“Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”- Mary Oliver from her poem “Why I Wake Early.”
“Our fundamental connection to one another, the raft through the sorrow, the holding through the grief joy is, reminds us, again and again, that we belong not to an institution or a party or a state or a market, but to each other. Needfully so.”- Ross Gay
Twelve is a good age!
Parents and grandparents at Teddy’s graduation.
I have been riding my bike again training for the Kluane to Chilkat International Bike Relay on June 15. Chip can’t be my partner this year, but we have a two-person team reserved ( the relay is full) and I have a friend who just rode her bike across the country from San Diego to St. Augustine. I think she can manage the 80 miles that will be her part. I wake early so that my ride won’t take up the entire day. Funny how that works— two to three hours before breakfast seems like no time, but the same distance at midday is all day. It’s nice to be out while the town is still sleeping or just rising. I can smell the bacon, seaweed and ozone from all the spruce tips and new leaves — and there’s no traffic. I’m on the road before car wheels smush the bear poop. (And no, it doesn’t smell.)
The other morning I pedaled up a steep hill from the harbor through the Fort. A cruise ship was docked down below and a couple of eager visitors were walking with maps and pointing. And there, right in the middle of the road was Judy, in her long thick bathrobe and slippers holding a cup of coffee, and Holly in her morning marching outfit of tights, a flowered skirt, bright sneakers and since it has been so cold and windy, a down jacket. Tethered to Holly was a pug tugging on a leash. They laughed and smiled and nodded. They were so engrossed they didn’t see me until I huffed by fairly close. I could not stop on the incline or I’d have trouble clipping into my pedals again. But that’s not why I didn’t take a picture. It is better to let you imagine the delightful scene. That’s really why I wake early. For moments like this. It was perfect, and a photo might even diminish the joy.
Just when I thought my mood couldn’t get any better– (I was still happy from a granddaughter’s birthday party the night before, friends and family, candles and pizza ) — at noon, we attended Teddy’s Head Start graduation. Our grandson is five and will be in Kindergarten in the fall. The little ones processed out of the classroom to the playground in red caps and gowns to the tune of “What a Wonderful World”. Then they all sang and signed “This Little Light of Mine.”
I mean, is anything sweeter?
