Y'all Hush: Mother's Day

Friday, May 16, 2014

Mother's Day

Hey y'all -

Your dad was scheduled to be home from his Navy trip last Thursday, but his flight got cancelled due to a stupid hail storm in stupid Houston. I'm not going to lie - I laid down on the bed and cried a little, because I felt like I had finished a marathon, and then my coach said, "Take another lap." I know that's a ridiculous comparison, not least because I've never had a "coach" in my life. And I don't run on purpose. But you get the idea.

Thor made it home the next evening, though, just in time for Mother's Day festivities.

Hagen was excited to see his dad, too, of course, but in more of an "I'm gonna finish this smoothie first" kinda way.

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We were all glad to have Thor home, obviously. Still - I can't explain it - I woke up on Mother's Day feeling like a squirrel in a shoebox. Like I HAD TO GET OUT OF HERE. First of all, it was raining/snowing, which always throws my good attitude into question.

I love you both more than my life, but I'd been stuck inside this house with you for a month. I'd taken on some extra projects at work, and a crazy freelance assignment or two, and I just felt like the walls were closing in a little, and the best thing I could do was (quite literally) take a walk. So I told your dad I was leaving the house, destination unknown, and grabbed my camera on the way out the door.

I ended up taking a walk down by the river. I thought that instead of trying to stretch my brain around all of the big things I had going on and the huge deadlines around the corner, I would focus on something teeny-tiny, and therefore manageable. So I put these cheap macro filters on my camera and started taking extreme close-up shots of rain drops and leaves and things.

And you know what? It was absolutely as calming and therapeutic as I'd hoped it would be. It didn't matter that I probably looked completely cuckoo to anyone who passed me on the trail, splayed on the ground with my camera about 2 inches away from a bush. Like Willie sings, "There's been days when it pleased me / to be on my knees / followin' ants as they crawl 'cross the ground." In fact, I was so rejuvenated by my little outing that I suggested we all go for a hike in the afternoon.

I was reminded how fortunate I am to be your mother, how glad I am that we're all together again, and how my love for you all knows no bounds.