August 20, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

Sunday Afternoon.
Lazy
Gentle
Peaceful
Quiet
Work Waiting in Piles on my Desk
Feet Kicked Up Reading Instead

The days have been so lovely since I have arrived back in Indiana...I always forget the green of August..the deep dark lush green of fields and gardens.

I also forget the quietness of living along again....and even though I am busy with work and family and activities..there is a hush to my life...a time of reflection and digging back into the work that was neglected during summer's passion.

I rented my house out to a friend this summer so lots of cupboards and closets were empty...as well as the refrigerator and such. She, Karen, became engaged to her sweetheart and left in the middle of the summer so the House at White Picket Gardens was a little forlorn. I have found lots of things not wanting to work as I arrived. The refrigerator was leaking....the dishwasher refused to work..lights were burned out..the toilet handle was stuck..and there are many new cobwebs. I have fixed all without the help of a repairman this time around...I think it was loneliness that caused the problems. All are now working just fine...the cobwebs are, however, still there and probably will remain.

It has been delightful to have dinner with Aaron and Karen and the boys. I have loved watching sweet warm butter melt off their chins after eating corn on the cob. Jonah shied away for a few days...now he gingerly says, "Nannie?" with a question mark.
Getting to know each other again.

The hardest part is that a full life waits for me in Ocracoke as well. Some nights I close my eyes and wish to be both places at the same time....oh that I could.

Storytelling and writing and theatre will fill my days as well. I am in the midst of writing a new murder mystery...stories of my Grandma...putting my Carl Sandburg journal on line...writing a preliminary piece for NPR in North Carolina (I could use some atta girls on that one!!)...keeping up with the photography that I love and that my Uncle encourages me in.

It was cool this morning when I awoke. I made coffee and sat out on my own screened in Pizer waiting for the sun to rise. Town was quiet except for the occasional church bells lulling folks either back to sleep or to worship. We have new bells in our town that ring every hour...I find them charming...although I do not live next door to them.

In other news of the summer that you all missed...my apologies for email gone awry...that problem will need to be addressed and fixed before summer once again approaches.

My sons all had their yearly brothers trip..this time again to Honduras. They had a wonderful time...just being together. I have always said to my children...if you can but have one trip..spend it with each other...that is who you will end up with in the end. I am happy and proud that they care for each other so.

Karen, Aaron's wife, spent a few days on the Island with us. She wanted to spend her vacation with us, and we wholeheartedly agreed. It was great fun meeting the ferry as she came into the harbor. Philip and I both were barefoot (of course) and on bikes.

Kristin, Abe's wife, spent time working in Uganda.

Tonya, Adam's wife, continues to work part time in Gatlinburg.

I am proud of my girls for their travel and their independence...their husbands were raised with a mama who did the same thing!

Thank you for all the emails this week..the welcome home notes...the "where have you been" notes...the friends that understand love being at a distance.

And so, Sunday Passage continues...
I have been reading Peace Like a River by Leif Enger this week...it is stunning..I could hardly put it down and didn't see that ending coming! My music today is Patrick Ball, a storyteller, Celtic harper, and friend. His music mingles with that of the crickets that have surrounded the House at White Picket Gardens...one is in my kitchen. I am happy to have him/her there.

For another week, be well, watch the last of the fireflies, let the warm melted butter off the ending of this year's sweet corn drip down off your chin...and tell someone you know that you love them.
Lou Ann

"I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me."
Anna Quindlen

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