First Library Card!

My dear little Thistle got her first library card today!  She was quite pleased, as she has loved the library since she was a toddler.  She signed her card with her first name and a drawing of a heart.  Then, she asked the librarian if they had any books on bees and beekeeping.  She has been fascinated with bees ever since she got stung at preschool earlier this year (she told me that she got stung, then declared, "I bravely took the stinger out myself!").  That child has a touch of Braveheart in her, seriously.  She also took out a Spanish dictionary for kids (I have one of the same kind in Italian--her nickname is "cochinella"--ladybug).

My friend Casey contacted me via email--he is on vacation with his wife and kids--and told me that, though he was proud I am working on a book about Asha Veil, to take short breaks when I need to and breathe a little, and reminded me that though I go gung-ho into projects like this, it is upsetting subject matter and that I have been through a lot this year--I can say that only now, eight months after the fiasco, I have started to breathe a little bit, metaphorically.  Grieving my last pregnancy also has helped...I kept that inside for so many years and I think I was unconsciously angry with my partner, as I perceived him as unsafe to tell, which he may or may not have been.

Anyway, this has been a good day in that I have helped Thistle with what I hope is a lifetime of wonderful reading.  Plus, we looked for lunchboxes, as kindergarten starts next week.  She looked at a group of them in Bookshop Santa Cruz, and out of all the twirly ballerina, butterfly, flowery, fairy patterns, she instead chose a lunchbox with the solar system and rocket ships on it.  That sure warmed the cockles of my heart, as I am am amateur astronomer and she has been raised on hearing stories about comets and nebulae, and the Big Bang, and the Kuiper Belt, and has really liked my small meteorite collection.

Also, a street magician on Pacific Avenue gave a very cool performance and Thistle got to be his assistant!

It was a happy day, and a good day, though Asha and the story I am holding in my heart is not far from me, ever.