We have not done much in the past few days. The weather has been strange. There has been so much rain. Of course, that is not good when it is hay season, however, it is great because it certainly keeps the dust down and it's nice not to have to slather ourselves with sunscreen!
We all went to the little town theater on Saturday night for their summer play. Last year it was The Piped Piper and our kids reenacted that for months after wards. This year it was a radio show featuring live d.j.'s who introduced a variety of current and classic stars. There was Sonny & Cher, The Carpenter's, Taylor Swift, Elvis and many more. The whole thing wrapped up with Willy Nelson coming out and singing “On the Road Again”.
The song actually reminded me of us. Just a band of gypsies...playing music with my friends, seeing things I never thought I would see. It was great fun.
It is weird to think about heading home in about a week. We are so present within all the moments and happenings here that the thought of going home, everyone having their own room, that big house, driving the minivan versus a big ol' truck, getting ready to start school and wrapping up the summer-it all seems so far off in the distance.
Here I take the time to just stop what I am doing and make bread with Katie in the middle of afternoon as though that is the ONLY thing to accomplish today. Or sit outside as the weather shifts into a light sprinkle and watch Hunter's concert. He has one just about every night. He got this battery operated guitar from his cousins for his birthday that plays old classic rock songs and he just jams out. He invites us all out into the backyard where he proceeds to jump and spin, twirl his guitar, and play an entire concert for us. Hunter wears his new tennies with his white socks pulled up to his knees. I think he looks rather like AC/CD, right, don't they have their socks pulled up? Benjamin now accompanies him as the lead dancer, mostly running in circles around Hunter while Hunter encourages him to “do his thing.” Scott and I just laugh and smile. Finally, Scott turned to me and asked, “Where does that kid get those moves from?” I think we all know how Scott can cut a rug so it is clear to me that Hunter gets his moves from his dad!
I am so grateful my kids just take it all in. The long grass can be rather prickly and scratchy. I really do not care for it so wear my mud boots almost all the time, but Katie will spend the afternoon in her flip flops collecting a center piece without the grass or even the grasshoppers distracting her. The kids are so content. They will play for hours with each other just using their imagination. Right now they are all outside getting the concert area ready by gathering rocks and lining them up along what is to be the edge of the stage, trying to catch a lizard, and just digging in the dirt.
I can hear them outside the window talking nicely to one another as they are 'working it out' with one another as one wants to put the rocks in one way and the other wants to do it another way, but there they are- out there getting it all figured out. The storm is rolling in and I can hear Ben singing the “rain, rain, go away song” as the other two chat with each other about rock placement. I have not figured out what it is about the times they get along so beautifully versus the times they do not, but it's been a great few days!
It's funny how the days just continue to pass, paying no attention to how or what we do with those days. We are all so “full” here and yet do so little. Our day today has been filled with morning make believe while I do my exercises, pretending school (Katie of course is the teacher keeping track of “x” marks and stars as far as the boy's behavior goes), relaxing and reading a few chapters, 4 wheeling with Hunter to collect flowers to dry, chasing the 6 cows from another farm out of the tall grass out front, eating lunch together with Scott, popping popcorn, making bread, preparing dinner, watching the seventh Hunter concert, sewing top hats for the deer Uncle Mark and Scott shot last fall, all that sounds like a whole lot of nothing, right? AND YET~ here we all are, totally content, calm, happy, getting along, listening-really listening to one another, and just truly enjoying one another's company. That is filling. We are full and it is that simple.
I find at home I try too hard to give so much that I can sometimes actually feel empty despite my best efforts. I have to ask myself who I am doing this all for after a long, but great day at the zoo, a picnic, etc.-all this entertaining. It seems so backwards. And yet think that must be an adult perspective about time and how it should be spent. As an adult, I feel the best after a busy day and also a sense of accomplishment, but think kids are different. When I project how I think their time is best spent, there always seems to be something missing for them at the end. Why can't I just let them play all day in their own way and let them fill themselves ---which they will?
Here at the cabin, what we give to one another is a gift of time, the gift of ourselves and who we really are without all the busy-ness that distracts us from who we think we should be and what we think we should be doing and how to measure our own personal progress or that of our kids.
Those three are still outside practicing the concert. I think Katie has now moved into a management position as I can here her, “Act mad! Yeah. Yeah. Give me that mad face. Benny move this way. Hunter move the other way. Ugh...you guys need to keep practicing!” and then I hear the music start over again!
And then the game shifts into something different. Now they are selling center pieces, hanging all these pulled up weeds, swept into a circle and hung on a broken branch. Calling out to no one really that they have center pieces for sale. And then back to the concert! And round and round it goes!
I do so apologize for our lack of pictures. It really does take so long, but be prepared for when we dump them all on. I am eager to upload some of the videos-the infamous concert, the headless moving rattle snake, etc. So, we will just have to make a trip into town where we can get them on fast.
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