Adventures of a Wandering Homebody
The Eye of the Storm?
As the winds whipped through the woods and rain drummed on the roof, I had an unexpected moment of clarity as I looked around my home and realized that there was no place else I would rather be. Now, clearly I love my husband and my children are the joy of my days but occasionally this obviousness is hard to see. Does that ever happen to you? The days pass, routines are followed and fun is had, but it is all a blur?
On Monday afternoon, I had a moment. One that I can distinctly remember, which is a novelty in my crazy life right now. The power had just gone out and I had been home with the children all day. My husband left work early due to the storm and we were enjoying the last bits of daylight while sitting in front of the sliding glass window. Sadly we couldn’t remember the last time all of us had sat to play a game together. We played Memory and we were all swiftly beaten by my 2 1/2 year old son (hereby known as ‘Doodle’). My Bean, upset by her younger brother’s triumph disappeared to the playroom, we assumed to pout. Moments later she emerged with a tower of puzzles, one for each of us, and amazed us with her thoughtfulness. We all completed our puzzles with much verbal support from Bean and as the sky darkened and we began to light candles, I thought how lucky we were to be stuck inside, together, forced to live a simple life.
We had dinner by candlelight and listened to the (hand-crank) radio. We weren’t able to eat some of the foods that the children wanted, due to the power outage, but they were surprisingly okay with it. We rise to the occasion, I suppose. After dinner (and cupcakes) I stood in the candlelit kitchen as the chaos rose up around me, children in headlamps running circles after each other in the dark, I felt a sense of calm and was fulfilled by the love of my family.
So thank you, Hurricane Sandy, for giving me a moment to remember what really matters.
Health and Happiness,
So nicely and acurately stated as our lives are filled with too much chaos! This reminds me of your childhood and even mine, yes I remember that far back, playing games in the dark just by candlelight or flashlight when the electricity went out. I can just imagine how much fun Bean and Doodle had running through the house with their headlights on.
Love, Mom
P.S. Keep up the good work on your "Just one Acre", love reading it!