island watching pelicans and loons gathered
into the harbor to stay out of the storm's fury. We began moving furniture into
his restored Grandparent's house...had dinner with friends...and spent hours
talking into the night. As usual, it was hard to leave...but in just five
weeks I will be there with him for the summer!

My book club finished up with Reading Lolita in Tehran. I so wish you would
read it...I think it is my favorite book of the year. (there also is a piece
about it on one of my blogs!) One of my favorite lines is towards the end
when the author is about to leave Tehran she says, "...You get a strange feeling
when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you
love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place,
because you'll never be this way ever again." If you read it, let me know how you
liked it!

Family news is varied: My brother, Scott, has just moved to Afghanistan for
a long stay of work. His emails are colorful and historic. My nephew, Jason
and his wife Becca just had their second son on Thursday, but with
complications little Christian won't be coming home for a week...I know how hard that is
to come home without babies...

My sisters, Lee and Leslie are in transition...moving, buying...raising a
family...our lives don't stand still, do they?

behind each picture is time lost
open it up for flesh and blood and bones
unseal the frame for the past to spill out naked and raw burdened like a virginal bride ancient sapphire tales lost in wood and glass seal it back up with a whisper and a sly look no on will know reset the nail
lah-s

Tonight's music is Rosemary Woods from Ireland..I remember the night Ellen
and I heard her perform. We were spending time with Liz, our friend from
Ireland...I knew I had to have a copy of her music...it is wistful.

Tonight the house at White Picket Gardens flows with conversation..and the sound of breathing rocks the house gently to sleep deep in the
night...from our house to yours...Good Night.

Love, Lou Ann

Return to Sunday Passages