While I Wasn't Looking

While I wasn't looking, Elliot's legs grew so long that when he sits on the couch, his feet touch the floor. 

While I wasn't looking, the climbing rose, once just a tiny single stalk of thorns and leaves, has grown to reach the top of the arbor.

While I wasn't looking, spring came along so fast that the strawberries at the farm are ready for picking.

In order to stop time from catapulting me into the future at such a violent speed, I made potato salad. 

This kind of potato salad has the power to slow time.  It slows time because it is a recipe passed down through my mother and grandmother.  It has the power to bring me back to those summer days in Michigan, standing in my grandma's kitchen.  When I make it, she is alive again.

It was the kind of April weekend when the pace of life slowed long enough to plant flowers and to dine alfresco at dusk, with candles and starlight, easing into the night with a blazing campfire.

 

   It was the kind of weekend for reading Charlotte's Web aloud and for listening to Elton John and David Bowie.

A little sangria mixed with ice, Sprite and a slice of orange helped me to celebrate spring's return.  I relish these moments in time when the sun's rays are not weak, yet not diabolical, when winter's dry static and summer's heavy humidity is just a memory.  

But is wasn't all perfect.  I managed to injure both of our frogs in the mini pond when changing the water and installing a new fountain.  I was careless with the shovel as I fished out some bricks.  Fortunately they seem to be recovering and now have a bubbly pond instead of a stagnant mosquito plantation. 

When one stops working long enough to enjoy nature, family and great weather, sometimes thoughts creep in.   I realize that I must accept Elliot's growth as a healthy, normal and positive event.  For the first time I allowed him to cross the street to take a basket of berries to our neighbor. (Of course I watched each step and held my breath!)  More and more, I have moments when I have to force myself to hold back instructions so as not to seem overbearing and protective.  It's vitally important for him to have confidence and to go forward in life without having approval from his parents every step of the way.  At some point we just have to live, experiment, and trust.