Snapshot

Today I woke up at 5:55, got Laurel up, and we went on a walk in freshly fallen snow. We didn't say much. She threw a lot of snow into any puddle or stream we passed. Sometimes she reached out to hold my hand.  I try to remember what it was like to be 9, but I can only think of my 4th grade teacher Mr. Antczak yelling. And the clear pink plastic frames of my first prescription glasses. Watching ants cross our sidewalk during summer vacation and my mother's navy pinstripe nurses uniform. I don't remember anything about my feelings.

It was dark and quiet when we set out, but the sun and birds soon joined us. It was the most peaceful hour I've spent with Laurel in a long time.

I worked with my uncle and aunt at their restaurant for a while today. I've been cooking at lunchtime a few days a week. Burgers, chili, steak salads, that sort of thing. This week, there were 2 catered wakes. Today, the place looked festive, with balloons and cookie trays. The mourners laughed and chatted and slowly filtered through the buffet lines. It felt celebratory. My mother watches Max while I work, or sometimes Marlene comes over to our house and looks after him.

There are two enormous, muddy trenches in my basement. What started out as a small fix for a broken laundry tub pipe has turned into an excavation. Today the snow melted into the basement before the plumbers got all the new pipes hooked up and it's quite a mess. They still have some things to do, need to get it inspected and pour concrete before it'll all be done. The replaced pipes were the originals from 1925, so I guess we ought to be grateful for their 90 years of service. But still, I'm left with the question of why do we bury our pipes like that? Makes it so hard to see the cracks and to fix them when they inevitably break. Seems crazy to me. The mud is driving me crazy, but it'll all be gone and re-concealed by smooth concrete within a week. When something is really bothering you, try waiting for a bit. It usually clears up without you doing anything at all. Usually I can't resist meddling, but I'm trying to get better about that.

M made pizzas tonight, and we ate them as they came out of the oven, without plates, while watching Season 4 of the Great British Baking Show. The boys built a giant pillow fort.

I had the distinct pleasure of being greeted several times today by people who were really glad or grateful to see me. I had a lot of different and unexpected things come up today, but there was some kind of flow to it all and I wasn't bothered. This song was running through my head a lot. We are on time/I am on your side, are the lines that stand out the most to me right now.  Tomorrow I'm looking forward to a day of rest. I think all I have to do is take Marko to kung fu and ignore the mud in the basement. I'll eat leftover pizza and take a nap on the couch while M plays Zelda with the kids. Maybe it will snow more. I'll ignore the bothersome mud in the basement. Enjoy my reprieve from doing laundry. Daydream about our summer camping plans.