Belonging

One of these days I'll have to post a family tree, but until then, here's the quick and dirty version (a family scrub, if you will): once upon a time, Tim and Yvonne were married. The two had Sarah and Joshua, and then they divorced. Then, Yvonne married Dave and they went on to adopt a gazillion animals. Shortly thereafter, Tim married Joette, and Guy, Joette's son, became Sarah and Joshua's step-brother. In a town not too far away, Michael and Eunice got hitched, too. They had Ellie, and then they got divorced. After a while, Eunice had David, and Ellie had her first baby brother. Her next two siblings appeared after Michael married Mandy and they had Hannah and Eamon. One day, Joshua sat next to Ellie on the school bus, and the rest is history.

So, basically, the Anderts, Wexeldorfers, Kuhnes, Gundersons, Podgorskis, and Rolls got together and did their very best interpretation of the modern family tree. Despite a little grafting and pruning along the way, this family scrub is getting along just fine. We even have dinner parties. We really are a picture of gardening collaboration and reconciliation. The only difficulty occurs when Joshua and I return to Minnesota. Too avoid ruffled feathers (leaves! Ok. I'm done with the metaphor.), we plan an extensive itinerary before we arrive, and evenly split our hours between the four homes.

First, we landed in River Falls. Yvonne and Dave moved to the country about four years ago now, and since then, they've managed to accumulate six goats, four dogs, three cats, two llamas, and nearly 100 chickens. A significant contingent of this menagerie is named after characters in the TV show, LOST. For example, the two guard dogs are named Desmond and Jacob, and the goats are named Charlie, Mr. Echo, Jack, Sawyer, Saiid, and Hurley. The back yard is a complex system of animal shelters, coops, chicken wire, and wooden fencing. Amid the grass, garden, and trees, the animals gallop, trot, and generally roll about to their hearts' content. Watching the mayhem from the comfort of a swinging chair on the deck, I am struck by an overwhelming feeling of mammalian contentedness. There is something profound and beautiful here. I don't know who's more blessed: the animals for having been adopted, or Yvonne and Dave for the constant outpouring of animal love and gratitude. These animals get to run and play and snort around in the dirt, and they are so loved. I wish all animals could experience this mixture of freedom, safety, and family, and I wish all humans could experience the simple pleasures of caring for and being loved by animals. I never lose my wonder over love's ability to transcend species. Whether fowl or four-legged, each is capable of giving and receiving affection and protection. They love the simple pleasures of a human's touch and soft words. They listen. They're mischievous, and they're loyal. Every single one has different personality.

Besides supervising the feeding and sleeping of the animals and ourselves, Joshua and I spent our time at Yvonne and Dave's reading. Yvonne is the craft-master extraordinaire, and as such, she has a weakness for DIY, cooking, knitting, crafting, and thrifting magazines. These are the glossy mags I can read from cover to cover. I have an endless fascination for recycled furniture, cheapie interior design tricks, and cleverly repurposed items. In short, I spent almost every waking moment reading about the miracles of primer, paint, and flea markets.

When I wasn't fantasizing about our very own hodge-podge hobby farm, we were hiking and biking over the hills and through the woods. Joshua has already accused me of trying to kill him with a workout regimen, and I have now officially resumed the alias, Mao Tze Tung. Don't worry. It's good for him.

On Wednesday, we packed our bags and set off for Michael and Mandy's (the Kuhnes). Along the way, we stopped to buy me a pair of sandals. Unfortunately, my beloved Birkenstocks had just recently met their untimely end. A couple weeks ago, we were doggy sitting, and the smell of real leather seduced the poor puppy. Everyone involved was quite sad, but I am now the proud new owner of Chacos! I love them, love them, love them.

At Michael and Mandy's, we chatted and ate to our hearts' content, and when we got bored, we went for little runs. On Friday, Joshua went off to perform groomsmanly duties for his best friend, Brian, and I had a chance to run and reconnect with one of my biffle's, JJ. Later, I got all gussied up and left for the wedding. Traffic was horrible, and we tip-toed in somewhere near the "I dos." I stifled my disappointment and prepared for an exciting reception, but Joshua met us at the door, clutching his belly and eyes all bloodshot. Apparently, a nasty case of food poisoning had found him somewhere near the middle of the wedding ceremony, and he had barely made it to the toilet in time to vomit and poop himself silly. In the end, it was over before it had even begun, and we went home to sleep off a tummy whumpus. Joshua is devastated, and we shall speak no more on the matter.

On Saturday morning, we woke up, ran, and ate breakfast with the fam, and then we headed over to my mom's (Eunice). Once we arrived, we leapt into party preparations. David just graduated high school, and his open house was to be later that afternoon. My mom, of course, had whipped up salads and snacks out of nothing at all, and with a little help from her sister and friends, the apartment was an oasis of good food and colorful tributes to David. We spent the rest of the day catching up with family we haven't seen since the wedding and meeting new friends.

After the last guests left, we headed out to the Stone Arch Bridge with Marlon, Julie, Lauren, and David. As the sun was setting, we walked across the bridge and were treated to a lovely view of the Mill Park Ruins, the new Mill Museum, and the Guthrie Theater. Up river, the falls rushed between other bridges and trees, and down river, the new 35W bridge joined the banks of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It's surreal to think that this is the same river I photographed just a week ago, a thousand miles away.

This morning, Mom, Joshua, and I drove over to Minnehaha Falls to work out, and Joshua and I decided that we have truly arrived in another world. Here, on a Sunday morning in the middle of the summer, there are cyclists, runners, walkers, and roller blade-ers galore. People whip by in their synthetic fibers, sweat bands, and iPods, and for the first time in a while, we felt a sense of belonging. Nobody even looked at us too strangely when we stopped and kicked our butts in a move that Joshua likes to call a "burpee."

Tonight, were headed over to one of the family scrub dinner parties, and then we only have four more days until we leave for London. I've had a number of requests for new posts, and I hope to get to all of them, but for now we're in the midst of last-minute preparations. More to come soon :)