Time flies. It's June tomorrow and two days hence we will be setting out for Heathrow as we have done so many times before. The difference is that this time Harriet won't be waiting at the other end, she will be coming with us; back to the land of her birth and our first proper holiday as a family.
On the one hand we lead the typical modern life of being busy all the time. We are taking bookings from family in Scotland to come down in September and we are jetting off to San Francisco where the first order of business is to catch up with a friend from my best year in Edinburgh who is himself jetting down from Washington State.
On the other hand we lead a fairly quiet, sedate life. When the evenings come it's mostly just us, the dogs and the cable TV. Harriet's milestones - such as her first proper steps that we witnessed this week - are a private spectacle. Sadly they are all too private because I am most likely to be at work when they happen (her arrival into the world included).
So, I am dreading the flight (really, really dreading it) but hugely excited about spending some serious time with her. The really confident walking is about to happen any time soon and that will be a great boon to see.
Of all the trips we made during the time that we were expecting Harriet the one I hope to replicate is our trip to Arizona - Kartchner caverns to be precise. We were staying on a campsite that was little more than hard standing with a picnic table. It was a beautiful, calm place and so very fine to sit out in the evening drinking a little bit of the local wine.
That trip J saw so many shooting stars but every time they came I was doing something else (opening the next bottle most likely). Strange thing is that it didn't bother me because you knew if was special anyway.
But this time it's going to be the real thing. Big thanks to Matt for realising we are not so very far away and making the effort of a trip down south. It will be great to see Yosemite at last too after all of those trips when we have just missed it. But best of all, some 6,000 miles away from where I am writing this, I will get to see my shooting star for two uninterupted weeks in her home state.
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