Yes,
the floor is full of toys and there are dishes to wash (floors to wash, clothes to wash…), but the sun is falling on my chair. That warm, winter sun. And there is tea and the quiet of two children sleeping. I am going to sit in that sun and sit in it well.
And also,
This [...]
I don’t avoid air conditioning just because I am stingy (I am.) But also because I don’t often hear people reminiscing about days spent inside comfortably cool, but I remember from my a/c-less childhood setting bowls of ice in front of window fans, sitting on the dark, cool basement steps, putting my pillowcases in the [...]
We were promised a hot day, and the heat came quickly to us. After breakfast, we set out into the garden to water and play, and by 9:00, the edges of our hair were damp with good, summer sweat. We spent the later part of the morning around a bathtub of cool water and bowls [...]
I have been lost in Jane Eyre (can you believe I had never read it?) and settling into our summer routine: morning work and play, midday retreat to books, little lessons and a shady house, quiet afternoon naps, and small walks when the sun gets low. We have been eating lots of muesli (recipe to come, [...]
I bought two bouquets of rhubarb at the market this morning, and the man I bought them from said to the people buying rhubarb behind me that he likes the hot days and more every year. They did, too. I wanted to say, “I do, too!” but they were all at least 40 years my senior, and [...]
The best thing about gardening is meeting old friends, again. Like the two little Red Russian kales that self-sowed from last year’s plant. And the sunflowers from scattered birdseed. And all my herbs that I worried about over the winter. Everything looks so beautiful to me. Especially my oregano plant, which began so small [...]
Today was my last day at work this year. The students are fed and ready for their exams, and a beautiful day is there outside my open window, a day that tans your shoulders and perks up shy seedlings and sends all the leaves out of their shells. I have bare legs, feet, shoulders. I [...]
After many, many cold days, spring came back to us. Today, the trees began budding and the peas I planted haphazardly on a warm day back in March had peaked their heads above the soil though I did nothing to coax them. After making Reed breakfast, we ran out the door so eager to feel [...]
It’s cold out today. We have to wear coats. We didn’t plant things or walk around barefoot all day. We turned the heat back on. We closed all the windows. Such is spring in Wisconsin. But I still love spring. I love it. Especially with my little boy. Who was born in fall, but is [...]
Today was the first day of spring. I would show you proof, but I can’t upload pictures just now, so you will have to take my word for it. Yesterday we woke to clouds and ice. Today we woke to sun and thaw. The seven-day weather forecast predicts day after day of thaw and thaw [...]