The element of water is busting forth, undeniably, in life this weekend. In addition to at least 3 separate dreams last night about trying to outrun tsunami waves (it was an exhausting night for me!), our house is explosive with water related issues:
Friday - shower head broke and started spewing water
Saturday - washing machine broke and flooded our laundry room with water
Sunday - kitchen faucet sprung holes, spewing water, and then literally broke in half
Water represents transformation, change, emotion, and the energy of creativity. And right now, it seems like there is just no containing it around here. I've been wondering what all this water is about.
I keep returning to my attempts at creating order - cleaning and organizing, making lists, outlining my plans, doing my best to cover the bases. And that is natural for a woman who is marching towards baby-having time. But then there are the reminders that birth, motherhood... and ultimately life...cannot be organized, cannot be planned and neatly put in place. And even as I stack my papers and review my calendar for the hundredth time, I know I am heading into the deep unknown. I feel the tsunami coming. It is scary. It is exciting. And I am not in control.
Earlier today, I was typing my notes from a workshop I took that related birth to the story of the decent of Inanna, the queen of heaven and earth, into the underworld. She hears a call to make this journey and answers the longing of her soul. She journeys to the underworld, a place of total unknown, and in the process is stripped of all she is, all she thinks she knows, all that is familiar and comfortable. She emerges, in the end, as a warrior - a new and humbled version of her self. It's a beautiful story and analogy. That kind of journey happens again and again in life - for all of us, in so many ways.
Right now I am feeling the heaviness of the journey ahead. However, I also feel a bit like a river rock that is being smoothed and worn down by the constant motion and pushing of the waves. So I suppose all this water is a gift, creating a flow where I am rigid, washing clean those corners that I have not wanted to look at, and taking me for some kind of mysterious ride.
Satvinder is a swamp goddess this year. She wanted to be "a swamp" but I didn't know how to make a swamp costume. Luckily, she was very pleased with my nearest attempt, which turned out to be a swamp goddess. 
Satvinder and one of her best friends, Lily.
With the class birds - Lemonhead and Black-Brownie. I love the names that kids come up with.
Before we even got to school, Satvinder made it clear that she wanted to have a picture with a goat. Goat holding is, apparently, an honor reserved for Kindergarteners only so Satvinder has been waiting for this day!
Girls with ducks. There were also chickens and a bunny. And lots and lots of wiggling monkeys - but those didn't come with the petting zoo.
This was inside a little cave 
View from inside the cave
Satvinder thought she was taking Rufus for a walk but really Rufus was taking her for a walk.
Nice afternoon stroll
Snuggles
Satvinder's class has started a little garden. Here, Satvinder is watering the soil.
Hay maze at Mother Nature's Farm
More hay
Feeding the animals was fun
Sometimes several wanted to get in on the feeding. In this picture: a cow, a sheep, and a goat all were hungry.
My Fancy Girl
Mangala Sadhu Sangeet and Satvinder read Harry Potter every chance they get. They are currently wrapping up the second book and Satvinder loves it.
Our friend, Baby Narayan - we took a nice walk today. It was a cool, post-rain morning - yay for October. It's been really sweet spending time with him and remembering what baby life is like. 
Me bouncing baby Narayan and baby Khalsa.
Pregnancy/birth/motherhood continues to humble me. It's not that I think I know that much - yet still I am shown again and again how much I don't know. This weekend I learned that when it is said that women who have had babies before often have contractions and "feel things" earlier in pregnancy than the first time around, that really means you can feel A LOT. I've had contractions at increasing strengths and frequency (which seemed to increase quite a bit over the weekend) - way more frequent (though sporadic) than I thought normal for someone 2 months away from being due. That paired with falling off the washing machine (I was standing on it to reach a high cabinet), made me a little paranoid about premature labor. (Reminder to self: Pregnant ladies don't have the best balance.) I even made a Sunday afternoon trip to my midwife to have her check and make sure I wasn't actually dilating and baby seemed good. All is fine, found to be just as we would expect at this stage. But wow - I didn't contract that much last time until I was actually going into labor. So this is an experiential education for me!
This is a green juice I've been liking to make lately - very refreshing, especially for those of us who live in dry, dry places.
