May Days

May is a busy month for the Rioux Famille. First, there is the glorious quasi-holiday of Mother's Day. This year, E made his mommy a card using his very own paints. There was some guidance with the lettering (thanks J) but the words "Happy Mother's Day" were clearly there. J surprised his baby mama with a night of sushi and cinema. They watched Jane Eyre. It was brooding and romantic and deeply compelling. A love story with a brain.

Then there was J's 30th birthday. A big number deserves a good celebration and so the Js took themselves (sans E -- thanks Gran and Grandpa) out to dinner at a swanky 5-star restaurant called The Chalet. The view was superb, the service was with style, and the company was beyond compare. The bill was expectedly high (5 stars has its price) but how often do you turn 30? Right? Js parents sent thoughtful gifts -- a 1981 Rush record that his mom and dad listened to the year he was born and an engraved IPad that effectively launched the Js into the 21st-century. Right now, E is showing them how to use it. Both presents (and parents) are awesome.

The last weekend of the month brought yet another celebration, the Js' fifth wedding anniversary. The Js escaped to a Bed and Breakfast retreat on Galiano Island. Once again, the grandparents pulled a heroic move and took E for the whole weekend. Since the fifth year is traditionally celebrated with gifts of wood, the edenic forests of Galiano were the perfect setting. The Js exchanged gifts -- a wooden birdhouse, a few rough poems, and (perhaps most exciting) enrollment in a collage art class for the month of July. They already know what you're thinking -- the grandparents will yet again be called upon to watch the boy while his parents spend an evening with their glue-sticks and art cards. At this rate, the Js should be giving them gifts.

 Their room was a haven, a nest, for two restful nights. In the morning they breakfasted on fresh fruit and savory breads, scrambled eggs with garden herbs and our preference of tea or coffee. The view looked out on Morning Beach and their hosts were avid birdwatchers. They'd arranged a variety of feeders to attract the local feathers and the show was delightful. Purple finches, black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches. The Js were in their element. They followed the recommendations of their hosts and visited an old graveyard overlooking the water and admired some unique memorials.

They hiked Bodega Ridge, dangled their legs from Lovers' Leap and held their breath counting flights of golden eagles below them. They overheard the call of a barred owl and caught a glimpse of her in the treetops.  After a month as good as this, June will be a tough act to follow.