After Bean was born, I developed a keen interest in the details of his father’s heritage. He’d told me more than once that his mother had been a white woman, and that his grandmother had been born in another country. She’d arrived in Grenada via sea. 

When I pressed him to tell me where, exactly, his grandmother had come from, he first said Austria.

Austria? This surprised me. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. But, hey. Sure. Austria. 

But the next time the subject came up, the country he named was Australia. 

Australia? I thought you said Austria. They’re very far apart, those two countries. Not the same place at all. 

I ain’t too sure, you know, he admitted. Better if you ask my sister the next time you see her. 

So I did. I went to the market on a Saturday and found her at her vegetable stand.

Was it, I asked, Austria or Australia where your mother’s mother was born? 

Her eyes widened, and then she laughed. No, no, she said. Neither. Granny was from Scotland. 

It has come to my attention that I’ve missed a whole slew of birthdays in the last week or so. Including, but possibly not limited to, ryanjjohn, fistaphobia, thejohnblog, emzbulletproof and jaydensmommie. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I hope y’all like roughage. 

I used to work (and play) in this boat yard.

One of my top ten (five?) favorite photos from Grenada.

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Today is so warm I can smell summer coming. 

Just now I was sitting outside in the blazing sun, drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee. For the first time in months, I felt warm enough to remove my scarf. 

I took (and originally posted) this photo about a year ago. I was in Connecticut, but had only recently moved back to the United States from the Caribbean, and the islands were very much my mind.

Pictured are gold flip-flops, headband my mother made me and earrings made in Grenada based on an AmerIndian swirl of life design. (Appropriation of native cultures something something, but I really like them in spite of myself. Besides, they were a gift, and unlike that piece of Arawak pottery some guy gave me, I felt comfortable leaving the island with the earrings.) 

[Click through the photo for a larger version, or here for my Grenada Flickr set.]

I used to have a kitty who played with twistie ties for hours on end. He and Bean would have gotten along famously. 

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After I picked Bean up from school this afternoon, I went to the library for a few hours while my mom took him to the park. I get home and she’s all,

“Maria, I took pictures for your Tumblr.”

STOP.

I shed a tear. 

Also, how Field & Streamy is my child? 

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Juicy Lucy, by the way, is the nickname she gave herself. 

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BAKING IS VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS. 

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I don’t remember what was going on this particular day, but I can tell from the set of his shoulders that he’s vexed. Probably because I did something totally mean, like make him get out of the ocean because his lips had turned blue. 

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Carenage Fire Station // St. George’s, Grenada

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I used to post lots of words and photos about the verandah, but it has been a while now. I think I couldn’t really bear to go there mentally while it was so cold here. But now for almost two weeks now I’ve been able to go outside without hardcore North Face / Marmot / CampMor whatever.

(I live right next to the Berkshires in Massachusetts.)

This photo is from March of 2008 so Bean is almost two. He just ketchup randomly started flipping his walker over and going after his undercarriage with his baby screwdriver. 

It seemed like a big deal at the time but these days I basically expect him to surprise me every day by doing something I never showed him.  

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