ART

One of my favorite things about Ellie is that one of her favorite things is art.  I'm one of those art-liker types who remembers very little.  I'm pretty much always up for a museum and I'm always amazed to find pieces that I connect with in some way and see the ones that others really like.  But I'm also one of those people that reads the signs and I really love those self-guided audio tours.  I like the way tidbits of information really add depth to to what I am seeing.

Ellie gave me three pieces of art for Christmas and we finally scrounged frames and hung them today in Groundhog's room along with a woodblock print that some of our wonderful friends gave us.  It is incredibly special to have handmade prints and original art.  That direct connection to the making of the piece is way better than the info box at a museum.

Even though I'm still grasping at these few remaining days before G emerges like sand through my fingers, putting these images on the wall makes me feel a little more ready.   Each of them could be its own post, really.  The three on the right are accompanied by words that to me are family hopes and dearly held values.

"Sleep"
"Never knowing would be the most difficult/The pure potential of it, the most inspiring"
"Of course there's still room"

On the left is the now-framed family portrait by the unparalleled Rhoda Perdition that Ellie commissioned for me.  I love so many things about it, but mostly because it captures for me the story of building our family over the past five years and who we are now and who we are becoming.  Groundhog is only the first of big life changes in the coming year for us and I want to still savor this moment.