Home Time

This time of year I get to stay at home a lot more than the rest of the year. Storytelling work is scarce in January, and even the sales at our booths slow down. It's a time to rest, recuperate and rediscover the joys of just being a homebody.

Last week I went out very little, and this week has been the same; three or four days will pass without me getting in the van. Larry and I start our days slowly with tea and coffee, computer time, breakfast--and then we finally get dressed, sometime between 8 and 10.

You would think we'd run out of things to say to each other. You would think that we've already said everything that needs to be said in the 30 years we've been together. And yet we talk all the time--about memories, projects, things we've read or heard. We never bore each other, which is a good thing since we're together almost 24/7.

I like the thinking time. Larry often goes outside or into his workroom for long periods of time or sometimes heads into town on errands, and I have quiet time to just think. Not that I am still--I stay busy as ever with cleaning or painting or laundry or whatever needs to be done. But my mind is free to wander about, to see and wonder in a different way. It's very like weeding the garden, really; those hours are golden times of reverie. Memories crowd in or an idea for a poem or story or blog post takes hold.

During the busy months from April through December times for quiet thought are rare and treasured but now they are a luxury of riches, and I am enjoying it, every minute. The pace will pick up soon enough, but for now I will sit with my tea and a book or magazine in the mornings and wait for the sun to rise while Larry checks his Facebook and the day slowly unfolds.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Ten Things

I was thinking today, when I wrote on Facebook about black cherry yogurt, that there are many things that make my days easier--easier in the sense that they relax me, make the time pass well, or give that extra little flip of joy. These are family-related or people related necessarily--those are givens. These are the other things, like the black cherry yogurt Larry packs in my lunch, that make me say "Life is good."



What would be the top ten of these? Here's my list:

1. Really good coffee, preferable hazelnut. And tea, Earl Grey, in English teacups.

2. Eggs for breakfast. I like them best fried, but soft-boiled is great, and coddled is awesome.

3. The smell of rain, especially rain that starts soft and easy.

4. A good book on tape. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books relax me and bring my stress level down about 50 notches. The reader's voice in these books is perfect, and the easy, slow way of life in Botswana as Mma Ramotswe goes about solving life's small problems reminds me not to take things so seriously.

5. Old ballads well sung.

6. Time on the yard swing that was the porch swing that we bought when I was 8 months pregnant with my youngest son (that would have been July 1986).

7. Watching birds in the gardens. Not straining to see what they are, or using binoculars. Just watching them fly and sing and dig for worms.

8. Driving two-lane or one-lane roads, seeing people doing their daily routines--working in gardens, getting the mail, hanging laundry.

9. My soft white cotton nightgown that has holes in it but is so comfortable for sleeping.

10. Rocking chairs.

What's on your list?