I laugh that February used to be the month I thought of as just having to survive. February is now the month that flies by so quickly that I hardly notice it, though this one was particularly wintery with far more snow and ice than we are accustomed to here. We spent weeks cautiously walking up and down the treacherous sheet of ice that was our driveway. Lacking a proper sled, we pushed laundry baskets of groceries down the drive after leaving our vehicles near the road. Gallons of milk went sliding wildly across the ice on more than one occasion, and I saw videos of other Virginians ice skating on their lawns. But, this being Virginia, we have highs of 80 forecasted for the coming days. The crocuses and daffodils are already starting to appear, soon the fruit trees will start blooming, and then the weather will shift overnight and freezing temperatures will return. We are familiar with nature’s tricks.
Gerald the cat, destined to forever be referred to as our “stray,” made his way into our house while the weather was at its worst. It was my idea. I wasn’t sure he could adjust to being indoors, but he made himself quite at home in my bedroom for about ten days. And then, just when I thought he would surely stay, he made it clear that he was finished being a housecat. I think the fact that the other cats hate his guts was the deciding factor. I walked into my bedroom more than once to find him curled up on a pillow as though nothing was amiss, but the tufts of fur on the quilt and holes in my flannel sheets told the real story. Giuseppe and Figaro refuse to accept him. Maybe one day…
Ever since listening to (Amazon affiliate links) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, I have wanted to keep a pet snail. Walking in the woods with Jonny on a day in January, I found a small and insignificant looking land snail. I had been looking under decaying logs with the hope of finding one. I wasn’t sure it was alive. I placed it inside my fanny pack, and by the time we got home, I had almost forgotten about it. When I opened my pack, I was surprised to find it alive and crawling inside the dark interior of my pouch, exploring the foreign space. Having purchased a terrarium for my birthday in December, I was prepared to keep the snail, at least for a time. I have been observing the snail that I now call Salome (along with a couple of companions that I added more recently) with what my children find to be a strange level of enthusiasm ever since. Salome loves eggshells and mushrooms, cucumbers and a tiny potted fern. And yes, if you hold a cucumber slice with a snail munching on it up to your ear, you can indeed hear it eating. I must warn you that others (the ones who don’t understand, namely, teenagers) will call you “weird” if they witness you holding a wild snail up to your ear. Salome is no longer a tiny snail, and I am not sure how much longer I will keep him/her. I explained to a visiting teen the other day that snails are hermaphrodites and was shushed by one of my daughters as though this wasn’t appropriate small talk. Given that Salome recently laid eggs, I thought that the information was relevant, if not fascinating. I suspect that more than one of you would appreciate future updates on Salome and the eggs, so I will keep you posted.
A topic that is far more exciting than winter weather, stray cats, and wild snails is grandchildren. I have two of them now. My dear Elsie and her baby brother, who was born this week, on the day that I first noted the return of the spring peepers’ calls. He is beautiful and tiny and so miraculous. Grandchildren! I haven’t quite wrapped my mind around this magical part of life. Larkspur visited my oldest son and his family a few days ago and texted me a photo of the new baby, in which he looked so like his father, my first baby, that my breath caught and my eyes filled with tears. I remember that baby, and it feels like both yesterday and a lifetime ago that he arrived.
I find it hard to juggle it all: my own still young children, not to mention the older children who require what seems like more time than they did when they were young. I want to be an attentive grandparent, but instead find myself not seeing Elsie for weeks on end because we are sick, snowed in, or simply swamped with our daily lives. I was able to visit yesterday, and she hugged my neck and exclaimed, “I’ve got my Nonna!” It was a happy day.
We didn’t know if the new baby would be a boy or girl, and I knit in shades of sea glass and olive green. The cardigan was knit using a skein of yarn that I dyed with pomegranate extract and indigo and I have been saving it for years for something special. I am almost finished with a tiny pair of socks, cast on last minute after a rare purchase of some lovely yarn found on sale at my local yarn shop.
After all these years of being a knitting mother, it’s funny to now find myself a knitting grandmother. It sometimes feels like I am caught between two worlds, but that must be what these middle years are. I’m learning not to spend too much time looking back or towards the future, finding it best to be right where I am.
p.s. Puzzle affiliate links: Here’s the first one and here’s the second.
Barbara Pym, pet snails and puzzles….you are so good to point us to all the small ways life is lovely, fascinating and pleasurable. Congrats on the precious new grandbaby….I too am in the middle years with young adult children fumbling on their independent legs and little ones keeping me busy with homeschool….but I am so glad for moments to pause and take in the big picture I am a part of….its too easy to let the trying details destroy the beauty….
Congratulations on the birth of your new grandson!!!!! How exciting and blessed you all are! Love the knits, the photos as always and seeing your family grow. I could relate when you said the time your older kids now require. I hear ya!
Your arms will never be empty. Your usefulness will never be exhausted. My oldest turns 20 next weekend, close to Larkspurs birthday. And I will absolutely melt into a puddle of happy tears if he ever has a son that looks like him. How can your heart contain it all?!
Sometimes I look around and stand still and listen and it’s just noise and mess and overwhelming but lately I have just been trying to bask in its existence and the fact that it exists at all. Maybe it’s Lent, reminding me once again, that all of this is passing, and reflecting on what I will be leaving behind.
Congratulations to your while family! A new baby is so hopeful and joyful! And as my 17 year old daughter puts it…”.they’re so delicious!”
May Peace be with you!
When my kids were little we had a pet snail we called Snailie- the kids picked out the name, this brings back many memories- thanks for sharing
Delightful happenings around your homestead. Congratulations on your newest grandbaby! Always a delight to hear from you. God bless.
Barbara
A new grandling! How wonderful. And, always, so lovely to have a post from you. Thank you Ginny. I love you’ve got snails now🐌🐌
I smiled when I saw Barbara Pym! I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.
Congratulations on the grandbaby. How I wish they were still just a walk away from you.
Yes, to more snail updates :). I enjoyed The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, too.
Love your final thoughts on this post…I am also “in between” as both a grandmother and a mother…interesting for sure.
Always glad to see a new post from you!
I love reading about the happenings in your life❤️. Congratulations on your new baby boy!
good morning………. always enjoy finding you blog updates! and my how you have such
a neat-nice way of relaying your goings on!!! congrats on the new little man in your
family!!! curious as to what your son and daughter-in-law named him? your other “kids”
have grown so much! life does that!!! that or this is coming from a “great grandma”!!!
such fun getting to sit back and just listen to everyone when we are together! love love
it Happy spring time!!! fondly the Merry Mary of Darien,Il.
Congratulations on your wee grandson! How beautifully you write about these middle years… I love how you have never lost your wonder – you must be a fascinating mother…and grandmother!
Thank you for all! 🙂
So Beautiful, as always , Ginny ! Congratulations on your sweet new grandson ! And I love your new pet ! 🙂
Great. Now I need those jigsaw puzzles.
Congrats on .. well, everything!
So very happy for you & your family. What a wonderful blessing. We are expecting our first great grandbaby. I always wondered if I’d live long enough to see it and here we almost are. Hard to wrap my mind around it a little but the knitting needles are flying (exaggerating) and like you, I wonder where the time went.
Loved the snail tale.
Are you enjoying Barbara Pym, Ginny? 🙂 Emily
Do YOU love Barbara Pym, too? I read her books again and again. They always delight.
How wonderful another addition to your beautiful family… Love to read your adventures; it brightens my day every time I see you in my inbox!
Peace and Blessings,
Val 🙂