This is not hard

So I'm squatting on the spare bedroom bed (otherwise known as Oldest-Daughter-who-is-away-at-college's Bed), weaving blocking wires through the edge of my Swallowtail Shawl. It's too big for just one wire per side so I'm using two wires per side. "This is a terrible job," I'm thinking. "Who invented this *&^ system of blocking anyway?" My nose is running from allergies and I'm sweating because I don't want to open the windows until the whole shawl is blocked.



That's when I remember that this is a shawl for my friend whose infant son died a year ago October after heart surgery.

This shawl business is not hard at all.



And I also remember that I just came from a prayer service for the lovely 17 yr. old daughter of a friend. She is undergoing surgery tomorrow (her second surgery) to remove tumors from her lungs because she has Ewing's Sarcoma. Her lovely, generous mother is the woman who taught me to knit. I made her little girl a nightgown in exchange. Now, tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. in Saint Paul, she is hopefully going to be one step closer to healing. After this, she goes in for radiation therapy. She has already had chemotherapy.

So, this shawl business is a walk in the park. Please keep my friend's daughter in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow, Tuesday, August 4, 2009, from about 2:15 p.m. - 6 p.m. That should be easy.

Easy

It's in-between pays
summer seems far away
but it's okay,
we all have those days
and tomorrow'll be easy as
spring relieves winter grief,
easy as turning wheels carry weight,
as easy as lovers meet
and the bud lets loose the leaf.

by Greg McNeill