Can you hear the music? Canadaaa! I’m leaving next Saturday because…. astonishingly enough, little tiny Mischa grew into less tiny Mischa and is about to celebrate her first birthday!

Does that seem fast or what?

Definitely fast for those like me that are not with her day and night during that first year, challengin even for the easiest babies. There’s a whole world to make sense of: something I’m still working on, how many decades + years further along. But in her most recent video, Mischa has learned to clap, so she’ll be ready to join in if she’s not too shy when more people are around.

My birthday – and Artemis’s – are in March, which I love as a distraction from how dreary that time of year can be. But at the end of April? ( and middle, I didn’t forget your Lynn), the whole outdoors is opening up. The ice on the lake melts, the daffodils bloom, tulips pop up. You can feel the warmth of the sun. The earth itself feels celebratory.

And then comes May. Samsun and Hunter, my two children that live in Toronto have the same birthday. In May. How can I not LOVE May???

On it goes. Birthdays are just special days. In my mind, my mother was not great at the Christmas, Easter or Thanksgiving. It felt to me as if they were done with a sense of obligation. But birthdays? She was all in. For each of our birthdays – there were 6 of us – she would give everyone a present. On Louisa’s birthday, I could look forward to my own gift. She loved birthdays.

Recalling my excitement makes me want to run outside. I think I might find a daffodil ready to cut and bring inside? I think I’m seeing a lot of water on the lake?

I think I might be getting ready for my trip to Ca- na- daaa!

I’m dreaming of when you come back from Canadaaa! – Peaches