Lesson 844: Spring

Happy Friday, Readers.

What a beautiful spring week we've had.

Moon sent his love to Earth on her Earth Day on Monday!

Now, 

if we humans would just do the same.

I've reflected on how far we've come

in solving some of Earth's problems

as I watched this squirrel 

as we shared our noonday meals.

We still have plenty of work to do.

Keep at it.

We've played a lot of baseball again this week.

Huskies are on a roll!

Oh, how we love to be outdoors!
We even had some fans from Frederick, Maryland tonight!

Baseball is a great sport for me.

Just the right pace for Old Eloise.

If I'm proactive 

and use my morning right,

I manage to get it it all done.

My goal every evening 

after we come rolling in from baseball

is to get set up for the next day

and make a little time for reading.

The busier I get,

the more I flitz around with my books.

I just counted--

I have five going at once.

This book is killing me:

Racial injustice.

Terrible.

Horrible.

No Good.
Very Bad.

Racial injustice.

It's well done, 

but I can only take it in small doses.

When I'm working through something heavy,

I turn to fantasy

to escape into another world.

These Other Worlds 

have plenty of injustices of their own.

Yet, 

the process of World Building

 in the reading of fantasy

is an escape that I need when I feel stress.

Even fictional stress.

So,

I made the leap this week

into The Shires of Middle-Earth,

which is far away from 

Turk in Small Great Things.

 

I'm reading The Hobbit 

for the first time!

I've tried it two other times before,

both while pregnant and resting 

with no luck.

I started it the other night,

and the third time is the charm.

I love it!

Prepare yourself 

for pins like these:

It's the end of Autism Awareness Month

and the annual walk is tomorrow.

It would be terrible of me 

not to make mention of 

a world that we entered against our will 

twenty-five years ago.

Somehow,

through the uncertainty

and heartache

and the downright exhaustion,

we have build a world

in which beauty blooms.

I don't have hard data for you

or stats about increasing numbers.

But what I do have is a story,

which hits home a point 

with far more emphasis than with a list of statistics.

Sam and his friends were hanging at our house tonight, 

celebrating the night's win.

They were heading out to The Double Dipper

for ice cream.

Says Heath,

the high school quarterback

and pitcher with a rocket of an arm:

"Hey, Natalie--you want to come with us?

Pure,

unprompted,

full-inclusion.

It works,

and everyone benefits.

Enjoy your weekend.

If you are looking for me,

I'll be in Middle-Earth.

Eloise