Today, a Holy Day for Baha'is around the world, the highlight of my day was dinner with my family. With one daughter already living in Ottawa and another likely moving out in the fall, our family-of-five rarely gathers as just us. Tonight we did. Bernie brought Vietnamese take-out so I didn't have to cook, and we had desserts left over from last night's Gatineau Naw Ruz party (I made an amazing double chocolate swirl truffle cheesecake which the girls polished off this evening), and then we visited in the living room and laughed and laughed and laughed. My kids are just so much fun!!! Our family pilgrimage is this summer, and I am already in a stage of I-can-hardly-wait.

In the meantime, the winter gasps its dying days. I wrote a poem for Naw Ruz here, and will paste it below for you to enjoy. It's a simple poem, but I wanted to try for two languages since our community is so multilingual...and "Allah'u'abha" is a greeting we use which means "God is Most Glorious."

shift to spring

comme moi, j’attendais
the melt on bended knee
the eyeward glance
delightsome dance
of here’s the new day singing

comme moi, je chantais
yeux ouverts, les rivières et les plaines
de cet amour
de Dieu,
je chantais fine et forte
with all my heart

comme moi, je cherchais
loin et proche
for all the joys
of prayer and song
pour les amis et les familles

and I, I looked for gold
in springtime skies
the song of Alleluia
rising high to celestial rains

chaque atome et chaque cher ange
qui nous apporte cette louange
je l’offrais de mon coeur et âme unis
avec le monde entier

throughout each place, each magic leaf
through acts of grace, through gardens drawing near
the Ridvan of His honeyed tongue

comme moi, je goutais ces mots sacrés,
Allah’u’abha,
le printemps est arrivé

and we give praise.