Well, time to get serious. Early breakfast.
And now out comes the suitcase. Going to Poland prior to Christmas is not good for packing. You take bulky clothes and stuff for people. And, since I'll be cooking for a crowd, I want to take some favorite ingredients. Trying to understand which foods you can bring into the EU is so difficult that I give up and take my chances. (I'm surprised that for personal use, you can actually bring in any number of veggies.) My suitcase will almost certainly be searched. Let them take out what they want. Plantaines, beans, serrano peppers -- cross my fingers and pack them in.
A few appointments, a few errands, zip this way and that and before I know it, it's afternoon. Picking up Snowdrop gives me a chance to slow down to her pace. I put everything aside: the afternoon belongs to her.
Not surprisingly, she plunges into playing "ship at sea." She hadn't wanted to stop last night. Today, we're building a boat again. Only bigger and better -- with a pillow that serves as a kitchen and more pillows that are to be sleeping quarters.
Want to join me, gaga? Ahah?
It's good energy here! -- she tells us.
And now we flip again and she is the book writer, the story teller...
Suddenly, things get serious. She abandons ship and sets up her office.
I hint that she is cluttering her desk. She assures me she needs every single item on it.
Finally, in out last minutes of play, she dances. She twirls. She wants me to dance and twirl. I get dizzy on a swing, no way can I spin in circles. She shows me how. We practice.
We need dance ribbons.
We twirl some more...
Until it's time for her to leave. See you next week, Snowdrop.
Why?
I'm going away for a week. You know that.
Where are you going?
Poland, France. The usual.
Will you bring back a surprise?
Evening: dangerously close to Wednesday. And still, I keep the traditional slow pace. It is our way to keep things calm when winter dark settles in. It's a habit: unwind with the darkness. Exhale. Relish in all that the day delivered. Don't fuss about what tomorrow may bring.