How I Spent My Summer Vacation
My summer was split between Being Pregnant But Not Letting People Know (too soon), and then Being Pregnant And Having People Know.
At work, sometimes I hauled boxes of yoga mats around, or taught kiddos lessons in a community garden.
But then once coworkers knew I was pregnant, they stopped me from lifting things or being in the heat too long. Which is very kind of them! Sometimes I still pushed too hard and paid a price (being laid up all weekend after pushing too hard on a Friday, etc).
This summer truly taught my my physical limits. It’s hard for me to face. I really enjoy participating in different park and neighborhood cleanups in Camden! But at the last one I attended, I guess I looked so rough that the City worker driving the Powerade Truck (or really, the City truck with the cooler full of Powerade for volunteers) got out of the car and walked with me to make sure I was OK. I don’t know how I looked but it must have been bad. As hard as it was, I decided that it was my last cleanup for a while. The spirit is willing but the flesh … feels like I swallowed a snowglobe but also the snowman inside the globe is alive and kicking?
The yoga program moved locations across the City, so the mats and supplies traveled too. But that made one Outdoor yoga session possible and it was magical!
In August, I got a bump.
One day, nothing there. And the next … it just was.
This was just playing around on the beach but … this level of bump is coming for me and SOON.
Weekend food prep with the garden and the CSA share grounded me.
So did two cafes with outdoor seating. I still take walks and think and write in cafes, though the walks are shorter, my back always hurts, and I cannot lie and say I write 1,000 words of fiction a day. I stopped doing daily word count in August AND daily step count in September. Now I just do the best I can.
I had a little treat. Whenever I needed it.
I let the backyard go wild. Just too hot outside, just too achey in my body. I let the zinnias reign.
And watched over that community garden, too. Lots of my seeds and transplants survived there.
There have been trips or excursions!
The Glencairn Museum of Folklore.
A lovely Monmouth County Day at Big Brook Park, and then to see friends and kiddo rock collections PLUS xenomorphs made out of K’Nex!
Delightful afternoon in Fairmount, Philly: Art Museum and bookstore, of course!
Pilgrimage to Seabra’s Market in North Jersey for Portuguese and Brazilian delicacies:
With all this bustle of life, I still feel stunned at the season change. The October full moon was this week. My neighbors take Halloween decor SERIOUSLY! I’ve been seeing leaf change since August.
Laura Eppinger 