Motherwall

It is officially one hundred degrees in Cairo, Egypt.  The intense heat of the sun makes it very easy to exhaust the inner fuel tank.  One need do nothing at all!  Just be in the sun for half an hour (give or take).  To sit idly works just fine.  Before you know it...  "Ana gyp degaz!"  This is terrible phonetic spelling for a common Arabic phrase that means, "I'm outta gas!"  So this morning I decided to pump the AC and finish a home project that's been on my to-do list.  All done now and my tank is re-fueled.  I'm full of gas!  ;)

For months now, I've pondered the billions upon billions of women before me who have done what I am soon going to do.  To birth, that is.  I imagine these women in so many different settings...  a bedroom, the jungle, a pool, fields and meadows, a hospital room, the desert at night, a taxicab...  doing a thing their bodies are so simply capable of doing.  I especially like to remember the mothers in my life.  They are a source of strength for me; when I think of the personal birth stories they've shared, I believe in my capacity even more.  Creating a photo collage of these women seemed like a good tool for practicing this remembering every day until, and even during, labor.  I love it!  And recommend something like this as a support for any expectant mom who draws strength from the interconnectedness of all mothers throughout time.  

Here are a just a few photos from the wall, minus the two most important that I left behind in Worcester.  My mother and my maternal grandmother aren't in the mix!  Since both have passed on, it feels a shame to not see their faces in the collage.  But I guess when you think about umbilical cords and threads and such, they're quite literally a part of me...  in a way that no photograph is...  and I couldn't possibly have left home without them.