Monday, March 12, 2007

BED TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT TONIGHT....

That was my thought as I drove to the high school to pick Blake up from weights.

After a quick grocery stop on the way home from work, I had planned to take a walk outside since the weather is so beautiful today. But I got home and had a a message that Blake would need a ride home from weights - "I decided to stay for weights and I'll need a ride home at 4:30.." We later had a talk about planning ahead and not assuming that I'd be available if he hasn't cleared his plans with me, but I digress. Then Kayla got a call from a friend and they decided to ride bikes to the library. After 30 minutes of planning, discussing cell phones, and getting a bike down from the ceiling hooks in the garage, I told myself "I AM TAKING A WALK TODAY, DOGGONE IT..." So off I went.

I could almost feel the relief in the air as people were walking, jogging, biking, or roller blading on the bike paths. The baseball diamond was busy with the high school team. The softball diamond was full of girls. Kids were out kicking soccer balls. Several dogs were being treated to a spring walk. It was almost as if we were all saying "WE MADE IT." We made it through the December ice storm that left some of us without power for days. We made it through the Valentine's day blizzard that left us stranded in our homes for 2 days or more. We made it. Winter did a job on us, but we've made it to spring. We may have a bit of bad weather yet. You never know in Illinois, but now we have hope.

March is so interesting in Illinois. It is a month of paradox. One day you'll need a sweater, the next you could go barefoot. On my walk today, I saw a few Robins. I noticed my daffodils are coming up. I also noticed several small piles of snow and ice left over from our February blizzard. Almost a month has past, and we've had several days of warm weather, and still the snow remains in spots.

And now we have extra daylight too. The near 70 degree weather has made us all rush out to enjoy the warmth. And there are children playing. And laughing (I love hearing kids laugh from across the block) And they are wearing shorts; showing skinny little arms and legs, still pale from hiding beneath winter sweaters and boots. And those children will not want to come in tonight. Moms and Dads will have to call several times. Nobody will want to go in for a bath when it's still light out. Nobody will want to crawl into bed and think about school tomorrow when the weather is this beautiful. No, things will not be easy for moms and dads tonight.
Bed time will definitely be different tonight.

2 comments:

Beaner said...

Dwight told me that Nick stayed outside on Saturday from 9 until 4, only coming inside for a meal.

I let the kids stay outside a little bit longer last night too - in a week it might snow again, so we need to enjoy it while we have it!!!

And I love to feel my toes breathe too!!!!!

HW said...

Yes, we have a sense of humor. And we have a libray. Oh, and I heard that the man who lives down the road a piece just bought a dictionary....
I absolutely LOVE small towns and am very uncomfotable in big cities, although I think Chicago is actually a very friendly place, as is Boston. It all depends where you grew up, I think.