April 2024

 

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

Quoting "The Waste Land" is all it took to just now make me want to read Four Quartets again, a couple of decades since the last visit, though I half-dread how potently it will land now that I'm middle-aged. 

April was the last full month before Mildred's marriage and move to North Carolina. The puppies were curious and cute, and they destroyed the flowerbeds. The seedlings were green hope, because we didn't yet know we'd knock them over too many times for survival. Mallory grew and grew, and with her round, little newness, she unknowingly tethered us to the present. Birthdays (five!) and wedding preparations filled the month, which inexorably tramped along, another impossible countdown with joy and sorrow mingling. 

Come Rain or Come Shine (April 2024)

 

We didn't get as much of a chance to get to know Henry as I would have liked before he and Millie were married, because of distance, mostly, but also because of the Great Busy that accompanied the visits he was able to make. 

Scenes like this made me happy, though. Anyone who has a genuine love of babies and children can't have a black heart.  Just look at the man!

He's also a talented musician, which though not reflective of morality, was another point in his favor. (Mildred, I MISS THIS FACE.)

The deciding factor, though, is that when he caught his future mother-in-law playing paparazzi through the window screen while he and Millie were practicing their first dance, he delivered. 

I then sneaked out and hid behind the maple. They probably still knew I was there, but I have no regrets. 

As much as my heart at times still breaks, I'm so grateful God brought two godly, good men to be with our girls through rain and shine. Tim and Henry are gifts to these girls and to us. 

A Yellow Sunday (April 2024)

 

Mallory and I kind of matched for church, so I asked Susannah to take some pictures of us inside. Lighting was poor, though, so I went outside to make our world explode with yellow. 

Look at that happy peasant! I love these two. 

Waste Not, Want Not (April 2024)

Sometimes I get annoyed at Zeke for hoarding milk jug caps, straws, old communion cups, and all manner of detritus.

But then he makes something like this, and I realize I need to back off and let Zekes be Zekes.

And if you want to spend an exciting 60 seconds watching old communion cups in action, look no further. 

You're welcome. 

 

Lucky Baby: Lucky Us (April 2024)