Memorialized

Since my parents are leaving for Costa Rica in about a week, we decided to do some touristy stuff this weekend.  Let me just say on record that taking a cable car/visiting fisherman's wharf should under no circumstances be done during memorial day weekend.  The crowds were off the hook (bad way) and so was the weather (good way).

We had to wait in a pretty long line to get on the cable car.  One parental unit is happy, the other is...distracted?

 Perfect specimen of human baby.

 Thar she blows!  It would be another 30 minutes before we got to ride one.

A rare break in the human wall pressing against us allowed me to get this picture.  (still distracted)

bits and bobs

So tired

The end of this school year has been pretty hard for me for many reasons and one of them might be the fact that I was on maternity leave for 6 months last year, which was wonderful.  Returning to the grinding life of full-time work has been sobering.  The months leading up to Theo’s birth, in addition to those that followed, basically left me in a state of newness and bliss for about a year.  There’s such exuberant wonder and joy in preparing for a first baby!  This year I’ve just kind of been super exhausted.   

But in that exhaustion I’ve been trying to find things to be excited about and our trip to Mississippi has become my new focal point.  I’ve been reading an amazing book called “The Promised Land” about the migration of black people from MS to Chicago after slavery and the disaster that was share cropping.  It has totally reframed my understanding of Chicago’s place in American history.  I’m embarrassed to admit that I lived there for 6 years (on the south side, no less!) in an academic/college student/dummy-22-year old bubble and never sought out a greater understanding of why things exist the way they do in that city/America.  

Chicago is, of course, still dealing with the same issues of poverty and despair that became institutionalized because of racist constituents who didn’t want to live near the new black immigrants in the mid-century.  It’s amazing to me that decisions made out of political fear and racism (namely where to house black people and how to profit from HUD money) could have an impact that spans decades (possibly millennia?  WHO KNOWS).

Also, this book has taught me a lot about the Kennedys (and I’m only half way through!).

There is a great article in the NYTimes about Juke joints that came out yesterday AND Cleveland, MS (which is where we’re going) was named as one of the best small towns to visit during the summer of 2013 by Smithsonian Magazine!  Phase one of our vacation seems really topical this year!

And finally, lest we forget what William Faulkner said about the place:

Flavorless ice cream:

Our end of the year chemistry lab is the making of ice cream to study freezing point depression (the science learning part, while true, gets completely glossed over in the excitement of eating ice cream.  This year I had the startling realization that I don’t actually consider vanilla a flavor.   My entire life, vanilla has always been more of a base from which I can add jimmies, or smother with maraschino cherries and chocolate. My friend Rachel and I used to puzzle over how anyone in their right mind would call it their “favorite” flavor.  Now I realize that it has never in my mind been an actual flavor.  This realization came when we were making ice cream and I mistakenly told a student that we were making flavorless ice cream (meaning of course, boring) and she pointed out that we were in fact making it the flavor of vanilla.

Reading again?

I’ve found reading after childbirth to be somewhat of a challenge.  Brain no think good anymore because it exhausted and/or broken (basically).  I’m too lazy to do some serious internet research on the subject—but I remember reading once that they autopsied mothers of boys and found male DNA in their brains when they were dead-at the age of 90.  This left a strong impression on me because I think often about my own brain and little Theo’s DNA floating around in there (brains = float? Science?) and I wonder about all the other ways in which my brain is different since becoming a mom.  One of those ways is certainly in my ability to concentrate for long periods of time and read.  I read a couple of NYorker articles back to back and I’ve read half of the book mentioned above.  It feels like a good start, but I’d really like to get back into a better reading groove this summer, which leads me to:

Summer mind work:

I’ve got some projects in store for my differently hormonally balanced and/or configured brain this summer which include:

--Reading books of fun and obligation (one is called, “deepin’ they come”). 

--Getting my embroidery groove back 

--3 different curriculum development projects (one on religion, one on deltas and one on a fictional climate superhero.)

--Picture organization

--Baby bonding and instruction

Mother's day:

We had a picnic in the rose garden with my folks.

Baby development update:

(So) he thinks he can dance:

Recently, he perfected an alternative method for eating a madeleine:  He shoves it into his mouth and does not chew--instead, he waits for it to slowly dissolve and then pushes more into his mouth.  Food genius alert!