It's 9 am on the day after our little Otis was born at 1:38 in the afternoon. Soon he'll be 24 hours old, and two days ago was Indie's 17-month birthday. Two cribs, two car seats, and lots of diapers of two different sizes will now occupy our home, cars and life in general.Otis and Molly are peacefully sleeping right now and I'm sitting quietly tapping on my laptop while listening to Delta Spirit. Family and friends have been coming and going as much as doctors and nurses. It's a beautiful sunny day outside our hospital room window and so, of course, we're all hoping to go home today. They say we probably will, after dinner sometime.
I took this photo of Indie stuffed into my hiking boot when she was less than a week old. The boot maker, Alico, operates out of the Italian Alps and I purchased the pricey clod-hoppers at a serious discount about 7 years ago. I have used them for miles and miles of hiking and backpacking and was wearing them when I met Molly. The characterizations of our family in this photo, and the story behind it, are numerous. Our family is now complete, and we're ready to start getting to it.Otis came quickly. He was a week early (not very -- Indie was two), but after Molly took a long labor-inducing morning walk yesterday, the time lapsed from the first contraction to delivery was about three hours. Most likely this says nothing about who he will be, but optimistically and perhaps naively I will assume until proven otherwise that Otis will be just as impatient and quick-to-act as his Daddy. These qualities are not necessarily good ones, but at least we'll be at the same pace when packing the car to escape the city.
So, what's going through my head when I think about Molly, me, Indie, and Otis? Canoes packed with lots of camping gear segue into oar-rig rafts and baby backpacks into little hiking boots and hand-widdled hiking sticks. I ponder the geometric arrangement of pak n plays along with the tent and sleeping bags in the back of our Subaru. Then, I think that we may need to get a trailer. Being only 17 months apart, I fantasize about Indie and Otis, ages 5 and 4 respectively, best friends 'splorin the woods together while Molly and I set up camp at some newly-discovered swimmin' hole. I see lots of our friends and family members joining us there, and Indie and Otis trampin' about with their cousins.They come back to camp, like I did with my brothers, sister, and friends, with some slimy bug or neat-looking leaf to show all the grown-ups. I hope that Molly's fear of snakes and my fear of heights are not genetic.
What will I do when Indie and Otis ask about Disneyland, or even Kennywood? This is why we keep Uncle Jeremy around.Gittin' r dun.
