The French have a term for this: after the nearly universal vacationing in July and/or August -- a period lasting at least three weeks for them, because pourquoi pas (why not), they come back to work late August or early September and adjust. La rentrée. Adapting to normal life once again. It's a process.
I feel that way after most trips to Europe, but I especially think this term ought to be applied to my return now. Because I was gone for so long. Because there was a seasonal switch and the new season requires my full attention. Because Ed's beard has grown too long and I need to find time to cut it. Because I want to continue the long daily walks even though finding time for them will be a challenge. Because, because. I need to adjust!
The time change (it's earlier here than it is there) favors a smooth transition. I wake up early, which is a good thing. And the weather is on my side as well -- the warm-up has finally begun in Wisconsin. Not quite short sleeve weather, but not cold either.
I step outside to survey the farmette lands.
What's blooming? Plenty of blue Siberian Squill flowers popping up in the flower fields and underneath the big maples out front. And the crocuses haven't faded!
And we're just getting the start of the daffodils.
Of course, the perennial beds are bursting with spring time enthusiasm. Plenty of green tips out there!
I take a walk in the new development. Ed is still dozing and I figure it's a good time to fit in a brisk saunter. (We'll go out on our own park walk later.) It's that or lose myself in doing laundry and cleaning up corners of the house that were, um, a tiny bit neglected in my absence!
We eat breakfast. Oatmeal, because I feel deprived of oatmeal!
And then it's just a hodgepodge of the usual: go through the mail, do that blasted laundry, unpack, put away... oh, the list is long!
I break for that second walk, this time with Ed. For him, it's just another day, with me now back in the picture. But I'm still reeling from all the movement between such different places! I'm no longer a souvenir purchaser, though I did pick up a couple of magnets for the fridge and lots of chocolate -- some from Switzerland, some from France, some for the upcoming holidays, some for our couch snack after dinner. And this jar of honey, from my girl, purchased when she and her husband went away for the night.
I have to smile at that: this time I knew to pack it well, remembering the one time I didn't, and the jar opened, and I had before me a very sticky suitcase.
Ultimately, yy period of adjustment is a brief one. By early afternoon, I'm in the school pick up line, waiting for Snowdrop.
To the farmette!
And now it feels like my travels were more than just a day behind me. There's homework, there are snacks. There's reading, there's ballet. Typically, all this runs smoothly, but today, I admit to getting the girl to ballet class 1. late, 2. a bit messy, and 3. with an imperfect hair bun. Why? Oh, it's entirely the president's fault. 100%. Since I'm apportioning blame, let me explain:
My younger daughter bought shoes for her two girls for their Paris trip. Simple, fabric, comfortable. They happen to be sold by a European company. They were perfect. Inexpensive and pretty. (Perhaps you saw them in the posts? The girls wore them every day.) I thought these would serve Snowdrop well too. So I purchased a pair for her. Online. Same company, same shoes.
Only I purchased them after the whole European tariff mess began.
Fed Ex kept sending me messages while I was in Europe, telling me customs forms needed to be filled out. On my end and on the end of the seller. Long forms. And they were due today or else. (??) I finally got through to Fed Ex this afternoon and their explanation was so long and so cumbersome that it made us late for Snowdrop's class. (And she was barely put together for the class, because I had no time to help her get ready.)
I don't even know if in the end the forms I sent back were properly done. I'll likely never see the shoes. And let me assure you, America will not be made great again by any of this. If you think otherwise, well, dream away.
Evening: I popped by the grocery store and restocked our food supplies. Fish and asparagus for dinner. And a few moments on the couch, with Ed, before I zonked out early again, still one foot in Europe, but mostly back home now. Reentry completed.
with love...
