…and now it is also the land of my dear Swiss friends, who are taking a three month road trip in their Shasta RV, starting in Boston, ending in California and then, so sadly, of to Switzerland never to return.  =(

I had a wonderful three years living in community with Joel, Daniela and their four kids, and I’m a little shaky on my feet at having to do it without them.  I love them all, but I feel a special bond with the youngest, T, whose accidental bathtub birth I missed by ten minutes.  It happened like this.  Another housemate, B, posted on facebook that Daniela was having the baby that night, and I called her, but she said she was just in early labor and that it could be days.  Still, I had a feeling that I should be there, and was planning on heading over after I finished a couple of emails.  Twenty minutes later,another housemate, M, called me to say the baby had just been born while Daniela was taking a bath.  Apparently she had something like three contractions, and Joel couldn’t finish dialing the number of the midwife before T was out.  M, a doctor but by no means an obstetrician, “caught” T, the oldest son cut the umbilical cord (which they clipped with a bag-clip from the kitchen) and B, who is studying to be an Anglican priest, said a blessing over her.  Voila, instant baby, no need to hire outside help.  Definitely one of the high points of living in community.

Cutest bathtub baby ever

For those of you who know the Roth-Naters, they are keeping a blog of their journey.  http://roth-nater.blogspot.com/