summer solstice...

summer solstice is an invitation for lightning bug catching. the lasting sunlight allows little hands to see what they are trapping even before the luminescent magic. there must be one more mason jar in the recycling bin, god only knows where the lid could be.
lucy wanders the backyard in only her bloomers, her dress was traded long ago for a cool breeze and shade courtesy of the towering old trees in our backyard.

backyard....i was sure we would not be returning to anywhere with a backyard a year ago but i should have known better.

jorge and i have moved 7 times in 9 years. around a year and a half we get an itch, it's a call to see something new, to experience another way to live. i've lived in the city, in the suburbs, in the projects (kinda), in the up and coming neighborhood. each place held a different kind of space that allowed growth and new discovery-sometimes joyous, sometimes painful. i don't mind moving really, it has given us the constant gift of a fresh start.

i will admit that when casing out a new place i am way too busy looking for claw foot tubs and arched doorways to notice if there is a dishwasher or central air. i am my mother's daughter, i can make almost anything work. i've lived this way for years. pretty has always trumped functionality.

our last impulsive move was to a lovely old row house with 12 ft. ceilings, huge columns and parlor doors, it was all the charm a girl could ever have imagined. it was 3 blocks from restaurants, mom-and-pop shops, the library and park; it was perfect in so many ways. we walked everywhere, i gave my kids speeches about being "city boys" and checking the alleys. it was a happy year and a half. the house held such soul and character, i laid in bed at night imagining who lived there and what stories could be.

i had trouble relaxing there and could never quite figure out why. maybe it was the old wood floors that gave us splinters or tired, worn out circuits making us choose between a/c or washing clothes, perhaps everything was busier- my work, my ideas, my mind.
it feels as if four weeks ago was a different time and life altogether. jorge had a different job, i worked, kids went to school, we all slept in a big bed together... it is summer now and we moved only a mile away to a small brick rancher with half the charm but everyone seems a little more at peace. the boys are outside on the "playground" as they call it or holed up in their room creating magnificent recycled art all day long.

lucy has her own room to sing in and dump toys all over. jorge and i bought a bed- my first ever- the kind with swirly rod iron and pretty sheets. it's a lot of change in a short time and i'm not sure i have found my way or my place yet. i am searching and settling in...the one thing i do know is that everything can be different again in a year. i hope i can find and soak in all the joy that is here.