Life with Rowan is wonderful and exhausting. He will be six weeks old on Monday and now weighs around 7 lbs. He is very sweet and loves to be held and talked to. We are beginning to fall into a pattern with him. Since he only sleeps a couple hours at a time and seems always hungry, it is very demanding. Usually, he sleeps with me. When he fusses, I get up, change him and take him to Tina to feed. Now that she is expressing milk, we are all beginning to take turns feeding him. On Monday, she returns to work full time. Until Fall, I will take the morning shift, Troy the afternoon, and Lon & Tina the evening. I was always worried about being a parent -- but I love it. I love him. It is like falling in love. I feel the same wonder, euphoria and devotion.

Oh, we made the newspaper. When Rowan was born, we sent the birth announcement to the local paper -- with all four parents listed. They ran it but called to ask about it. They asked if they could send a reporter to do a story about out usual family. We were worried, but agreed. The article, entitled "And Baby Makes Five" ran last week. To our great surprise, we think it is great. If you want us to send you a copy via regular mail, let us know. We are keeping an original copy in his baby book.

Well, live has slowed a little for us on the public side. Pride Celebrations are over. It was a lot of work, but everything ran very well. We had fun too. I sewed Rowan a little rainbow outfit to wear and Tina painted a pink triangle on it and his hat. He was very cute. The River City Pagan Community built a float and had a booth. The float featured a giant purple Goddess with a big pink pubic triangle and the words "All Acts of Love and Pleasure Are Sacred."

Our Midsummer Bar-B-Q and Ritual was nice and even had pleasant weather. It was a light sprinkle -- a welcome relief from the high heat and humidity.

In July we are planning to have a Wiccaning and Baby Shower. A Wiccaning, for those unfamiliar with it, is a ceremony were his family and friends welcome and pledge their support for the new baby. (It does not imply that Rowan has to be the same religion as us.) That will be July 28 at a park a couple doors down from our house.

In August we will be hosting visitors from Ireland. Janet & Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone are well known and respected Wiccan teachers. They will be staying with us for a couple days. IPAN will be organizing a workshop and ritual with them for the community. We met them at Ancient Ways in California last year and really liked them. I am looking forward to getting to know them better.

It seems I will be traveling a bit this fall. I submitted a paper to the Lavender Languages conference and was accepted. I will be traveling the Washington DC on Sept. 26 and returning on the 29. It should be fun and good for my career. Meanwhile, I also registered for and submitted a paper to the American Anthropological Conference in San Francisco this November. I haven't heard if the paper is accepted or not yet, but I will be going anyway. I purchased tickets to SF on Nov. 21 and will return to Iowa Dec. 1. That means I will be spending Thanksgiving week in Santa Cruz. (Let me know ahead of time if you want to see me. I have promised to spend time with my mom and sister but want to see friends too.

Well, dinner is almost ready and I have some work to do. Please write and let me know what you are up to.

Dawn