The importance of being specific.

It was a work day. All day. A work day for all of us, if you loosely define the word “work.” Got some bark chips laid down. Ran a controlled fire on the north side. Waved to a fire engine going past, en route to someone possibly running an uncontrolled fire elsewhere.

Previously, two teens went to the track. I am grateful for their interest in fitness and health and furthering their speed, jump, and strength goals, albeit also curious about the conversations they have minus their parents and younger siblings. It is how it is, and as it is is as it should be. They are together and I love that.

Our younger boys played outside all day. Some of it was spent in nature. 
A good portion was spent cutting scraps out of old magazines for collage, for their nature journals. Although I had intended for them help dig some deep holes and prune some tall trees and perform some dangerous labor, my heart was too connected to their love of outdoor artmaking, so I let them continue.

I drift in and out of overhearing portions of their conversation:

One asks, in reference to toilet protocols and etiquette:

“When did you start wiping?” 


The elder responds: “When I was six.”
Pause. He reflects further.

“Maybe…30 days before I was six? I think it was about…30 days before my birthday.”

These are the snippets of life I love. 


Sometimes they happen during the week.
Sometimes they happen on a Saturday, or Shabbat.
Sometimes they even happen on a Sunday.

Sundays are hard sometimes. But hard isn’t bad. And sometimes the most beautiful snippets are tucked amidst the business and challenges of the mundane.

This is one moment that made me chuckle on a Sunday. There were some good things about today.

Five other assorted and specific thoughts from a late May Sunday.

01 - There is something ennobling about being surrounded by bibliophiles. The Countess Becca is immersed in Bear Town, and I adore that. Her reading it. Not the book. I haven’t yet read the book. But based on her experience with it, I believe I shall do so.

02 - How much do we cultivate and curate and how much do we…till the ground and prepare the soil around them, so their wild roots may have a good place to grow? I don’t know. We shepherd them gently - and sometimes less gently - in a direction, knowing that direction will change, but knowing that there are times it’s helpful to be moving, going in a direction, that can then be changed, rather than not moving, or being directionless.

03 - My brother Josh texted me from a wedding. He has traded so many cars and conducted so many weddings. He sends some pictures of his kids all done up and I get a little emotional. They are valiant and brave and beautiful and I’m grateful for technology that allows us to share these moments from a distance. I want them to someday know that although I wasn’t there, I was happy that they were happy, and I loved seeing pictures of them being happy. And looking incredibly stylish.

04 - The rituals we make. Curry, with white rice on a Sunday evening, shared with my parents-in-law; a ritual that has become increasingly meaningful. Not so much the white rice, but the shared meals together weekly. Sometimes around a table, sometimes in front of the telly watching Shakespeare & Hathaway.

05 - Watched an Office episode with our Olders. Season 3, episode 8 (The Merger), and yes, we are going through from the beginning, slowly.

It was a Sunday, a decent one, specifically.