Moments of grace

I've been sick the past two days in the midst of doing a massive decluttering/cleanup of my house that is long overdue and I can only really manage after Rachel is asleep. The rest of the time I've been sleeping, coughing, blowing my nose and generally feeling miserable.

However...two extraordinary things happened to me this week that convinced me there is a lot of goodness in the universe and when I'm a recipient of that goodness, it's humbling and overwhelming. I'd be more eloquent if I could, but it's 12:03 a.m. and I'm waiting for a cake to finish baking (which itself is related to these two extraordinary things):

--on Tuesday evening there was a huge wreck on I5 -- a semi tractor/trailer carrying a 75,000 TON concrete girder for a light rail train (you read the number right) overturned on the highway just before rush hour, snarling traffic for something like 15 hours. I'd heard about it in Salem and left at 4:50 p.m. but STILL didn't get to preschool until 7:30. They fine me $1 for every minute I miss the 6 p.m. pickup time, so I was understandably anxious to arrive as fast as possible. Danielle, one of the new teachers, took Rachel to play in the park across the street, then to Lucky Spoon, a frozen yogurt place across the street. The minute I walked in, I announced, "This is your dinner, Rachel. I am getting frozen yogurt, too, and I am NOT making dinner tonight. This is IT!" You can imagine how thrilled she was as, she put it, "I get to have SUGAR for dinner!"

Meanwhile, Danielle and I got to talking. Turns out she's 24, just moved her from Santa Barbara where she went to college, and decided to have a late Seder this week because she missed out on Passover since she's such a recent arrival. We had a long talk about single kids (she was one until age 11) and she said, "I'm not supposed to have favorites, but Rachel's my favorite!" At 8:30 she got up to leave, and when I went to make out a check for $90, she stopped me. "I have to pay you SOMETHING," I said. She suggested I invite her to dinner one night. "A Shabbat dinner one Friday," she suggested. "How about THIS Friday?" I countered, and she said fine. (That's why a chocolate chip cake is baking as I write this). Rachel is beside herself with excitement, and I love the idea of exchanging mitzvahs.

--last night (Wednesday) it was so beautiful outside -- we've been having sunny weather in the mid-70s, very unusual this time of year -- that I decided to take Rachel to the food carts on Belmont Avenue in Southeast PDX. I had a fantastic burger with a gluten-free bun (trying a bit of a gluten-free diet just to see what it's like) and she had pizza. On our way out we came upon three guys playing music. One was a strumming a guitar, another a hammered dulcimer and another a fiddle. I immediately got out our family songbook from the car and we sang (and they played) "Clementine," "Oh Susanna," and "This Little Light of Mine." Rachel was particularly interested in the fiddle; she really seems to want to try out the violin, so I will look for lessons for her in the fall if she's serious. We actually attracted a little crowd of people, and I couldn't help think that only in Portland would we come upon people playing music and be able to contribute with some songs of our own.

So those were my moments of grace this week, which is winding down in a burst of activity coupled my intense desire to take NyQuil so I can sleep, really sleep. I can't, of course -- too much to do around here -- but these extraordinary events helped keep my spirit up.