My hope was for an ordinary week. Last week was, well, a lot …. and just as I thought I’d made it through, it ended with a sudden Friday night stomach flu that knocked the strength and hydration right out of me. My chance to rehydrate and rest in peace Saturday was thwarted by the arrival of guests of my husband’s. They traveled a crazy several hours from the north through a snowstorm for a visit, and also seemed undaunted by the presence of a stomach virus in the house. Sigh…
Sunday, my stomach and I (along with green tea scented hand sanitizer) made it through a church event I was helping with, complete with takedown and clean up. My lovely co-leaders had done my share of the set up Saturday while I rested and recovered.
Sunday evening I decided I’d have “an ordinary day” the following day. With another layer of freshly fallen snow from the day before, it would be the perfect day for something simple like tobogganing. The snow would still be fluffy but packed down a bit so that we weren’t getting stuck in it. S and L were game to go. Old as they are getting, they still enjoy a spontaneous round of sledding.
Late Sunday evening, I received messages from work about situations that had the potential to turn into crises. I could see they were going to need to be attended to. By Monday morning, I learned some difficult things in our non-work life as well, complete with an in-law being transported to hospital and all that that entails.
One phone call turned into another phone call. One text turned into another text. One email turned into another email. I was no longer in the mood for ordinary. My mind went to a place of compartmentalizing “ordinary” as something I’d get to, once “semi-crisis” was over. Then, I’d breathe again. I’d have fun. I’d relax into an ordinary day.
It’s always been something that I’ve found difficult – going about my day and being present when there’s something significant that I know will demand my attention later. I have been so inspired lately, though, by hearing the stories and seeing the Instagram photos and captions of Australians, continuing with life and finding ways to go about life despite the tremendous fires.
I looked outside and saw S digging out snow in front of the back shed to see if he could even get the toboggans out. He was able to get the doors open wide enough to squeeze out two small ones. I saw L getting snow pants on. Somehow they weren’t aware of the flurry of near- crises conversations I’d been having. They were getting ready for the ordinary time we’d planned.
I had more calls coming in at 3:30, but it was not yet 1:30. I had two hours that I could just relax into something regular and fun. So, I took a deep breath, turned off my phone and decided to get intentional about those two hours. I didn’t mention my stressful day. I just got ready to go and we headed out. I’m so glad we did.
The sun shining on the snow was beautiful.
Some spots were unbroken before our footprints …
The sky was sooo blue and cloudless. I’ve begun to recognize the beauty in leafless trees of winter. They free up so much of the sky.
In some places, the snow was packed enough to lean into.
Skateboarding on a hill:). My guys have snowboarded for years. This is the first year of using a snow skateboard – it worked beyond his expectations. S literally got on it at the top of the hill and zoomed down!
And everything was just wonderful and ordinary.
Our big, long, classic toboggan wouldn’t fit out of the shed with the doors blocked by snow but these very ordinary sleds worked fine.
The trees stood just as they always do. Peaceful, quiet.
We got home and there were still a few minutes to enjoy the front and backyard. Ordinary stuff. Later afternoon sun peeking through.
Shadows on snow.
Snow on porch.
Evidence of animals having done their regular nighttime scurrying around.
Snow on trees.
A fantastic and simple time with my kids.
Glad to have reclaimed those couple of hours. They were a calm in the midst of a storm.
There is such beauty in the ordinary.
Do you ever have days where you almost miss the “beauty in the ordinary” because you have too much occupying your mind?
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so inspirational! A good reminder to enjoy what’s right in front of us and to protect it from the bleeding of work/tasks/other priorities that tends to happen throughout the day…I love this story!
Hi Courtney! I love your idea of “protecting” what’s right in front of us … thanks for that:).
Yes, I do. It’s very hard to put stressful things aside and just enjoy the things right in front of us. It’s a hard call because difficult times do call for a focus and attention but I wonder how much time we waste stewing about things even after we’ve done what we can. This is helpful to read today – thank you.
Thanks Allie. I’m glad you found it helpful. It’s such a good point that difficult times call for focus and attention and it can be really hard to find that boundary toward moving on with regular life where we can. I find having kids/teens/family around helpful because it kind of pushes me to stay present for them and continue to be thankful for all that is going well.