Harvestmoon Farm

Roan took a trip to the corn maze last Sunday.  I have to say I love the name of the farm, Harvestmoon, which was just right for the theme, the 50th anniversary of "Great Pumpkin" from Charlie Brown.  The sun was hot but the breeze was cool and it was just right under the shade.

Roan led the way through the maze, forging his own path, starting at the exit.  All that corn without a cob in sight must have made him hungry!  So he ate some popcorn and rested in the pumpkin patch.  He loved going down the slide, and a little girl took charge and saw to his safe back-and-forth from the bottom of the dirt hill and up to the top again, where I placed him on her lap and they slid down together.  That was after I'd been with him a few times.

Our last stop was the petting zoo, in which he was only passingly interested.  The piglet I managed to pick up screamed; it was a bloodcurdling squeal and sounded too human, so that my automatic reaction was to hug it to my chest and comfort it, before realizing I was probably making it worse.  The chickens, however, were quite content to be held by their puffy bodes, with their scraggly feathered legs dangling, amazingly docile.

We stayed only a couple hours, which was just right for us, and drank plenty of water.  Afterwards, when we took off our shoes, our feet were dark from dust and tans.

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"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan: squinting from the blinding sun at the outlook tower in the corn maze.  This scowl was a frequent look in his infancy.

Cheap Thrills

(pictured above, my friend Marian being eaten by a T-Rex)

Things Roan and I do that are fun and affordable:

go the beach (free!)

go to McDonalds so he can play in the PlayPlace (mostly free!)
go swimming at a friend's pool (free!)
go to Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, or any other interesting store and not buy anything (free!)
go to the park (free!)

(pictured, the neighbors' horses)

affordable parks like Dinosaur World, the Florida Aquarium, or the zoo

go to a friend's volleyball game (free!)
go out for a sweet treat
go to the mall and ride the merry-go-round (mostly free!)

and other spontaneous adventures, like visiting friends or going for walks.

40/52

"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan: whispy blond hair like his older brother.

I put him on the potty first thing in the morning and he strained and strained but to no avail.  I told him good job for trying!  I went around the corner to do something and he came running into me "asking" to be lifted up.  He felt wet and seemed a little worried, so I went back around to the bathroom to find his little puddle.  I told him it's okay and that he did a good job to tell me, we'll try again next time.

I'm in no hurry to potty train him, but I don't anticipate any trouble when the time comes and he's ready.

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"A portrait of my younger child, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Roan:  he is grabbing for the cell phone, holding it to his ear, conversing in unrecognizable syllables to important imaginary ambassadors.  So we called his Auntie RoRo, and he uttered some loose sounds that might have been "I love you."  <3

Perfect Day

My perfect day would start out at a reasonable hour--not too early, not too late.  I'm not rushed to get anywhere.  I feel a steady, happy pressure to get started on the day, but not stress.  I have to take my medication 30 minutes before I eat, so I get Afon and myself ready and dressed  before we eat a light breakfast together.  Maybe John and Roan join us.

After walking Afon to school, I join John and the baby back home.  Morning is for work.  Whether the work is cleaning, gardening, writing, studying, chores.  I have the most energy and am most positive about doing the hard things in the first half of the day, because I know I have the leisurely and lovely things to look forward to still.  Whatever I do, I prefer to do it to music.  Spontaneous dance parties with Roan may erupt.

Late in the morning, I start to prepare lunch.  The midday meal would be the largest meal.  It would be substantial and sustaining.  We have this ceremonial sit-down meal during the day while Afon is not at home so we don't have to rush or worry about breakables or food on the walls.  I'd like a beautify presentation, and then the washing up, and of course the napping.

After nap, we go to collect Afon from school.  He's had a good day without biting.  But we don't go straight home.  Since we're all out anyway, we take our constitutional as a family: we go to the shore, or the playground, or hop the bus for an impromptu trip to Llandudno.  Maybe we do a bit of unnecessary shopping (the best kind), and then we eat ice cream on the pier or sip coffee at a Costa.

We take our meal fast and to go.  The witching hour is my weakness: around 5 o'clock I start to feel sad and unmotivated.  To go home to prepare a meal with a tired and wild Afon and the day nearly spent, I'd sink with the sun.  Perhaps we eat perviously prepared sandwiches.  Or stop for soup in a fish and chip shop.  Whatever the choice, there is little clean up and no kitchen time.

We head home in the evening in time for the pleasant bedtime business: baths, teeth brushing, pajamas, and book reading.  In this scenario, Afon enjoys being read to again, and Roan is just cutting his teeth on some old favorites.  Afon falls asleep first because he's been up the longest.  Then John, Roan, and I watch some television quietly, or read our big books, or I comb through my pictures from the day.  John makes us coffee or tea, in the way only he can make it: with lots of care and some secret ingredients.

At bedtime, we sneak under the comforter, scooting close to the heater, and say our prayers.

To be feminine

"To be feminine is not to be weak, but to be filled with a power greater than one's own.  It is the state of every human soul before God, but woman is privileged to bear especially within her body the imprint of this relationship.  It is through her that man learns and receives his humanity, in the revelation of Eve that Adam becomes himself.  She is Wisdom.  Her body is the tabernacle in which the precious blood and body of each new human being is formed.  Her mind integrates the world of the body with the world of the spirit.  She is a reconciler, an intercessor, a mystery, and a paradox."

-- Melinda Selmys, Sexual Authenticity