Friday, May 16, 2008

the "other" me


So, I randomly discovered this today:

Another Johanna Weststrate (my maiden name) existed exactly 200 years before me.

Her: born 1779, married 1799, had 2 daughters, 2 years apart.

Me: born 1979, married 1999, have 2 daughters, 2 years apart.


Freeeeeaky.


Now, of course, there are a couple of inconsistencies:

Her: born in Krabbendijkein de Reijgersbergsepolder (try to say that 5 times fast...or even 1 time at all).

Me: NOT born in Krabbendijkein de Reijgersbergsepolder.


Her: Dead at 48.

Me: Not dead yet. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Laundry:


My life.
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Monday, May 5, 2008

I saw a deer.

I stopped. There she was, the same color as the trees, that pearl gray with brown edges, tall and lean, just like the trees. But then I saw her eyes. Black, wet circles poked from her gray tree form, and she looked at me. Perfectly still, she saw me. I don't know how long she had watched me walk down the trail, how long she had stood there measuring me, determining the level of my threat, before I noticed her. But there she was staring with those black eyes and pointed-up ears.

I stopped as soon as our eyes met, and we looked at each other, listened to the leaves and the birds and the lack of footsteps. I wanted to reach out and touch her, to feel her coat. Was it as soft as it appeared? I wondered what she wondered. I wanted to be close. I wanted to know. Then she turned, and, with a flick of her white fluff tail, jumped away into the rest of the gray trees, and I listened to the sound of her bounce on the leaves, pause, bounce on the leaves, pause again, and then her final retreat, the white plume of her tail pulsing one last time through the branches before she was gone.

Friday, May 2, 2008

I have a new niece!

Welcome to the world, little Eleanor Jane Weststrate! Just got the official call from Joel that she has arrived!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

No need for a garden hoe today

Today, I laboriously worked to get my garden ready for planting... I took a deep breath, leveled my eyes, and said, "Thanks, Sam."
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