Catching the wind.

It’s no secret that like all of you with them, I love my grandkids.  They crack me up, bring me much, much joy.  I have one seven year-old girl who has always just entertained me and is so much like her mommy, my daughter.  I have a near five year-old grandson who says the deepest, most adult phrases and full paragraphs, that leave me rolling from his grown up wisdom, on all topics.  I have a four year-old grandson who is wild in a good way, free spirited, mechanical..a boy’s boy, but a mama’s boy and as sweet as he can be.  Not far behind him is his little sister who is showing signs of needing to keep up with him and can be just as daring, and darling.  Rounded out by the little guy, the sweetest baby, born this spring and a delight. 

This summer has been full, but never full enough, of time with these kids.  It is a couple hours for them to arrive for a visit and when they aren’t here, I am thinking about them.  Like, ALL the time.  Wondering what they are doing, how school is, if they are outside, inside, swimming, reading.  I miss them so when they have left following a weekend visit.  I love them so.

Of course, they leave me little signs they were here.  Toys left out, books laying around.  Dirty towels, sheets…the usual.   A pantry full of unusual eats…Fruit snacks, sugary cereal, chips in multi flavors.  Things that are not often in my particular menu plan.  There’s always a half empty bag of this or that.  Some things that go stale before they return, so get tossed and some things that remain till they visit again.

 

I am working in the landscaped areas as much as I can while this summer air will allow, making sure the current remodeling stays out of my plantings, protecting or moving my shrubs and flowers as things are thrown all around the house, out of windows and from roofs.  Hubs tends not to watch where things are going and has many times over the years destroyed one plant or another.   I mean, I get it…plants can be replaced but watching something grow to maturity and fullness is difficult to then see torn out to make room for equipment or structure, or trampled.  

 

That being said, I have areas that I tend that are far removed from the building project.  A bit of a respite in what is becoming more chaotic by the day.  I have a little wind chime, a gift from years ago, that has been hanging on a low branch for a number of years.  I had to move it recently and when I did, the string holding it in place broke and it had been laying on a bench.  My little grandson came across it and concerned, wanted to hang it somewhere it would catch the wind, do the job it was meant to do.  Encouraging him to put it down, that it was broken, that I would have to fix it before it could be hung again, he found a solution.  I think it may be a while before I move it as it brings a smile to my face to see it, right where he left it, his chubby, grubby little hands in a hurry while we called his name, beckoning him to “Come on!”  At about a foot off the ground, it won't catch much wind, but it does catch my breath.