Archives for July 2008

Easy Like Sunday Morning

July 31, 2008 by Alison Hodgson 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago I awoke early and happened to see two deer on the trail across the road. They were looking around and daintily nibbling branches. Eventually they jumped back into the brush. Watching them I noticed the way the light was shining on our hill. I grabbed a beach towel, the Bible, a notebook and pen, a thermos of coffee, a bowl of oatmeal and my camera. I had to make two trips, but it was worth it to sit on the hill, with the sun shining on my face.

I didn’t bother to get dressed, so I was still wearing my pajamas. Few cars passed. It was me, the trees, the sky, the birds, the grass, the sun and surprisingly few mosquitoes. When they began to hover I decided to practice a sort of mind control and it worked. They left me alone, for the most part.

The above is a picture of one Sunday morning, but it could be a snapshot of this summer. It has been my best one in years. Faithful readers of this blog have been with me on many a dark day – figurative and actual – and I just want to tell you that the sun is shining and the air is cool and sweet.

July 28, 2008 by Alison Hodgson 1 Comment

On the 4th of July our little town has a parade and afterwards a fair. In the past, we’ve made the mistake of going immediately after the parade with all the crowds. This is fine if you like standing in long lines under a noon sun. I do not and so we finally smartened up and this year, immediately after the parade we drove home. The girls swam while David, Christopher and I went to a book sale at the local library. Standing under a noon day sun perusing used books I can stand. When we returned Torey, Paul and I loaded up the four bigger kids and took them over to the fair.

The place was almost deserted. Paul split off with the big kids while Torey and I double teamed the Legumes. We went over to the bounce place and, as you can see the Ren and Eden were the only kids in it. Watching them jump around made us both wistful. “I wish I could go in there.” Torey said. Before I could even say, “Me too!” the teenage employee said, “Go ahead.”We both scrabbled up and in and started jumping like our little girls.

It.Was.So.Much.Fun.

Torey bounced down on her bottom first and then I did. Our jumping knocked the little girls off balance. They were flailing around and falling and we were all laughing and laughing. I don’t know how long it has been since I have jumped in one of those. I remember when I was little getting knocked into corners, having my face jammed against the netting and trying so hard to get loose but any ground I would take I would lose to a bigger kid’s bounce. When I was quite young this scared me, but as I got older it just made me laugh, which weakened me further. One memory I have of jumping with my brothers and being down on all fours, trying to get up, but continually being knocked over and then laughing so hard I couldn’t stop.

Laughing like that feels so good. I don’t laugh like that enough. I want to start keeping track, not in a formal way, but just get into the habit of a little check in. We need to laugh. It’s like an emotional massage. I don’t want to withhold that from myself anymore. Tomorrow I am going to call a rental place to find out how much it costs to get one of these things for a day. I know a lot of people who have need of a place where it’s safe to jump and fall. I want others to laugh until they cry or to cry until they laugh.

https://alisonhodgson.com/2008/07/411/

You try to keep up with these people!

July 26, 2008 by Alison Hodgson 2 Comments

1/2 Birthday

July 25, 2008 by Alison Hodgson Leave a Comment

Well Eden’s 1/2 birthday or “fake birthday” as Torey called it is almost over. She had a wonderful party. Normally Paul and I double team for parties, but he wasn’t able to come home and I hadn’t expected him to, but he was missed. Torey was here, but she was busy with Willa Z. who was refusing a nap.

When Paul got home from work he offered to take all the hellions (including Ren who is having a sleep over) to McDonald’s for dinner so I could decompress. I said whoopee thank you and passed out as soon as they left. I haven’t left our bed since. I’m contemplating one last foray to get the Legumes in bed, but I don’t know if I have what it takes.