Of DEAD CREATURES and Scary Creatures and Other Interruptions of that Sort

Some days just waking up makes me think,

"Hmm, this day just seems a little off."

Like the other morning,

when I was awakened by 3 men pounding on our door.

They informed me that they'd been hunting geese down at the neighboring farmer's place,

and wondered if we'd like to have their catch for our supper.

 Uncertain of what to say,

I agreed.

Ten minutes later,

I rubbed my eyes,

and then began to apply my make-up.
I stopped and looked out the window.

 
No, I hadn't been dreaming.





Having begun in this manner,

the day continued.

I discovered that Lillie had found Violet's secret stash of glitter.

There was an accident of something very sticky at the table.

Shortly thereafter,

I heard the water in the bathroom running,

 and running,

and running.

"Levi, what are you doing?"

"My boots were all covered with mud,

so I'm washing them..."

and apparently the sink,

and the floor.

I ran and grabbed the rag to mop up this mess,

I set down the rag in the puddle on the floor...

 and disposed of the boots onto the front porch.

As I gingerly set them down,
I looked at them and realized that there may be a tell-tale path left behind by them in the house.

I was right.

Meanwhile,

I wondered what had become of Violet.

I looked out the back window and saw her out in the field with a kite high up in the very windy sky.

If there's a trace of wind,

it's slightly warm,
and the sun is shining,
she's usually outside with that kite.

I called out to her if she needed help.

"Yes, I've been calling and calling for you!"

 so I spent the next quarter of an hour winding the kite that was all the way to the end of it's string

back in again.

She hasn't figured out how to wind it back in again yet.
Besides, part of the tail had blown off in-flight
so she went off to hunt it while I wound in the kite.

 I will admit though

that the outside air,

the sun,

the sky,

it made for a pleasant task of the winding of the kite.


I came into the house and discovered...

 somebody or bodies had eaten all the candy from the rest of the gingerbread house.

They'd left me not a single jelly bean

or gum drop

or slice of licorice.

How totally cruel these children are to their poor mother.

Then Levi,

who tends to be a bit oblivious,

came bounding back into the house announcing in great enthusiasm

"There are DEAD CREATURES outside!

Come and see them!"

"Yes, Levi,

they are dead creatures."

At this point,
I decided we might as well put these dead creatures to use
and I showed them where the down feathers were on the goose,
and I pulled and bagged some for a future cold day sewing class.

(Despite my encouragement, Violet refused to help in this process,
especially when the goose's throat let out some air that must have still been inside it.
"It's honking!  It's still alive and you're pulling it's feathers out!"

It took some further evidence and explanation to get her to believe me
that the goose was,
indeed,
no longer alive.)

Violet's doll is going to have a down-filled pillow

created especially by herself.

I pulled some beautiful wing feathers for future quills for our history class as well.

(Violet was willing to point out which one I should pluck for her.)

Later that evening,

when the kids were in bed asleep,

I began reflecting on my day, as I usually do when it's quiet.

 I sometimes feel very ill-equipped for motherhood,

especially this part of dealing with the constant variables and interruptions

that engulf a good part of my day.

As I began straightening up,

I ran into this on the windowsill.

Look, there's a scary creature in my house.

And then this was lying on a chair in the kitchen.

No, it is not my birthday.

It will be at the end of the month.

But that's just how Violet is.  She thrives on making things for people to make them happy.

She is prepared for holidays a month ahead.

I've heard the countdown to my birthday every day since the first of the year.

It's funny how things that are off,

that aren't planned,

that mess up my schedule during the day

tend to happen constantly some days.

It's hard not to get a LITTLE frustrated.

Okay,

well, I'll admit it,

a LOT frustrated at times.

But when I see the little things like this,

it makes me smile

and realize that right now my life may be interrupted by spilled juice and dumped glitter,

pacifier hunts and muddy boots,

mud-streaked bathroom rugs, and towels, and floors,

funny monsters and fly-away kite tails,

baby rashes and kitten messes.

Someday that will all change

and I'll have some of my own time back.

So I need to rearrange my focus to treasuring these somewhat annoying interruptions

and try to appreciate them instead.

And,

well,

tomorrow is a new day

with,

let's hope,

no dead geese in it.

Linked To:

Its a Hodge Podge Life: Its Hodge Podge Friday
Finger Prints on the Fridge: Feature-Yourself-Friday