Moved shoes, unexpected potatoes, and other signs of love

I blog partly because I want to be as cool and smart and spiritual and funny as some of the other (mostly) women that I know a little through their words. But mostly I do it because it makes me feel a part of something bigger than me - it feels like community to know that we're all out there in the blogosphere, trying to figure it all out. There's a little early summer lull happening on the blogs I check most often - Rachelle hasnt been posting all that much (I bet the kids are out of school), Jen is on-and-off because of technical difficulties and Jenell is on maternity leave.

On Thursday night, we tried to go to Monkfish. I called Rachelle just like an hour or so before to see if we could come over, and if I could try out our longest portable ramp, so Jeff could get up the few steps. I like Monkfish so much, but it's hard to get going somewhere on a Thursday evening, and we've never gotten it together to figure out if one of our portable ramps from home will work there and I really dont want to have more things in my life that dont include Jeff and Eli, so I havent been for awhile. Anyway, when we arrived, all the shoes were outside, which warmed my heart completely. See, like most walking people, Rachelle and her family have a big pile of shoes right inside the door. And, in anticipation of and JUST IN CASE Jeff's ramp would work (Which it didn't - it was much much much much too steep and perilous. Now, we have to talk to Rachelle's neighbor about building one, which I guess is what we should have done in the beginning when he offered. But that would have been the easy way, which is hardly ever my path - have you noticed?) all the shoes had been moved out on the porch to make room for Jeff's entrance in a wheelchair.

So much is just not set up for us, you know, but Rachelle, man, THOUGHT about the shoes! When she probably had a few other things to think about just then. It makes me realize how much we have to advocate for, because of the relief of not having to negotiate that one. So even though the ramp didnt work out, it was as good as getting inside to see all those shoes grinning at us from the front porch.

And speaking of front porches, I found a bag of newly dug potatoes and a head of garlic on our front porch this afternoon. I deduced it must be from Julie and Laurie down the street (sometime their albino great dane - yes you read that right - will get a post and hopefully a photo all her own) because I've seen them walking around with bags of produce before. So I knocked on the door - "Are you the potato fairy?" - And it WAS them. And I had to ask them their names for the millionth time, and they very nicely told me and then they asked about our bamboo, so we invited them over to see it. (We're not just imagining it - our bamboo is the talk of the neighborhood.) And they came over and admired our bamboo and Laurie gave me advice about the garden ("Um, no those arent weeds - they're delphiniums. But you can cut them down if you want.") They plant potatoes wherever they have a little space and Julie told us she'll drop off some more sometime.

So community keeps finding us. I miss the everyday on-line check-in I had going for a while, but maybe it's lightening up to make a space for this other stuff. I mean, I love hanging out in virtual space with other mommies who love Jesus in a humorous, feminist way. I feel like they totally get me, which is a good feeling. But when someone with whom I have a passing aquaintance drops produce on my doorstep, I feel gotten in a totally other way, and that's important too.

And I didnt even mention how today we also went to our other neighbors' house and her big boys wrestled with Eli on their big trampoline just roughly enough but with remarkable gentleness, too, until he was weak from laughing.