Four years!

Harriet celebrates her birthday, and the FTT celebrates an anniversary

Yesterday was Harriet’s fourth birthday, and we celebrated at home with vegetarian pasta and strawberry cake (made with In Good Heart Farm strawberries). For Harriet, it was the third birthday party marked in some way by Covid—though we are (maybe?) transitioning out of the acute pandemic phase of Covid-19, I sat apart from the family and wore a mask because I’m not out of my ten-day quarantine. We postponed her princess party, just to be safe, but we’re still having one (dammit!).

Despite all the disruption that has happened around Harriet related to school, travel, and play dates, Harriet is doing great. She’s happy, delightful, hilarious, and smart. She loves school, her friends, her teachers, and her family. She’s very into being “fancy” but also loves frogs and turtles, like this spiny softshell turtle we found under the sand in the Haw River on Monday:

I realized, looking through some old files this week, that Harriet was actually the whole inspiration for the Frog Trouble Times, which marked its first issue on May 24, 2018—we printed copies and sent them to Mamie and Grampa, Nana and Grandpa, Aunt Joy, and our friend Jill. We were in the newborn stage of not going too many places, being tired, and yet wanting to stay in touch with people (sort of like today, I suppose). So Bea and I sat down, and she dictated this first article to me (she really wanted it to be all caps!):

HARRIET WAS BORN

ON THE NIGHT BEFORE, I WOKE UP TO GET A DRINK AND THEN I WENT BACK TO BED. I HAD TO GET BACK OUT OF BED BECAUSE I HEARD MOMMY WAS HAVING CONTRACTIONS.  WE WENT TO THE MURRELLS’ HOUSE AND I WATCHED A LITTLE BIT OF TV AND IN THE MORNING WE MADE PANCAKES AND THEN WE WENT TO THE PLAYGROUND. I HAD A GREAT TIME.

AND THEN MAMIE AND GRANDPA PICKED ME UP AND WE WENT TO THEIR HOTEL AND HAD LOTS OF FUN. WE WENT TO RED LOBSTER AND THEN MAMIE AND GRANDPA GOT ME AN ELSA TOY AND THEN THEY TOOK ME TO THE HOSPITAL TO SEE MY BABY SISTER. WHEN I SAW HER I WAS SURPRISED THAT MY BABY SISTER WAS BORN. I HOLDED HER AND SHE DIDN’T CRY. SHE’S A SWEETIE PIE. THAT’S IT.

We started the digital version of the Frog Trouble Times last Earth Day in order to share some of the same family news, but also ideas we had, animals we noticed, books we’d loved—and also, our attempts to understand and engage with the world around us, especially the climate crisis and other environmental issues. That has since expanded to history, Covid-19 and public health measures, education, and politics. Because it’s all connected, and seeing and making those connections through our daily experience in North Carolina is what the Frog Trouble Times is all about.

So! Please feel free to share this issue and any issue with your besties—we really appreciate every single share.

I’ll be back on Sunday with a report about some more river graffiti, and how it connects to thinking about “the public square,” free speech, and Twitter. Oh, and the embroidery! Which is still not done but I hope will be done by then.

Small but important updates: I’ve tested negative for Covid, and all of my fellow Alabama travelers (like me, fully vaccinated) are so far doing okay. Vaccines work! But I do know many people with Covid right now, and staying isolated and/or quarantined takes a lot of effort and resources, among them: tests, good masks, jobs you can stay home from or do from home, more than one adult looking after young kids/going to the store/etc, a house with more than one bathroom… we were okay, but this past week has made me think a lot about what we accept as normal for so many people in this country.

We think we’re gonna write about butterflies next week. What are your springtime plans, Frog Troublers? Harriet suggests a good soak.