Now that we’ve crossed the invisible border into parenthood, we can see some things a little more clearly. So many people said, “it changes everything.”  I didn’t—and still don’t—like that phrasing.  The ambiguous article and the top down causality of the phrase.  I prefer the subtler, “everything changes.”

It may seem that there is no difference in the second sentence, but it feels, to me, much more joyful and full of possibility. And then I can agree.  Everything does change. Priorities, schedules, reasons for worry and reasons for celebration.  Our former lives haven’t been emptied, but this little River has carved a new canyon—one we welcome and could never avoid.

An old friend who is a little further into this parenting thing made a very astute observation regarding an earlier post about my yearly trips into the wilderness:

Perhaps you are not in the woods, but the first couple months with a newborn force you to focus on simple living much the way that being in nature does- “Return to a simple life where each day is laid out before me: rise, eat, break camp, paddle, eat, paddle, eat, rest.” This is, in essence, life with a baby. You plan all that you can, assemble a good team and then it is a physically exhausting trek that is often very different than you could have anticipated.

How true. And gracious of her to point it out to me.

So the next few months will be a different kind of expedition, full of the challenges and rewards I’ve known in the backcountry.  We’ve got a baby to feed, a chicken coop to complete, a writing shack to construct, a mud-oven to mold and a move in the works.

It’ll be a busy, glorious time.