Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Safely through the world we go.

William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” 1863

I started this post back in May, but never got around to finishing it. It’s a complete mystery to me how four months have simultaneously dragged on and flown by so quickly…

The silver lining of the pandemic has been the time I’ve been able to spend with my family and in my garden.

I’ve loved looking out the window to see my boys helping their sister keep up her goalie skills.

Hard to tie your own laces when you’re wearing goalie gloves.

If only this garden didn’t require an annual flesh sacrifice to oozing poison ivy rashes…

“I want to hold your hand…”

Gingersnap, the naughtiest pup on the face of the planet, has destroyed every single rug in the house, has eaten three pairs of earbuds and my son’s retainer, routinely makes unspeakable messes all over the house, and is generally a bumptious bully to our longsuffering older dog, Chloe.And yet…

she’s the apple of my eye, and I’m completely, irrationally besotted with her. 

Chloe, on the other hand, is so over her. 

This is how you graduate from high school in a pandemic:

Life goes on with birthday celebrations…

A trip to the beach…

It was fabulous at the Outer Banks…until I got viciously attacked by a stingray and had blood gushing like a geyser from my foot!

A trip to Sugar Hollow

Birthday girl!

Bearfence Mountain, Shenandoah National Park

Saying goodbye to our son was hard. He is so excited to be embarking upon his college career. We wish the circumstances weren’t so strange…