Re-grouping…

And if there was a house,

there was a family…

Dig in the dirt,

scratch deep,

and what do you find???

A round blue glass marble,

a nail…

A horseshoe and a piece of plate…

A small yellow bottle…

A china doll’s arm…

— in Home Place by Crescent Dragonwagon

Last night Little Gem stood in the bathroom,

admiring her newly pierced ears,

and said,

Mama,

did you think this day would ever come???

I wondered,

as I cleared all of those photos,

and albums from my bed,

before lights out,

What day???

She told me,

The end of this day…

This day before the day when I will turn eight…

I said,

You mean this day,

like every other since the day you were born,

when everything you say is poetry…

Somewhere I must have known it would come…

But really every day with you has been an amazing surprise…

The second season of Battle of the Blades premiered last night…

And even though,

as Starshine,

remarked,

I’m still attached to last year’s participants,

the opening show was sensational…

You could tell that the production crew has worked on polishing their concept,

design,

and execution…

Not satisfied to just play it again sam,

on last seasons laurels,

they are doing it right,

from the beginning,

by making it different…

By 9:00 pm Pacific Standard Time,

we’d adjusted to the new line-up of pairs,

and are all on board with the unfolding…

As Little Gem and I lay in the dark,

in her single bed,

until her breathing moved into sleep,

she said,

Since getting my ears pierced was a lot easier than I thought it would be,

my next step is to get a nose ring…

Of course I’ll wait for that until I’m fourteen…

And then I’m considering some tattoos…

Just something small,

like a star,

or a butterfly…

A harbour in the tempest...