Gifts

This is kind of about the Funk. I had it bad this weekend. So bad I skipped a Halloween party with a family I really enjoy, in the middle of some beautiful woods. I couldn't see my way out enough to figure out a costume to wear, and it just snowballed from there to a rotten afternoon with my youngest, horns locking, tempers rising, and I finally told Dan he should take Eliza and run! Run for the party! So they went and Ani and I had oatmeal by the light of a jack-o'-lantern and went to bed early. It was the right thing to do - we got time to make amends and finished the day enjoying each other.

I was worried about today - it is Week Nine for Dan, and he will be spending most of his time at school until the quarter is over. This does not bode well for the Funk. However, we awoke to autumn fog, which was burned off by late morning, leaving in its wake crystal clear skies and warm, warm sun. Sigh. Gift #1. Then the girls - the girls! my little cherubs! - they got along. Not every minute, but as I tried to explain to Eliza at bedtime, the joy in our house just quadruples when they are kind to each other. Today's mischief was in the form of creating a teepee. Across the street. Almost out of earshot from Mama. I figured that once it was built (which was challenging - lots of ducktape involved), they would sit in there for 10 minutes and we'd have to haul the whole thing back home. They giggled, wrestled, demanded sandwiches and ate bananas for one and a half hours. I sat in the sun on our front steps and crocheted. Gifts #2 and 3. Then I puttered and cleaned. #4. I realized I was starting to feel less Funk and more Peace.

The Teepee - can you see it?

After lunch we hit the bike path again (four times in one week!!! A family record for biking!!), which was a little harrowing, as it was Sunday and beautiful, and all the speedy racing bikers were rocketing past us, muttering under their breath about children on the path and such. Let's just say it was a good day to discuss some biking etiquette and bike path rules. We also saw what we think was a burrowing wolf spider making her way (Mama, how do you know it's a she? Aloud: well, I'm wondering if the females are larger in this species of spiders? To self: because if I call it a "she" it reminds me that she might be a mama and I won't want to run screaming for the hills or throw rocks at it from a looooong ways away), and the girls took turns, um....petting it, I mean her. They were encouraging her to leave the path, and I suggested a looooooong piece of grass, and Eliza just gave her abdomen a soft nudge. I do not recommend trying this at home, but for the record she said she was very soft. Then Ani verified her softness and declared that her abdomen was getting a little sore from biking, giggle giggle.

We somehow managed to extend the goodness and the gifts through the afternoon, through facepainting and cleaning up and dinner and a game with Papa and even baths and bedtime, and my kitchen is almost clean (ah! another gift! Dan did all the dishes this morning while I went grocery shopping!) and a few piles of clutter found their way home, and I spent the evening sewing and listening to stories.

A good good day, which is quite a gift.