Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Clouds and Babies

I woke up in Raleigh this morning (Cary to be exact) at 5:45 EST. I did not want to get out of bed. It feels so right to be there and to be loved, and it feels so wrong to be here where it is cold and all of my hugs are hundreds of miles away.

I had breakfast in Memphis at around 8:30 CST after having a short but fruitful nap on the plane. Once in Memphis I was told there would be an hour delay, told there would not be an hour delay, told to go to another gate and finally put in the air at around 9:40.
The clouds were amazing today. We flew low for a while and skimmed the top of the cloud cover. I could see no ground and the clouds made a spectacular geography of canyons and cliffs. It was like being lost in a fantasy world; esoteric, if you will. I half expected to see angels resting on the shelves beside us.
I arrived in New Orleans and drove through nasty rain to get to the Burg. I went straight to class, only getting there about five minutes after one; much better than I thought I would do. After class I had enough time to change shirts, eat a meal and clock in at 5:00. I worked until about 7:30; it was a slow night thank goodness.
I then drove across the street to meet my neighbor Hillaire's new son Julian. He is a gentle and sweet little boy with long, dark hair and long legs. Hillaire was in labor for 23 hours and had Julian at 2:00 today. I know she has to be tired, but she looks beautiful and is doing well. She was so proud to tell me that Ricky was very helpful during the labor and hasn't taken his eyes off Julian since. I hope that this is a sign of things to come for the three of them.
I only got to hold Julian for about 30 seconds. Ricky's dad handed him to me and almost immediately he started trying to nurse on me. Apparently Hillaire had been trying to get him to nurse since 2:00 and he wouldn't. So I handed him over and he had his first meal. I have to admit, it gave me the baby-bug a little bit for him to reach for me like that and it's a good thing my visit to NC is over.
So now I'm home and I've got chapters to read. I wonder how long I will last.

4 comments:

Mad Cabbie said...

Welcome back Eryn! I was kind of worried about you.

Eryn said...

Worried about me? Why?

Mad Cabbie said...

I was worried because someone commented on my blog and it goes something like this,

"I'm having a great time here. I love in in NC and it gets more difficult to leave each time. It's so hard to not throw nursing to the wind and move up here and get a job as a secretary or something."

Eryn said...

Oh that was just me moanin' and groanin'. I wouldn't give up nursing. I've worked too hard to get this far. Plus, I really feel called to do this work. It's who I am.
It'll be tough, but Wesley is very encouraging and I know it'll be worth it in the end.
Thanks for thinking of me, but no worries. I WILL be a nurse (one of these days...).