I said weeks ago that the cold would soon creep over the mountains and settle into the valley. Well, it has. The day after Thanksgiving, we got a few flurries. Just enough to give the kids something to be excited about, but not enough to keep from dashing their little hopes. Last Saturday, their little hopes were satisfied ... and then some! We started December with our first snowfall of the season. It started very early in the morning and, by the time Megan woke up, everything was covered with snow. I heard her get out of bed, then heard little footsteps make their way to the window, then came a scream of excitement that filled the house. "It's snowing!!!" It brought back memories of when I was a kid. As soon as I would hear the weatherman forecast snow, the excitement and anticipation would begin to bubble up. I would wake up the next morning, anxious to look out the window and see our back yard covered in white. I can imagine that must be how she feels, too, and I laughed as I heard her run down the stairs at high speed.
Sonny went to work that morning. Working on Saturday has become a rather normal part of his routine in recent months, much to Megan's chagrin. She barely sees her daddy during the week, so she looks forward to the weekends with him. If he knew how disappointed she is when she wakes up on Saturday morning only to find he isn't there, he may not do it so much. This Saturday was different, though. This Saturday there was wonderful, beautiful, glorious snow just waiting to be made into snowballs and thrown at the the house, the garage, the dog ... any moving or non-moving object is a suitable target. To a kid, a big yard covered in freshly fallen snow is just a blank canvas for footprints and snow angels.
By the time Sonny got home early in the afternoon, she had already been out to play twice. Her boots were still drying by the wood stove when he said he wanted to go to Valley Star Farm and get a Christmas tree. He was in an unusually good mood. I told him I would get Meg ready. He suggested that we all go. All. The 3 of us. Just like we do every year. Part of me wanted to just get her into her snowsuit and send the both of them on their way. But the other part, (the part that won out in the end), said, "What the hell. Might as well cling to tradition for one last year."
The Christmas tree farm was beautiful. Once I got there, I was glad that he decided to get the tree that day and that he suggested I come along, too. The mountains and countryside, as always, were beautiful and breathtaking blanketed in fresh snow. We walked through small groves of Douglas Fir, White Pine, Norway Spruce and other varieties of evergreens ranging in size from Charlie Brown to That'll Never Fit In The Space We Have. Megan had so much fun sneaking up on us and ambushing us with snowballs, laughing and having fun. After nearly an hour, we narrowed it down to a few trees and Megan picked the one she liked best.
The scenery was beautiful, snow was falling, Megan was having fun. As we were walking through the Christmas tree farm, the snow flurrying around our faces, I thought how perfect the afternoon was. In a way, I wanted him to realize that, too, and stop right there amongst the pines and sincerely say he's sorry, tell me how much he loves me, tell me he wants to be with me. I felt the same feeling Thanksgiving Day at the lake. I know that will never happen, but I can't help that a small part of me wishes it would. I think the desire to be wanted is in all of us. It's human nature.
All week, I have been thinking about how we got along so well Thanksgiving Day during our walk around the lake and again at the Christmas tree farm, but other days ... um ... not so much. I couldn't help but wonder why that is. Why things are such a roller coaster ride for us. If things can be that good then, why not always? It's one of life's little mysteries. It ranks right up there with sasquatch, what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and why men never stop to ask for directions. One of those things I'll probably be scratching my head about for a long time.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thanksforgiving
Thanksgiving, thank goodness, was a calm and peaceful one. Lately, peace and calm are cherished commodities at our house, so I added that to my list of things to be thankful for. Any day that is uneventful and without argument is a good one and I cherished it!
Asking For Miracles
Megan slept in Thanksgiving morning, but was still able to give us a wake up call. While making out her Christmas list, she said, "Mama, how do you spell again." "A-G-A-I-N," I replied, wondering why she would put the word 'again' on her Christmas list. I thought that she probably asked Santa to bring her lots of Littlest Pet Shop animals again, just like last year, and continued on with my housework. When I passed through the living room again, she was on Sonny's lap showing him the list. He got tears in his eyes and abruptly got up and went outside. Later, I saw the list on the dining room table. I picked it up and read it. There, amongst Littlest Pet Shops, Fur Real Friends, and a new bike, was something that brought tears to my eyes, as well. In her neatest first-grade handwriting, she wrote, "For my dad to love my mom again."
Brave Explorers
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Megan and I went to Lake Arrowhead and picked up pine cones. She played on the playground for a while afterwards. As we were getting ready to leave, we made an impromptu decision to go for a walk on the trails. She was excited by the idea, so off we went. Megan, my girl of limitless imagination, picked up a stick and decided that we were explorers who had just arrived in a new land. All week, she had been learning about the Pilgrims and, obviously, she had absorbed it like a sponge! So, we continued on, two explorers on a trail, looking to make new discoveries. We stopped at the stump of a huge tree that had fallen. I pointed out the big roots that were now exposed. I explained to her that those were the roots that were once in the ground. There was a little pine tree growing out of the upturned stump. We marveled at the massive size of the hole where the tree once stood, and pondered the circle of life when we talked about how the old tree had died, but was giving life to a new one. It was one of those teaching, bonding moments that warms the heart of a mother and I soaked that up like a sponge! Soon, we left the main trail and started on the trail that winds along the opposite side of the lake. At the start of this trail, there is a sign warning hikers that parts of the trail are steep and rocky. When you're six, that just adds an element of danger and intrigue. When you're 40, it means you better think up an excuse to turn around! It was starting to get late in the day, and I told her that the sun would be down before we got all the way around the lake. She was disappointed, but I promised her that we would come back while she was off school for Thanksgiving break.
In the following days, we decided that we would go back on Thanksgiving while the turkey was in the oven and follow the trail all the way around the lake. Megan was so excited, anticipating the hike. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I was starting to look forward to it, too. The forecast didn't look very promising at the beginning of the week and we were keeping our fingers crossed that it didn't rain. Luckily, the rain held off and we were able to (as Megan put it) go on another adventure. I put the turkey in the oven, we got dressed, and we were both very surprised when Sonny said he wanted to come with us. Sonny, who usually tries to come up with any excuse not to do things with us, wanted to go for a hike around Lake Arrowhead! I was pleasantly surprised that he would commit to an activity that would take at least an hour or two and left him without an escape plan. I give him a lot of credit for that! At that moment, I may have even forgiven him a little bit .... but just a little. We even brought Katie and Cocoa, our dogs, and the 4 of us had a great time. (Of course, Sonny and I kept conversation to a bare minimum, which probably helped immensely.) Megan even stopped at the toppled tree, showed him the roots, and showed him the little pine tree growing out of the stump. She remembered our little teaching moment and was excited to pass the information along to her daddy. She is such a smart kid with a desire to learn about so many things and to share what she learns! At the steep/rocky sign, she stopped and read it to us all, warned us that it would be very dangerous. But she assured us that everything would be ok if we followed her. Our brave little leader. We can learn a lot from her. Maybe we should follow her more often.
Asking For Miracles
Megan slept in Thanksgiving morning, but was still able to give us a wake up call. While making out her Christmas list, she said, "Mama, how do you spell again." "A-G-A-I-N," I replied, wondering why she would put the word 'again' on her Christmas list. I thought that she probably asked Santa to bring her lots of Littlest Pet Shop animals again, just like last year, and continued on with my housework. When I passed through the living room again, she was on Sonny's lap showing him the list. He got tears in his eyes and abruptly got up and went outside. Later, I saw the list on the dining room table. I picked it up and read it. There, amongst Littlest Pet Shops, Fur Real Friends, and a new bike, was something that brought tears to my eyes, as well. In her neatest first-grade handwriting, she wrote, "For my dad to love my mom again."
Brave Explorers
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Megan and I went to Lake Arrowhead and picked up pine cones. She played on the playground for a while afterwards. As we were getting ready to leave, we made an impromptu decision to go for a walk on the trails. She was excited by the idea, so off we went. Megan, my girl of limitless imagination, picked up a stick and decided that we were explorers who had just arrived in a new land. All week, she had been learning about the Pilgrims and, obviously, she had absorbed it like a sponge! So, we continued on, two explorers on a trail, looking to make new discoveries. We stopped at the stump of a huge tree that had fallen. I pointed out the big roots that were now exposed. I explained to her that those were the roots that were once in the ground. There was a little pine tree growing out of the upturned stump. We marveled at the massive size of the hole where the tree once stood, and pondered the circle of life when we talked about how the old tree had died, but was giving life to a new one. It was one of those teaching, bonding moments that warms the heart of a mother and I soaked that up like a sponge! Soon, we left the main trail and started on the trail that winds along the opposite side of the lake. At the start of this trail, there is a sign warning hikers that parts of the trail are steep and rocky. When you're six, that just adds an element of danger and intrigue. When you're 40, it means you better think up an excuse to turn around! It was starting to get late in the day, and I told her that the sun would be down before we got all the way around the lake. She was disappointed, but I promised her that we would come back while she was off school for Thanksgiving break.
In the following days, we decided that we would go back on Thanksgiving while the turkey was in the oven and follow the trail all the way around the lake. Megan was so excited, anticipating the hike. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I was starting to look forward to it, too. The forecast didn't look very promising at the beginning of the week and we were keeping our fingers crossed that it didn't rain. Luckily, the rain held off and we were able to (as Megan put it) go on another adventure. I put the turkey in the oven, we got dressed, and we were both very surprised when Sonny said he wanted to come with us. Sonny, who usually tries to come up with any excuse not to do things with us, wanted to go for a hike around Lake Arrowhead! I was pleasantly surprised that he would commit to an activity that would take at least an hour or two and left him without an escape plan. I give him a lot of credit for that! At that moment, I may have even forgiven him a little bit .... but just a little. We even brought Katie and Cocoa, our dogs, and the 4 of us had a great time. (Of course, Sonny and I kept conversation to a bare minimum, which probably helped immensely.) Megan even stopped at the toppled tree, showed him the roots, and showed him the little pine tree growing out of the stump. She remembered our little teaching moment and was excited to pass the information along to her daddy. She is such a smart kid with a desire to learn about so many things and to share what she learns! At the steep/rocky sign, she stopped and read it to us all, warned us that it would be very dangerous. But she assured us that everything would be ok if we followed her. Our brave little leader. We can learn a lot from her. Maybe we should follow her more often.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)