Spontaneity makes me happy. I love it when my husband suggests something fun on the spur-of-the-moment and we all just jump up and do it. Tonight, after a delicious dinner (that Jeffrey cooked, of course) my sweet husband suggested we all go for a walk on the town's new sidewalk. It's a walking path that stretches through town; past ponds and grazing cows, through woods and fields, linking the elementary, Jr. high, and high schools.What if I'd said, "No. I'm tired. I had a rough week. I don't want to."? All true, by the way. What would I have done instead? I'll tell you. I would have stayed inside, cleaned the kitchen, did the dishes, dealt with the week's detritus, felt the need to do a load of laundry, put Sloane to bed, and crashed brain-dead and slightly guilty about not posting for Happy Week.
But.
I make a point of saying "Yes" as often as I can.
Thank God for that. Instead of chores and exhaustion I got a perfect walk on a perfect night. The weather is unreal, about 70 with very little humidity. It's cool and breezy and feels more like a Florida night than a Missouri night. The path glowed palely in the purple twilight. The four of us, counting Mickey, walked along, talking about Sloane's new friends, the first week of school, Jeffrey's library book club, old rail beds, algebra, and the Magic School Bus. The kind of quiet talk among families that means nothing and everything all at once.
The path enters the woods and curves around among the trees for quite some time. While we were in the woods we all stopped walking and stood, holding our breaths, waiting to hear it again. There it was. Yes. It is an owl. No. Wait. Shh.... Listen. I think it's two. Yes, it is. Two owls. Now we walked more quietly, talked more softly, listened more intently.
When we came out of the woods Sloane spotted a frog hopping along beside us. Further down the path we met his much larger cousin. Sloane said, "I can't wait to write about this in my journal tonight. I've never heard an owl in person before. And, I got to hold two frogs!" You know, don't you, what this did to my heart?
We ended our walk at Jeffrey's high school where we washed up, got drinks, and poked around his library before we headed home. By the time we walked home it was full dark on a no moon night. Before we entered the woods again we stopped for a long time to marvel at the Milky Way spread in a gorgeous arc across the sky. Then, we walked home in the dark. Holding hands, counting the fireflies lighting the trees, talking quietly, stopping to listen to the owls.
Ahhh... a happy heart. And so, to bed. Good night, sweet friends.
26 comments:
I have to remember to say yes more often. As good as I am about it, I know I need to get more active and b always wants to go for a bike ride. By the way, I've never heard an owl before and that frog is gimongous! I couldn't belive her comment about writing in her journal... she is so her mothers daughter :)
What a beautiful picture your words painted. I think tomorrow's agenda will include an evening walk for me and mine.
what a great husband you have, to want to do that at the end of the day. i love family walks like that... especially when it is impromptu ones.
That is just excellent and a good reminder that I need to say "yes" more often....well, except when someone asks me to do more cleaning or something.
Yes more often... I like that! I rarely say no...hate to say no to anything or anyone! This is a happy post, Reyln...Your hubby sounds like a great guy. And your Sloane is a sweetheart--oh, so pretty...Like her mom! :o) Happy weekend to you. ((HUGS))
Hi Relyn,
I have just been catching up with your Happy Week activities. Glad you all enjoyed your walk and the discoveries it brought. Glad that you have been singing away merrily too! It is a while since I came across the "Stand By Me" collaboration and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to post it myself for Sunday! And I hope that all of you have had a good week back at school and that there have been more smiles than tears - even if the latter were of the happiness variety!
Love and hugs
Love you
Jeanne♥
quiet talk - it means everything. i LOVEd this post. if i'm honest i have to say i yearn for this - a place like this to walk at night, a vast open sky, and someone to experience it with.
Such a happy wonderful way to end the day and week and i'm glad you shared it with us.
X
What a perfect evening walk.
"these are the moments I thank god that I'm alive"
"I've got all I've waited for and I could not ask for more"
well, those lyrics are close....I hope you know what song I'm thinking of...
it just seemed to fit so perfectly for your family and the outing you shared together !
*sara evans*
and I could not ask for more is the song :)
When you say yes, that's when the adventures and surprises happen. Good for you!
wonderful wonderful yes....wonderful thoughts
beautiful
I say yes to spontaneity as often as I can. I love that you're so open to this. sometimes I'm too much of a planner to relax totally in to it.
I enjoyed this walk, what a beautiful way to share family, yes? Not always in the big, planned events, but in the quiet moments when everyone's heart is speaking to each other...
:-)
(((hugs))),
love,
me
What a perfectly lovely evening! How nice to be able to walk through the woods and hear those glorious sounds.... And, yes, I can imagine how happy you were to hear him say he couldn't wait to write about this in his journal.
(By the way, have you read the children's story, "Owl Moon?" Your walk reminded me of it. Wonderful book to use when teaching descriptive/sensory writing).
Enjoy your weekend!
This is a beautiful post. It brought back memories of the family walks I used to have with my parents. We lived in Bombay city, but close to the sea. So walks would mean looking at the moon shimmering in the sea. Oh and Kulfi (Indian ice-cream) or corn on the cob, on the way back. I remember being thrilled on spotting a pretty seashell. I am sure Sloane will always have wonderful memories of these family walks. Happy walking.
A lovely night indeed! I'm not that spontaneous, but when I am I always end up with the best memories!
What a wonderful way to end the day, together as a family! It sounded so peaceful--so God-given. Thanks for writing about it so eloquently to share with all of us.
Elle
I'm so glad you said "yes" and shared your lovely family evening with us. I love meandering conversations and aimless walks that yield great surprises.
Isn't it hard to believe that summer vacation is over?
That IS a perfect, happy moment with your family, Relyn. And yes, how great is it that Sloane wanted to write about her walk with you in her journal!
Relyn,
Thank you for sharing your walk with us. My family went for a walk a night or so ago, it has been winter here and as we move into spring at an amazing rate we ate our dinner it was very warm, and we felt like some exercise to walk off our weekend take out of fish and chips. It was amazing, the air was warm and we heard frogs and dogs and birds and we laughed and talked in the cooling evening air. Never say no to family time in the evening....I love it thanks for sharing the picture with us.
"The kind of quiet talk among families that means nothing and everything all at once." and it also meant so much to join you! you are such a great writer, capturing the perfection of the tiniest detail in your words and the images they paint. i loved this walk!
XO
Ok- so THAT post would be bookmarked as a perfect post. Lovely Relyn, just lovely!
if I were to get a tattoo, I would tattoo "YES" on the inside of my left wrist. :)
i can hear your happy heart in your words.
What a glorious and perfect experience. Saying yes. It's a good practice. Last night as I was leaving my new book club, someone said, "I always tell anyone, if there is one night when you feel like you just don't want to come to book club, you're too tired, or weary or stressed -- well, that's the night you need it most." Same thing on saying yes to walks with toads and sounds and fireflies and beauty. Yes!
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