(Quick Shop Announcement: I'm carrying the four free postcards offer through the Mother's Day holiday... Come shopping!)
"Not that my life will ever become like this day-a perfect one plucked out of a holiday week; there are no perfect lives." -Ann Morrow Lindbergh, A Gift From the Sea
*****
Spending twenty five hours with a beloved, easy friend lessens the load and heals the soul. Magical, colorful gardens, healing stones and salty waters, deep breaths, lovely conversation, amazing wine, delicious meals...spirit food. This mini-retreat was just what I needed.
I do feel so much better and am hoping that this week finds my family and I further down the road to recovery.
Ivy seemed to do very well for me being away from her for the first night in her life. She and her boys stuck close to home and while she did ask for "nee-nee" a few times, her daddy reported that she was high in spirit and cheerful. I had to hand express several times into the sink at the inn, both hilarious and painful, and then download a major milk delivery once I arrived home. A relieved mama and grateful baby were reunited!
If you aren't familiar with the chapter called Argonauta in A Gift From the Sea, I would be happy to share about it with you. Curious?
I hope you had a lovely Beltane holiday and that all of your flowers are blooming....
******
"We run bared-legged to the beach, which lies smooth, flat, and glistening with fresh shells after the night's tides. The morning swim has the nature of a blessing to me, a baptism, a rebirth to the beauty and wonder of the world. We run back tingling to hot coffee on our small back porch. Two kitchen chairs and a child's table between us fill the stoop on which we sit. With legs in the sun we laugh and plan our day". -AML