Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Scribble and Scrambles ~ Toast-Making


Why am I drawn to simple toast-making moments?

You know, the scenes in movies or books that are so ordinary that they'd be B-O-R-I-N-G save for the conversation or thoughts or interactions of the moment.

I am absolutely drawn to the things that connect with my senses. Not necessarily the stench of the dead possum that languishes at the side of our walking path...I pull my T-shirt over my nose for that particular sense tickler. But the walk itself and the other discoveries feed my soul as my senses soak the moments up. And somehow being involved in a parallel activity or connecting while doing makes everything feel richer.

22 and I seem to have deep discussions about life as we walk the dogs. Of course, those discussions are always punctuated with pauses to scoop poop (I recommend the arrangement we have, her dogs = her drudgery and responsibility and I get to babysit/enjoy)("they" say that this is the essence and joy in grandparenting...k sounds good) and the behavior corrections, or the exciting discovery of a rabbit bolting from a hiding place or a biker sneaking up behind us. But we seem to have the same vein of conversation each and every time we walk together. Faith and relationships. Always. I don't know that it gets better than that.

We've also somehow developed the habit of reading books out loud. Much of our down time together involves one of us doing some necessary chore while the other reads out loud. It started with the book club we attend. Instead of leaving a communal book lying around with two or three bookmarks we decided to read it together. And the next thing I know, we'd begun another book. In the last three months I believe we've gone through five books that way. Reading them while we complete tasks makes life feel a little like a series of toast-making adventures. Moments of transcending the drudgery and embracing the life within it.