Welcome to the World, Little Peach!

Nine months after our adventures around the globe, on the morning of September 17th, 2013, we welcomed little Lucie Anne Rydmark into our world. Our little Peach came the day before her due date – or, right on time, if you calculate by New Zealand clocks…

I can remember one year ago, strolling the beaches at sunrise, watching women gather seaweed on the shores of Zanzibar. Meeting Salama (leading to one of my favorite memories of the entire trip – learning to make octopus curry from scratch). My, how the sands of time change the landscape of life…

This path of practicing patience and striving for balance, learning new ropes and adjusting priorities, leaves me in awe. I draw deeply from the experiences of last year and sink into the newness of this unfolding chapter, all the while wondering which adventures await this beautiful little girl of ours.

She’s captured all our hearts…and taken up who-knows-how-many megabytes of digital photo storage. (I couldn’t resist. @thelittlepeach!)

She’s a joy.

Ted and I find ourselves smiling at each other and then back at her and wondering how on earth we ended up so blessed.

These days and nights are so very full of just the simple basics. Eat, rest, repeat. And deal with diapers, of course. Much the same as the journey of pregnancy, I hope we can pause enough in the spaces between the mundane to revel in the treasures of life. And I hope my dear little adventurer lives out the same sweet pace in her own life, valuing the journeys just as much as the destinations…

Ithaka
Posted in dedication to the little Peach.

Pray that your journey be long,
full of many summer mornings
when with much pleasure and much joy
you anchor in harbors never seen before;
Browse through Phoenician markets,
to purchase exquisite treasures-
mother-of-pearl and coral, ebony and amber
and sensual perfumes of all kinds-
as much as you desire.

Visit many Egyptian cities, content
to sit at the feet of sages, eager
and open to receive learning.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is your destiny.
But do not hurry the journey at all; be patient.

Better that it lasts for many years-
longer than you can even imagine.
So that finally, when you reach this
sacred isle, you will be wise,
abundantly fulfilled by all you have gained along the way;
no longer expecting Ithaka to make you wealthy,
no longer needing Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka has given you the journey,
the chance to discover who you have always been.
Without Ithaka as your inspiration, you
never would have set out in search of Wholeness.

And should you find her poor, Ithaka did not deceive you.
Authentic as you have become, full of wisdom,
beauty and grace, enriched and enlightened by all you have experienced
You will finally understand what all of life’s Ithakas truly mean.

~Constantine P. Cavafy | translation/adaptation by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Many, many thanks to:

• Sari Bari for my favorite baby blankets in all the world, hand-stitched by wonderful women in Kolkata, India. (For more about Sari Bari, check the Beautiful Ideas Help the World post from last October.)
• Our supportive friends and family who have showered us with love, meals, prayers, support.
• The midwives and assistants at Andaluz Water Birth Center.
• The lovely Erin Tole for taking these beautiful birth-day pictures…and our peach orchard maternity photos…AND the adorable newborn pictures coming soon!