An ordinary day, with elements of the unusual. Couldn't you say that about most days? And so maybe this Friday was just as you would expect it to be?
Here's an unusual element: Ed is up to do the morning work with the cheepers. And of course, because I am so programmed to wake myself then, so driven to get things done early in the morning, I cannot luxuriate in the novel wonderfulness of this permission to sleep in. I'm up two minutes after him.
And it's fortuitous that I should get going early, because we have guests for -- (the usual!) -- breakfast.
We all are inclined to linger, even as each of us is pressed for time. Our guests are driving back to Chicago, Ed has his Friday tech meetings and I have Snowdrop.
One quick glance at the garden...
...and I'm off.
Except I needn't have hurried. Here's an unusual element: ten o'clock in the morning and Snowdrop is still sleeping! Fighting a bug? Recovering from yesterday's outings? You can never tell...
At last, it's time for her breakfast.
Cool astronaut p.j.'s, Snowdrop!
Do you have strawberries for me, grandma?
After her bath, she discovers a toy that is not necessarily easy to propel. You pull it at a certain angle and the "kangaroo" flaps its paws.
How do I get it to flap???
She finally figures it out and she does a lovely dance step trying to run forward and look back at her kangaroo.
We go for a walk then. Not too long. It's cold outside. She's in a sweater and a jacket. Oh, spring can be so fickle here!
Back home, I watch her try on three occupational hats. Here she is, thinking about rockets again...
And here, she is building towers with periodic element blocks, indicating perhaps that she is not hostile to science. Or construction work.
And here, she is happily proclaiming her chef stardom status from up high.
My time with Snowdrop though isn't long. In the afternoon, I have a haircut, grocery shopping, and finally -- a check of the garden after all the rains we've had. There are plants to support, weeds to remove -- the usual.
What's blooming in the yard? Well, let's give a final appreciative nod to the late flowering narcissus varieties.
And of course, to the queen of early spring: the lilac.
I'm paying attention to the buds that are ready for the next stage...
And always, always, I am grateful to the melange of colors provided by the potted annuals.
Tomorrow they say may be even cooler! No matter. I'm confident we're past the frost danger. Spring waffles and swings and sways. And despite the fluctuations, each day reveals layers of surprising beauty. And that's no surprise for this time of the year, is it...
Here's an unusual element: Ed is up to do the morning work with the cheepers. And of course, because I am so programmed to wake myself then, so driven to get things done early in the morning, I cannot luxuriate in the novel wonderfulness of this permission to sleep in. I'm up two minutes after him.
And it's fortuitous that I should get going early, because we have guests for -- (the usual!) -- breakfast.
We all are inclined to linger, even as each of us is pressed for time. Our guests are driving back to Chicago, Ed has his Friday tech meetings and I have Snowdrop.
One quick glance at the garden...
...and I'm off.
Except I needn't have hurried. Here's an unusual element: ten o'clock in the morning and Snowdrop is still sleeping! Fighting a bug? Recovering from yesterday's outings? You can never tell...
At last, it's time for her breakfast.
Cool astronaut p.j.'s, Snowdrop!
Do you have strawberries for me, grandma?
After her bath, she discovers a toy that is not necessarily easy to propel. You pull it at a certain angle and the "kangaroo" flaps its paws.
How do I get it to flap???
She finally figures it out and she does a lovely dance step trying to run forward and look back at her kangaroo.
We go for a walk then. Not too long. It's cold outside. She's in a sweater and a jacket. Oh, spring can be so fickle here!
Back home, I watch her try on three occupational hats. Here she is, thinking about rockets again...
And here, she is building towers with periodic element blocks, indicating perhaps that she is not hostile to science. Or construction work.
And here, she is happily proclaiming her chef stardom status from up high.
My time with Snowdrop though isn't long. In the afternoon, I have a haircut, grocery shopping, and finally -- a check of the garden after all the rains we've had. There are plants to support, weeds to remove -- the usual.
What's blooming in the yard? Well, let's give a final appreciative nod to the late flowering narcissus varieties.
And of course, to the queen of early spring: the lilac.
I'm paying attention to the buds that are ready for the next stage...
And always, always, I am grateful to the melange of colors provided by the potted annuals.
Tomorrow they say may be even cooler! No matter. I'm confident we're past the frost danger. Spring waffles and swings and sways. And despite the fluctuations, each day reveals layers of surprising beauty. And that's no surprise for this time of the year, is it...
