The Beautiful Place

Piazza Bellezza was originally conceived as just a fun spin on my birth name. I translated it very literally as Bellessa Plaza.

A while, though, after I started blogging, I told a friend the title of my blog and he said, "Oh, the beautiful place?"

I have thought about that on and off and really like the implications of that name. Lots of times, I feel like I am not in a situated place in my life--like I'm more in day-to-day mode and that I have coping strategies to make it through, but that I'm not in a place when I can really use my talents very effectively.

The Beautiful Place has come to represent a metaphysical state of mind for me--a place where I feel like I belong. Don't get me wrong--a lot of times, I feel very comfortable and content with what I'm doing. But, it doesn't often feel 100% settled.

Maybe it never will.

I am a little blue today. Maybe more on that later.
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Other Franklin Highlights

A bath in the blue tub, with the exact same tub toys I played with

Photographing the barn, built in 1915 by Cecil, with my sis

Seeing Rebecca and William's "town house", still standing and occupied

Searching for the foundation of Rebecca and William's
(and possibly Sarah's too) country house


Playing in the linens

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The Work of Her Hands

While on vacation, I had a few days to stop in Franklin with my kids and sister to visit my grandma. Her town and her house seem to be identical to the memories I have of many childhood visits. I wanted to see some of the items that Julia, my great grandmother, had spent her spare moments and evenings working on. Grandma pulled out pillowcases, baby bonnets, table linens, and quilts, embroidery, crochet, and needlepoint, and I wondered how many countless hours had been spent on such detail. According to Grandma, Julia was never empty-handed, but always had a project she was working on.

My favorite item was a lively patchwork quilt, made of the leftover scraps of worn out dresses and aprons. While Julia would probably have preferred to display the immaculate white quilt, flourished with large red roses and perfect, tiny hand stitches I loved the chaos of the patchwork colors, balanced and restrained by the perfectly symmetrical pieces. It felt full of life. I wish I knew the source of each piece of fabric.


We also found a patchwork quilt, pieced by Bertha, my grandpa's mother.

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Misunderstood

Perhaps using his intestinal state this week as a reference point, T has been referencing "Diarrhea Wimpy Kid" with glee. I think he was a little disappointed (and to be frank, I was too) when AJ corrected him, and explained what a diary was.
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What kind of husband would do that??

We are on vacation right now, visiting AJ's family in Denver. (I love Denver. I hope to someday reside here. I have the neighborhood all picked out.) Because of all sorts of work issues and other travelling that we are doing, we had a heck of a time deciding on dates and transportation.

Finally, we settled on driving. For the most part. Except it seemed that driving long long distances with a 17 month old could be very ugly.

So, AJ suggested that he drive from Minnesota to Denver with T and MJ and I fly with baby Z. I kept asking him if he was sure that he wanted to take the two of them (prone to sibling spats, and in a concentrated space like the car?? That could be hell). And if he felt comfortable driving all that way himself. He said it would be great. They would have a wonderful time. It would be so easy with just the two of them, so I said, "Sign me up!"

In addition to my enjoyment of a direct flight vs. spending parts of two days in the car driving through Iowa and Nebraska, one of the unexpected side benefits was that I got to clean the house after AJ and the kids drove out of town. Getting ready for vacation can be frantic and crazy and since we usually procrastinate, it's only that much worse. Usually, it's all I can do to turn off the AC and lock the doors. Just forget about leaving the house completely tidied. More so, it looks like a tornado has barrelled through the house, with clothes and empty bags and random stuff strewn everywhere.

After they left, I took baby Z and we went for a walk around the lake close to our house. They, I ran to the mall for our last few errands. And picked up some yummy sushi for my dinner. Then it was home to bathe Z and put him to bed. Next, dinner and some Jon Stewart for me. And next? I was excited to clean my house. I spent a long time Friday night getting the house together.

And now that I'm on vacation, the specter of a messy house isn't hanging over my head, casting shadows over down time that would only get bigger the closer we get to going home.

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