A Leap of faith

February 29, 2020

Home is where the heart is

Dear little friends,

We were going to come home today. We picked Leap Day because we thought it would be fun to come home on Leap Day, I mean, you don’t get to leap home from a long trip on Leap Day every ol’ day. Also, my daughter and son-in-law, way back in August when we garnered our tickets, said, just come back before mid-March and so we all thought Leap Day would be fine.

And you already know the rest of that story, that as time went by and we all started realizing just what a twin pregnancy entails, we cut our trip short and came back on January 23rd instead.

The first crocuses bloom in late January in Portland.

On January 24 I woke up in our comfy bed and rushed to take a shower in our nice American bathroom with reasonable plumbing, not excellent plumbing because our house is 112 years old, but reasonable plumbing, with the Suave shampoo and conditioner and Ivory soap and a nice fluffy towel and a dry bathroom floor with cozy rugs to step on.

And then I went downstairs and made coffee, wrote some emails, started some laundry, went through the pile of mail and discovered two pieces of mail to mysterious people that are not us that had mysterious checks in them, hunted down the people those checks were intended for (same house number, two streets over), notified them and dropped them off, walked over to my rental house and met one of my new tenants and showed her around the yard and then walked home and looked around for some food, but the only thing around was the remains of my burrito, which still tasted great.

Our house sitter was going to stay until February 29, she had made a commitment to care for our house until then and we weren’t about to boot her out on the street, she’s our friend. She was up and around and we talked some and I moved some stuff around and did some unpacking quietly in the office instead of in our bedroom because guess what? Bruce slept through all of this.

Bruce claims he does not get jet lag. And I believe him. What he does, after these eastward-bound flights across the Pacific, is climb into bed and drop off to sleep for 16 straight hours. And that’s just what he did, waking in late afternoon all ready to be back on Pacific Time. By then I was ready for bed because I definitely get jet lag and would have it for two more weeks.

And that’s how things kicked off being back in Portland. It was clear immediately that we had absolutely made the right choice. I got to go to several doctor appointments with Molly and see the babies on ultrasound and avert my eyes so as to not discover their sexes beforehand. We had a “nesting day” at their condo and assembled a crib and a dresser and other items for the nursery. I ordered Molly off of housework and learned how to operate her appliances that are complex and high-end compared to ours.

We worked on our gardens, did some plumbing repairs at the rental which failed, so a real plumber had to come and repair our plumbing repairs. Oddly, Bruce was not there to document that like he would have if this plumbing had been in some dump in southeast Asia.

Bruce does the annual scrubbing of the winter-mildewy steps.

Next big job: trimming the fig tree down to a manageable height. Surely this will be the year it stays short enough.

Our neighbor had cut a birch tree down right before we left for the trip, on a sunny day Bruce finally got it split.

Tiny winter iris. They are surrounded by slug bait and eggshells because this is Oregon.

My son and his wife bought a house while we were in Myanmar and moved out of my rental and found new tenants for me so there have been a lot of exciting and positive changes. We like the new tenants a lot.

Molly was getting increasingly exhausted and wan, her belly big enough to balance a coffee cup on except that the kicking and shaking within would have upended a cup immediately. She and I had a big day scheduled to make a belly cast of this impressive anatomical feat for Sunday, Feb 16, but guess what? She had the babies that day instead.

These camellias were blooming outside the waiting room at St. Vincent Hospital the day our granddaughters were born.

It was an emergency c-section, she was only 33 weeks pregnant, but the beautiful little girls born early that morning were off of their premie CPAP breathing apparatus within 24 hours and are thriving and charming the socks off the NICU staff at their hospital. Because they are tiny they don’t have the strength to feed by mouth yet so it’ll be feeding tubes at the NICU until they can. Meanwhile every day brings new progress, first baths, first mouth feedings, one less monitor wire here, one less there.

I have held a lot of babies before, but never one that was my grandchild. This is Arie Diane.

Arie Diane and Eloise Grace are simply delightful and definitely fraternal twins. They look like siblings, very similar, but each has their own features and personalities. Their mama and papa are over the moon happy about their health and feistiness and spend as much time at the hospital with them as possible. The family gathers around to support them and love and gifts and food and flowers and offers of help pour in.

Bruce and Eloise. Both babies had a day or so under bilirubin lights, a not uncommon treatment for newborns, premie or otherwise. You can google it. They have to wear little masks to protect their eyes, which makes them look like superheroes.

Our house sitter moved on to a new nest and I moved my clothes back into my closet and we are getting used to having the house to ourselves again.

So here we are on February 29, a Leap of Faith day if I ever saw one. So much I would have missed if I had not listened to my gut and come home when I did. I rarely make decisions with such certitude and that have such absolute impact and importance. I am completely filled with gratitude that I got this one right. If you are ever on a trip and decide it’s time to come home, consider this my advice to you: do it and with no regrets.

What Bruce cut off of the fig tree. Fear not, it'll be back.

Our package mailed from Uttaradit arrived right on time, 9 weeks from when we taped it up. The little boat drawn on it indicates that it's going by seamail rather than air freight.

Early azaleas bloom in Laurelhurst Park.

It’s springtime in Portland, with blooming trees and flowers, with streets to walk and ride on, friends to meet with, projects to work on, tiny babies to hold, my adult children to watch as they enter new phases of life. I’m not sure travel would be as fun without a home like this to return to. You leave home knowing that much of your trip will contain delights yet unknown. And if you want to, you can return with that same feeling of suspense and joy at the ordinary pleasures of life amongst humans. Except that at home, you understand what people are saying and you get to grind your own coffee.

Come home when you are called, you won't be sorry. This is my little Eloise Grace.

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Matthew CourtwaySuch a wonderful journal with a very happy ending. I enjoyed riding tandem with the both of you. Cheers!
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4 years ago

Ron SuchanekAmazing. The only quibble is I would have liked to see more plumbing videos, particularly at your rental. But aside from that, well done, and welcome home.
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4 years ago

Bill ShaneyfeltVery nice ending. Keep the wheels down and pedals turning!
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4 years ago

Suzanne GibsonLovely little twinnies! Congratulations! I was very touched looking at the photos of the little newborns. I too have twin grands, a boy and a girl. They are now 15, beautiful and healthy! You can look forward to wonderful years ahead.
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4 years ago

Jen RahnTears of happiness! Those photos of you with Arie and Eloise and Bruce gazing down at the tiny superhero .. pure joy. 💛💛

So grateful for past few months that Unmettled Roads has taken me on grand adventures during my morning coffee routine.

Thank you for all the time and energy you put into this journal .. and for sharing your experiences with CycleBlaze readers!!
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4 years ago