I have mixed emotions about my slice
today. I have just returned from a
wonderful family trip with my daughter and two granddaughters (almost one and
three years old). We spent half a week
with my side of the family and the other half with my husband’s side. All too brief was this visit, but filled with
so many good memories. We swam, we saw
and petted goats, we played on playgrounds, and we rode on a merry-go-round, in
a mall, Ingrid’s first ride! Imogene
began crawling all over, so her exploration was phenomenal. Ingrid got to play and sing her songs on a
real grand piano, and beat out rhythms on an African slit drum. Because of the drought, we were sorrowful
because no lightning bugs appeared, so that will have to be on the next
adventure. We ate ice cream every
evening and talked into the night. My
daughter and I got to talk and talk, then talk some more.
Ingrid
became so excited seeing wind turbines, and wanted photo after photo of them,
so we slowed and took all that she wished – click, click. “Grandma, can I see?” We looked for red cars and buses and cows,
and saw quite a few. We noted all the
colors of the cattle-black, black and white, brown. We sang songs and looked for anything we
could find of interest on the plains of Kansas.
There are many things of beauty, yes, even in a drought, even when it’s
over a hundred degrees, even on the plains.
If you notice that I’m speaking of
small things and being present in the moment, that is what one does with a
three year old. And when one does that,
we grown-ups also notice things with a new brightness, a new appreciation.