Actuellement

The news reports covering the fire at Notre Dame fills the silence of the car. We pull into the school parking lot and Lily asks me if she can look at pictures on my phone from when we were at Notre Dame.

Her eyes are filled with tears, and she says, I just want to remember how beautiful it all was.

Victor Hugo wrote in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, “Great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of centuries."

Notre Dame is a symbol of human accomplishment, really, or social accomplishment. It’s not the work of any one person, but of generations upon generations of labor. The profound sense of permanent loss is heartbreaking.

In this moment, sitting with my daughter, I am again, reminded of the fragility of life. The fleeting-ness of time. Watching something that took generations to build just disappear in a comparative blink of an eye – that, in slow motion, is going to be the dominant feeling of my children's generation. Only instead of buildings: glaciers, forests, species.

I remind myself to compost more and drive less. And I make a note to get myself outside for a long hike and listen for the birds to sing.

On my nightstand:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Megan Cox Gurdon

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

The Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

Yellow daffodils and lavender sits in a mason jar in my dining room. Slices of strawberries flavor my water. Tortillas sit on the counter remnant from last night’s fish tacos. Raincoat hang next to swim suits on the hallway hooks. Softball cleats, muddy tennis shoes and flip flops line the floor. Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” seared into my subconscious from Daisy’s piano practice. Guidebooks are strewn across the table.

This week: Cousins from the east coast to visit. Easter weekend away in Morro Bay with old friends. Biking riding. Laundry (always laundry). Sprinkles on a sundae. Buttercream licked from a whisk. A luxurious afternoon nap. Essay grading and lesson planning.

A quote to remember: “That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea