In about 90% of our first introductions to people who live here in Maine, they advise us to plan a getaway for Spring Break so that we can escape the snow that will by that point in the year be driving us crazy. So naturally, for our Spring Break, I arranged a visit to Vermont.
It sounds unintelligent I'm sure, but after we had so much trouble traveling around Christmas, I was not excited about getting back on a plane with a toddler. In a more positive light, it seemed to me that what would bother me most about winter was how insular the community becomes because of how much trouble it is to get out of your house. It seemed that as much as the sunlight, what I would be needing was time with friends.
Once upon a time, when we lived in Berkeley, we were being friendly greeter types at church and met a couple named Erick and Faith. Being that my legal name is Erica Faith, I was able to overcome my chronic name forgetting disease when it came to these two, and we were able to become friends.
Over the years, these two have become five (they have had three beautiful girls) and our paths have found even more overlaps. Faith and I were both Executive Officers of Project Peace. Granted, my role was merely to satisfy a blank for a 501c3 application form, and she actually did lead the organization for real. Faith and I are both into photography too, though again, she actually has an MA and I just dabble. Manny and Erick were PhD students at Berkeley at the same time. Our youngest children first met at my baby shower when they were still in our bellies. Manny and Erick both got their first positions as professors in the Northeast in the same year. And Faith has also been getting more into writing for her own blog, The Pickle Patch. (We've decided it has something to do with the effect of snowy winters.) So now that we're basically neighbors, we couldn't pass up a chance to reconnect with these long distance friends and compare notes about our parallel journeys.
I can't say that the travel was all smooth sailing. Over the several hours in the car, Sofia expressed a wide range of emotions:
But after driving, literally, over the river(s) and through the woods, we made it there and back in one piece. And most importantly, we had a great time while we were there. Vermont is like one big idyllic photo opportunity: green mountains, old barns with stallions rustling their mane, rivers trickling down rocks and through mossy banks, old historic steeples piercing the sky line. It is so close to Maine, and yet it feels so distinct in topography that it seems to have its own shape of character. And as for escaping the snow, it was in the 70's-80's the whole time we were there. We even got uncomfortably hot playing at a playground. So as illogical as my plan was, it totally worked out on all counts!
It was great to catch up with friends from what seems like a previous life. Renewing those bonds and digging them deeper feels good for the soul in growing those relationships, but it also brought to memory other old friends from that season, how much they meant to us, how much we miss them, who and how we are because of how they've impacted us. It becomes a full fledged renewing of the love of a whole community. Dear other-old-Berkeley friends, I miss you!
Furthermore, Sofia got a taste of what life would be like with a gaggle of sisters. This family is raising three daughters with a sparkling sense of imagination that is integrated into every moment of their day. It made me think of the book, Philosophical Baby by Alison Gopnik [a Berkeley professor incidentally], which speaks of the importance of imaginary friends/play as a child's beginning abilities to conceive of other possible universes (a bit of what we adults were also experiencing as our journeys are so similar, and yet so different), which is a key building block to skills like problem solving. It is a phase ahead of where Sofia and I are right now, but it was precious to witness and so sweet of her girls to do their best to include Sofia in this play. 
In addition to fun with friends, the time away gave us opportunity to have some time as a family, which was particularly appreciated after Manny had been away for a week for work. I can't ever seem to get enough of the site of my husband with my child, happy in play together.
As you can see in that final shot, this was all so much fun that it even maxed out Sofia's seemingly endless supply of energy. Perhaps that might have also had a little something to do with the one night when Sofia was up for three hours? Sorry again, friends! But despite the challenge of hosting a family with a toddler in the midst of mid-terms and preschool and a very full life, these friends were amazingly gracious, thoughtful, and warm hosts. We are looking forward to spending time with them in Maine someday soon.
