Rolling Out the String

Eliza finds a Saturday morning sunbeam.

I am almost done (finally) with the latest collection of short stories by Stephen King.  There is this one particular story about a man in a nursing home.  At one point, he writes that this place is as good as any to "roll out the string."

That line struck me as rather powerful.  I have been thinking about it since yesterday, and sometimes it really feels as if we have a ball of string that we are holding onto.  Although it is really just one end of the string we have in hand, and we are constantly trying to reel-in the rest of it one handful at a time until the ball comes completely unwound.  We pull and grunt and struggle to keep-up, yet it never completely stops or comes to a halt in our arms until it has reached its end.

My view as the girls play next to the fire.  Sweet weekend!

So I liked the idea that we are slowly unwinding, and we get to, for the most part, choose where we roll out our string.  These past few weeks we have been spending our time at home.  We have freshly-painted rooms and walls throughout the house.  Our floors are mostly clean.  Today, this lazy Sunday, our windows are open and the fresh air blows through each room, getting the dust out and letting our home breathe.  The birds chirp and the trees bustle as the wind pushes through on its way to nowhere in particular.

A little to the left and I see my backyard!  I love the birch trees!

Our days have been intense, and I imagine they will continue to be.  We have lives now, and each of us is carving out our time how we best see fit.  Fortunately, a lot of that time is together.  Other time is for work, and fitness, and self.  These are all good things, too.  This warm early spring day, though, finds us all just taking a moment to breathe deeply and think about what to carve out next.

The sun tries to penetrate the blinds in our bedroom.  

The clouds are moving quickly over the sky as the wind continues on its torrid pace today.  We snack at the kitchen island counter, listening to tunes and happily munch an our assorted yummy things.  A friend is visiting in an hour or so to pay with Audrey.  Violet and I will go swimming to give Audrey some friend time and also to burn some of Violet's infinite energy supply.  The sun is hiding behind clouds, but light is everywhere.  The winds are cooler now, but still welcome and fresh on this Sunday afternoon.

A Sunday morning run is so nice!

The rest of the day will be spent laughing and maybe napping.  Some work and reading for me is definitely in my evening plans.  Monday is still far enough off that I don't let my mind get too caught-up with the responsibilities it brings.  Adventures are everywhere today, and tomorrow and always.  For now we are happy playing with our time...savoring it...enjoying it....using it to be and be happy together.  For now we are glad to be here, letting the string roll out.

A quick afternoon trip to Ikea for a desk and a coffee table.  Home again, home again!