When I don't have to commute or drive kids to/from school every day, things seem infinitely simpler. When I have a meeting in the afternoon I don't have to worry about arranging alternate childcare. I can just plug in my headphones and Zoom away. There are no weekend birthday parties to shop for, no soccer practices to attend, no play dates, no quick trips to Target or the mall to pick up some item previously believed to be "essential". We take walks around the neighborhood nearly every day because...what else do we have to do? I've had more time to do video chats or socially-distanced walking dates with friends because...what else do any of us have to do? I'm reading more. I have more time for working on puzzles, playing games with the kids or random "Cafe Nights" where the kids create elaborate menus with the miscellaneous items in the cupboard. While I do miss some aspects of "normal" life, I find myself settling into this quieter pace of life. I know this won't last forever, and I've given up on hoping or wondering when it will end. It will end when it ends. For now, I'm relatively content with this homebody lifestyle.
So, in this relatively quiet season of life, when the opportunity to visit a farm (with new baby cows) presented itself, we nearly peed our pants with excitement and eagerly accepted the invitation.
Because...what else do we have to do?
The kids got up at 7am (earlier than they have in weeks!) so they could finish their school work and be ready to go after lunch. They piled into the car and were so excited to be going somewhere that they didn't even bother to ask if they could bring an electronic device along for the 45-minute drive down to Corning.Our day at the farm was a much bigger adventure than I had anticipated. I figured we would drive down, look at the cute baby cows, say hello to the sheep, and then head home. What we got was a full-service farm tour complete with petting (!!) baby cows, visiting all the sheep, practicing our sheep herding skills, playing with the dogs, picking mandarins, learning about how prunes are harvested, looking for fairy rings in the pasture, climbing hay stacks, a peacock sighting, and asking about 1,382 questions about animals and farm life. Our hosts (My sweet book club friend, Ann and her husband, Henry) were so gracious in answering every last question and making sure we experienced all the fun things about farm life. (And thankfully none of the real, actual work or un-fun stuff that I know goes on at a farm every day!)
As we were leaving, Clara commented this was the "Second best day of her life" (second only to the day she got to play baseball on the field at AT&T/Oracle Park). I'm not sure if she really loves farms, or if every fond memory has faded so much she can't even recall what fun is anymore. Both kids asked when we could go back again.
If we had been living "normal" life, I doubt this farm trip ever would have happened. Weekdays would be busy with school and work. Weekends would be busy with church, soccer, or birthday parties. The drive would seem too long for something as simple as looking at a herd of cows. I would have forgotten about the invitation in the clutter of other obligations, appointments and events.And yet.
We're not living normal life. And suddenly a simple afternoon on the farm ranked as one of the top life experiences EVER. Simple, quiet days bring a new flavor of joy. While we all want COVID to go away as quickly as possible, let's not miss the magic of this season of life. Because, what else do we have to do?
Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.
Space Kitties signing off.
Home School Day: Lost count
Toilet paper inventory: 28, which is interesting since we had 27 a week ago and I haven't purchased any new rolls.
Wine on hand: 1 box, plus a bottle of rum, because 80 degrees is fruity cocktail weather. (And maybe this solves the mystery of the poor toilet paper math...)
Crying fits: 5-ish
Hahaha.
ReplyDelete"I'm not sure if she really loves farms, or if every fond memory has faded so much she can't even recall what fun is anymore."