Mother bear

It may be too soon for you to tell, but I'm doing a daily photo challenge, CY365. It's fun to have a go at the prompts; I feel free to interpret them as loosely as I like. Today the prompt was FUR. I had an image in my mind, a shot of one of our microphones with the blimp--the fur cover that acts as a buffer against wind. The day took on a different shape than I'd anticipated and I never got that picture. 

I did, however, snap this quick image while bouncing and entertaining a new little friend today. I don't know how her mama would feel about naming her here so I'll just call her Peach Noggin. She herself had a kind of soft electrified fur on her head. As for me, today I was keenly aware of my furry sense of mother bearness. Peach Noggin's mama, whom I will call The Phoenix, and I share a mutual friend and we met while supporting this dear friend during a particularly rough trial. 

The Phoenix and I took to each other quickly that day. She told me about her years of suffering terrible abuses at home and in a circus of foster homes, before she finally sought and won her legal emancipation as a minor. She's tough and loving and honest, a great soul. Put out by the stories of unkind, unhealthy people, I told her that, sheesh, I'd be willing to adopt her myself and she accepted the offer with enthusiasm and good humor. Today she drove 3 or 4 hours total just to come and visit, to meet her new dad(!), and to show off Peach Noggin, who very obviously has a beautiful big soul like The Phoenix. 

Why isn't it the least bit weird to have a person who's a quarter of a century old calling me (mostly, tentatively) Mom, or unabashedly referring to us as Peach Noggin's new gramma and grampa? We haven't been married THAT long! But what a purposeful piece of sweetness. I feel guided to these relationships and I embrace this new chance to love and protect, fiercely. 

Don't let me catch you messing with my cubs, if you know what's good for you. Not these cubs nor any of  my others.