Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

To walk in warm rain and get wetter and wetter October 2012 Last week we had a good rainy afternoon.  Earlier in the day I had taken the kids to the YMCA for their P.E. class.  I had asked my friend Wendy if she would walk with me while our kids were at P.E., but then it started raining.  To my delight and hers, we found that we are truly compatible as we could both enjoy a walk in the rain together . . .with umbrellas.  But the conversation flowed just as well as it does on a sunny day, if not better. After P.E. I drove the kids home and they asked eagerly, “Can we take a walk in the rain?  We can wear our boots and jump in puddles.” I chuckled to myself, because over the past 2 years boots were crucial to survival in Hannover, and never did the kids want to go for a walk in the rain.  9 times out of 10 if it was raining it was a cold rain, and we had just been walking in it out of necessity, and we were happy to get inside and dry off and ge...

This Sunday in The Woodlands The weather got a little cooler here in the Houston area . . .for a couple of days.  It was already warming back to the 80s today.  But on Sunday we got to wear sweaters and realize that no, we won’t be able to wear sandals all year long. At church I spoke with a friend who was asking how our transition was going, saying that he felt for us, having to leave Germany after just two years.  It nearly made me cry, but at the same time I was grateful for his understanding.  He knows from personal experience the work it takes to move and adjust overseas.   I’ve been looking over my notes and writings from the last two Octobers and Novembers.  Wow--the seasons are really different!  It does feel like continual summer here and, well, I’m not minding it.  Not right now, at least! The entry below was mostly written on a Sunday in November, 2011, when John was in the U.S. for about two weeks.  It was ...

Editor’s note: I typed this on my iPhone en route from Houston to Hannover in August of 2011.  At the end of this flight, in the Munich airport Henry ran a few steps to sit by me, but ended up hitting his head on the row of metal seats.  A trip by airport ambulance to the airport clinic added an extra stop and meant missing our connecting flight.  That’s another story.  Indulge me in reliving some thoughts from over a year ago . . . Wednesday, August 17 2011 Sitting on airplane at 10 pm Houston time. Both kids are asleep with their heads on my lap. It is picturesque, but it only happened after I refused to get Henry a snack because I had just fallen asleep when he woke me to say his movie was done. "I want something to eat!" It should come as a relief that he is hungry, but I was hoping to regain my sleep state and told him he'd have to wait. Really this has been an easy trip so far. But it started with some anxiety. We woke up this morning at 6:3...