Life These Days

The other day, I took one of the kids to a birthday party and Jon had the other two at home. The birthday party was one of those where the parents could hang out and hang around, or drop off and pick up at the end. I had every intention of sticking around and socializing with the other parents, preparing myself mentally for how far behind the Joneses we are, mainly because the party was only two hours and by the time I made it back home I wouldn’t have had time to switch out of my outdoor pants, but then instead I surreptitiously exited and took a walk into a nearby cafe.

I went to this really excellent cafe where I had a reasonably priced tea with some sort of pastry involving cheese and mushrooms and onions. My only complaint might be that they didn’t heat the pastry up, but I suppose that’s not a knock on them so much as it is a reflection of my own inability to survive in the wilderness.

And it was great! It was an unexpected hour and a half to sit and gaze out the window and write in my journal and catch up on my book. I can’t remember the last time I sat in a cafe completely on my own.

I took an unintentional break from the blog recently, though not for lack of new stationery things or life being lived. Appointments, a cough from the kids, an off-nap day, extra piles of laundry.  

The kids had a four day Easter weekend and we went into the shop to wield our usual tornado forces. The house is still in shambles and I feel like I could be attacked and smothered in my sleep by the dust bunnies rising up from under the furniture and in the corners. Jon has been installing shelves in the pantry and I am discovering fossilized goods from a previous era—I’m finding myself using the phrase “pre-Covid” about canned goods—and the children are trying to count how many nipples each cat has and teeth are falling out of mouths like it’s the tail end of a long sea voyage and the baby has been eating the sidewalk chalk and Tuna has been eating leftovers from the kitchen table and it’s all glorious bliss.

Chicken has been spending time escaping Tuna, Tuna has been spending time gloomy but hopeful. I’ve been spending time soaking it all in, notebook in hand.