In My Daughter's Eyes (Martina McBride)

Despite this crazy coronavirus, it was a lovely Mother's Day weekend, starting off Friday afternoon with a meet-up at the park in our old neighborhood, where we mostly watched Colin run around.  No wonder Sarah is so thin...  ;-)

The boys presented me with cards and flowers; Sarah brought a card, Parlour Vegan pastries, and a painted rock from Colin; and I gave her a bag o' goodies from Natural Life (dish towel and wine tumbler), in a Strong as a Mother tote.  We hung out for a few hours, and then all headed home.

Saturday was a lovely day by the pool, as I knew we were in for seven straight days of rain, and yesterday delivered on that promise.  I spent many hours on the balcony, enjoying the much-needed precipitation and the peace it brought, drinking coffee, reading, and eating cinnamon rolls Sarah and Colin dropped off (in a surprise hit-and-run).  I thought about taking a nap but never did, Chico ordered delivery from the Hollybrook restaurant, and we watched Bad Moms later in the evening (totally inappropriate and hilarious!).  Before that, though, at 5 p.m., I tuned into the wonderful online concert described below:

Inspired by Billy Bragg's recent Mother's Day video release for his song "Can't Be There Today," City Winery and Bragg are co-producing a special multi-artist Mother’s Day concert that will be broadcast on YouTube on May 10th, 2020 beginning at 5PM Eastern Time. 

100% of net ticket proceeds will be donated to the The United Nations Foundation fund addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We've invited artists from the extended City Winery family to perform with Billy, Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter,Steve Earle, Shovels & Rope, Rufus Wainwright, Richard Thompson, The Indigo Girls, Jorma Kaukonen, Todd Snider,  KT Tunstall,  Loudon Wainwright, Amy Helm, Jospeh Arthur, Stella Donnelly, Andrew Bird, Fink, Joan Osborne, Hamilton Leithauser, Valerie June, The Mountain Goats.  With More to be Announced... WFUV's Rita Houston will host the event. Families around the world will be able to connect virtually through this shared experience, celebrating all mothers everywhere through music while supporting those in need.  

"The coronavirus pandemic is going to affect our lives in ways we've yet to grasp," says Bragg. "In the coming months, most of us will be forced to miss family gatherings, including Mother's Day which in the UK fell on the first weekend of isolation. My new song touches on the emotional cost of this crisis."

Click on this link to watch archived replay, and maybe donate something as well.  The music starts at the 3:50 mark.


All this to say, I feel very lucky and loved...  💖



SONG:  In My Daughter's Eyes by Martina McBride

BOOK:  What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most by Elizabeth Benedict

POEM:  My Eighteen-Month-Old Daughter Talks to the Rain as the Amazon Burns by Dante Di Stefano

Lark of my house,
keep laughing.
—Miguel Hernández

this little lark says hi
to the rain—she calls
river as she slaps
the air with both wings—
she doesn’t know pine
from ash or cedar
from linden—she greets
drizzle & downpour
alike—she doesn’t
know iceberg from melt—
can’t say sea level
rise—glacial retreat—
doesn’t know wildfire—
greenhouse gas—carbon
tax or emission—
does not legislate
a fear she can’t yet
feel—only knows cats
& birds & small dogs
& the sway of some
tall trees make her squeal
with delight—it shakes
her tiny body—
this thrill of the live
electric sudden—
the taste of wild blue-
berries on her tongue—
the ache of thorn-prick
from blackberry bush—
oh dear girl—look here—
there’s so much to save—
moments—lady bugs—
laughter—trillium—
blue jays—arias—
horizon’s pink hue—
we gather lifetimes
on one small petal—
the river’s our friend—
the world: an atom—
daughter: another
name for: hope—rain—change
begins when you hail
the sky sun & wind
the verdure inside
your heart’s four chambers
even garter snakes
and unnamed insects
in the underbrush
as you would a love
that rivers: hi—hi

QUOTE:  "I do want to try to explain my evolving definition of the word Mother. I am starting to understand that the word works better for me as a verb than a noun. Mothering is a choice we make, like loving is a choice. We do not need to have given birth or to have signed adoption papers to Mother. To Mother, to me, means to nurture. To heal, to help grow, to give. And so anyone and everyone who is involved in the healing of the world is a Mother. Anyone who tends to a child, or friend, or stranger, or animal or garden is a Mother. Anyone who tends to Life is a Mother. Tomorrow is a celebration of all the healers and hopers and lovers and givers and tend-ers." ~ Glennon Doyle