Motherhood and Marriage When The Burner Is On High

 The weather is hot and thick, you can break a sweat just sitting in a chair lately. This kind of weather lends itself to festivals, public libraries, early morning outings and  basement contemplation. Today I went with the basement.

 We no longer own a laptop so the old "movies in the basement on a hot day" routine which was my go-to,  can't be used. Instead I play Pandora on my phone and let the boys build Legos until its time for quiet hour and then park them on blankets and throw pillows on the cool cement. Storage boxes and shelving units to separate them so that there is some amount of actual quiet. They nap, or build and I work. All the laundry in the basement got washed and dried and sorted and then I swept and organized and purged. I am proud to say that after one very hot and humid day's worth of work....we now have no more assorted nonsense piles of random junk that I threw into bags and hid when we had company coming over.

 What a great feeling! So much stuff that we can hand off to other folks and let go of finally, so much stuff that actually, truly was junk and went into the trash (which is going out tonight, hallelujah!!!!) and just a little stuff that simply needed to be put back into its proper home. I feel about 40 lbs lighter after such a productive day hiding out from the heat. Kinda makes me feel utterly at peace with the possibility of another blazing hot day tomorrow.

 I made a one pot dinner tonight and imagined up a trip to the beach spur of the moment as soon as A walked in the door. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned

The boys were having meltdowns and Giles had a diaper rash suddenly (chafing from a whole day in his swimsuit, in and out of the sprinkler?) and my brilliant dinner was being rejected by a bunch of pint-sized critics.

But, I have to brag. I didn't lose my cool and scream or meltdown and have a sobfest when A finally walked in.....I just pouted a little about the mayhem and had just a little grump-time. And then my brilliant man said spontaneously that we should eat our one pot dinner on the tiny, brick, front stoop together and then when it started raining he had the boys all scuttle inside for umbrellas and flip-flops and we had a hilarious march around the block in our bathing suits in the rain.

Sometimes the grand plan isn't what its all abut at all. Its about the rolling with all the punches, the keeping your chin up and keeping your sense of humor. Love that we had a silly, little adventure in the outdoors and that my tharwted plans didn't matter at all in the long run. When you find a good man....hold on. 

Poetry Friday: A Love Poem

 It is after valentine season so, a love poem seemed about right. I have written really only one other in my history as a writer. I have either been too busy being intoxicated by the experience of being in love or else jaded by the difficulty of the struggle to stay connected to another person to really do much in the way of love verses.

Then last year sometime, A's brother Miq was kind enough and brave enough to share some of the love poetry he had written for Penny (of which there were copious reams) and I got inspired. I think my hangups lately have been more technical. I'm scared to write about love because just like painting autumn trees or flowers, it is so easy to do it badly. Cliches are rife and thin, plastic versions seem all to likely to be what would come pouring out of my keyboard.

But, like I said, it is valentine season and a girl has to try, doesn't she? I'd hate to have never really tried. Here's to you A and to married love.

 

                                                  A Circle

I remember driving in staggering circles around the black rim of Tahiti

So bone-tired after our wedding that we could hardly see the road ahead.

We held hands, slouching into each other’s bodies over the wee stick shift

Staying awake by tracing circles on each other’s palms and thinking aloud

I was your sidekick Bonny and you were my knight with the shining desktop.

We were skirting the rim of our future, dipping our toes into life together.

Now we’re several revolutions into marriage, all knee-deep in shared history

And I can’t remember the last time I kinked my mid-section over the console

Just to feel the warmth of your shoulder, my fingers tangled in your hair.

But last night, grinning in the dark, I traced a warm circle in your sleepy palm

The baby was standing up in bed between us using your ear-lobes for handles

Since it was 3 AM, we were so bone-tired we could hardly see the road ahead

The forgotten desktop glowed down the hall and I was too tired to think aloud.

This circle on your palm is my love note to you, a little whirling symbol of hope:

And I am here, keeping myself awake, circling the rim of our future in my mind.

You can find more Poetry Friday participants at Rasco From RIF today.

Related articles

• The best Valentine's Day love poems, as chosen by Slate's writers and editors. (slate.com)
• On Inspiring a Love of Poetry in Children (seapoetry.wordpress.com)
• 7 Sites To Find Great Valentine Poems For Your Date (makeuseof.com)
• John Stammers's top 10 love poems (guardian.co.uk)