Improving the View

We've been absent from the blog for awhile, but I assure you our hearts have been here. Alden has been growing like a horse, and at only 7 months is the size of many of his 18 month old friends. His health, good nature, and robust constitution are a welcome relief. He is an absolute joy in our lives.

I haven't blogged for a while because I am coming to terms with who we are as a family now that Alden is with us. We are babylost parents with another living child, and though that's not unique in the world, it's new for us. The pain of Baker's death has softened, though the mention of another story like ours, or even the Haitian orphans tends to hit me unexpectedly from time to time.

Alden has enriched our lives, and I think one of the gifts he's given us is perspective. We talked before Alden was born about how we would need to hold grief and joy together in the same place - but now we're actually doing that, and it works, and it feels ok, but I can't say that I've processed it all yet. I know for certain that Alden's aura of sunshine is enhanced by his brother's loss.

This month we hired a local guy to cut down about 10 huge open-grown white pines from the bottom of our field at the farm. We had multiple motivations for the work, including opening up the view to the southwest towards Killington and Pico, 25 miles away. These pines grew up first from the old pasture, and they were weeviled in the 1940's, and having grown out in the open, they had huge lateral branches that made the wood poor quality. We opened up the canopy to let in more light for our skinny little hardwoods, and now they will grow straight and tall and in the meantime we can enjoy the view of the hills and mountains beyond.

Baker's death left us in a forest of grief and doubt. Alden's growth in to a pudgy little dude have opened up the trees and let in the light.