Snippets of Our New Life

Moving day: Lucia running around yelling “What a mess! What a mess! You’re making a mess!”

Friendly neighbors: In our first few days, one family brought muffins, two brought beautiful plants, and we were invited to a cocktail party where we met lots of people from the street. It’s a real community here on our block. We feel extremely welcome.

New activities: The girls and I have been exploring. Yesterday we fed bread to ducks at a duck pond—Lucia loved it. As the ducks (and a few squirrels) crowded around her feet, she tossed the bread grandly into the air while shouting, “They love it! They love it!” Later that day, another neighbor stopped by to introduce herself when she passed by on a walk with her four young sons. The two middle boys immediately began running around the yard—and Lucia ran right after them, giggling and running with them through the bushes in her barefeet. Later, when we talked about our day, as usual I asked what her favorite part was, convinced she’d say “Ducks.” But no—she said, “Boys.” My stomach did a tiny little dip.

Today we spent much of the afternoon painting rocks on the front porch. That was a pretty nice way to spend a hot day.

New sights and sounds: On a walk this week, Lucia looked up and exclaimed, “Trees everywhere!” And whenever she hears a lawnmower, she says, “What’s that making all that noise?!” We saw some gardeners cutting grass and she was enthralled.