Don't Let the Magic Die

I was lucky enough, or maybe childish enough, to really SEE the magic in everything growing up. Even when it was hard. Even when we were living in an apartment on the third floor in a bigger city than I had ever seen, and plants were few and far between. Even when I didn't understand a word of English. 

I raised my girls in vastly different environments for their first three years. Ella was raised in the same city I had lived in as a girl, only blocks away from that three story apartment building I spent my first American year in. Josie, for all her life, has only known the little brown house in the mountains. Ella could use a fax machine at the age of two. Josie has a much more relaxed upbringing, even though I still work ridiculous hours.

Raising Ella in the city was magical. We used to ride the bus home...and I knew the driver well enough to where she would turn the lights on the bus down, so Ella could crack her glowsticks and giggle. There were so many parks, we would go to a different one every week. Grocery trips to the Mexican market were great, the churro lady always gave us extra samples. 

Raising Josie in the country is magical. Fireflies are our glow sticks, and so are stars. Our backyard is our park...and there are endless hills stretching out before us, ready for exploring. Our town is tiny enough to where everybody at the grocery store knows us, and the lady at the Food Lion always has thin-sliced American cheese for Josie to snack on. 

Somewhere in my 36 plus years of life, I've lost sight of that magic. Life is just hard sometimes. I work a lot, and there's so much more on my plate than there was 10 years ago. I'm carrying so much more grief, so much more work...so much more baggage. 

Josie has begged me to "splash in muddy puddles" (can you tell she likes Peppa Pig?) for days...and so today we went. And she got MUDDY. Like, a bath was imminent muddy. And my dress and shoes were muddy too. But, it was amazing to watch her face. It was wonderful to watch her eyes light up...and yes, it was even wonderful to watch the mud squish between her fingers. Childhood magic is contagious....

I'm trying hard not to let the world get to Ella too much. I know she is growing up and that she is a teenager, but I don't want her to lose her wonder. She came to work with me in the garden on Saturday and we found a ringneck snake in the mulch pile. And honestly, it was the highlight of her day. And mine. 

We also found a clutch of black snake eggs in the mulch pile. 

So...what's a Mom and daughter to do? Take them home, of course. Within the next two months, we should be (foster) parents to a baker's dozen worth of black snakes. 

Did you know that this is what snake eggs look like? I didn't, until Ella told me. 

I'm hoping to keep the magic alive and well in this household for years yet!