A Lazy Hour in the Boston Public Garden.

Baaaaahstan.
The past few weeks have been a blur. I've been coupling moving prep and baby prep with an attempt to experience each moment fully engaged. These last experiences of living in New York, these last weeks as a non-mother, these last moments of selfish quiet. It's been sweet. But also a bit alarming. I've felt calm, but there is an undercurrent of expectation about the upcoming transitions.

As a wonderful break from all of these internal musings and introspective processing about LIFE, Stevie & I took a quick road trip up to Boston. It was his birthday weekend (yeeeeee!!) and also his 1-year class reunion, and we hate to miss a good party. Although I stood far too long chit-chatting (my feet/legs/back yelled at me for days after), it was SO GOOD to connect with our dear-hearted Boston buddies. We capped off the weekend with a stroll through one of my favorite Boston landmarks, the Public Garden.

As we wandered through the truly mesmerizing array of tulips, weeping willows and the lazy waters, I was immediately struck with a moment of memory. I remember walking through this exact part of the garden, this exact bend in the path, 3 years earlier. We had just moved to Boston, didn't know a SOUL in this town, and sauntered through the garden in dumbfounded wonder. It was just such a beautiful, new place. I remember saying to Stevie, "Let's really enjoy this day. Because next week, you're going to start classes, and we will meet people, and start to have things to do and life will be different forever. But here and now, we don't know anyone and we don't have any responsibility. Let's enjoy it!" And we did.

Ah, youth. I hadn't even graduated college at that point. My oh my.

And here I am, only 3 years later, walking through the same garden, the fresh aromatic flowers bursting with bloom, and I am pregnant with our first child. Um, whoa. So much has changed in just 3 years. SO MUCH. And now, instead of Boston being a sort of scary, unknown place of potential dreams, it is in our rear view mirror as a marvelous hub of memories. It is safe. I can't believe how quickly this life has happened.

// The originals from Make Way for Ducklings. (Trish, should I cry now or later??) //

// ACTUAL ducklings. //

// Isn't it just so loungy and lovely? //

// We found swans. //

// They were pregnant too! //

// Growing growing growing. //

// This is Stevie's fave: If you look closely, you will see a tiny little bird drinking right next to the squirrel. Priceless shot, Mister Hale. //

One Hour.
I am incredibly grateful for the small moment I got to spend in this sanctuary of bliss. We don't know when we will be back in Boston again, but I have a feeling that the next time, I will be wrestling my son to not jump into the swan water :) And I will probably have another one of those "We've been here before..."-moments. My, oh my.

Happy day to you, friends.