Saturday

It's been a typical sort of autumn Saturday in the Midwest today. Lynda let me sleep in a bit while she got up and got ready for the day. Then she went downstairs and got breakfast ready for the rest of the family. Then she left to go to the office for the rest of the morning. (It has become the typical thing for her to do this on weekends.)

I got some laundry done, changed the sheets around the house and then went outside to rake some leaves in the backyard. I got out my huge orange tarp and got about ninety percent of the down leaves onto it and then dragged the whole thing around to the front street curb. While doing all of this I thought of raking leaves and pine straw in the backyard of my childhood home. We used to gather up all of the pine straw and dump in along the side of the house in a sort of hollow that entered into the woods surrounding our house. On days when I wasn't adding to the straw pile (and don't worry, there were plenty of those days) I climbed that pile and jumped around on it and then out into the woods.

After working in the yard, I got some lunch ready for the kids, who had been playing together nicely all morning long. It was their typical lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. About halfway through lunch Lynda came home. After she got some lunch she laid down to get some rest and I took Grace on a bike ride around the neighborhood. It was nice to breath the crisp air and see Grace having fun on her Barbie tricycle. (Honestly, I don't know why we never pushed the tricycle thing when both kids were younger. It's got to make it easier for them to transition to two-wheelers later.)

Grace was having a lot of fun out-biking on her wheels as I plodded along behind her. She needed some help when she hit an incline, but look out whenever she hit the top of a hill. That is what's so great about Grace; she attacks life with such excitement and shows that excitement on her face all the time. She is so expressive in everything she does. True, that excitement does tend to create friction that I often rub against, but I have to admire the way she goes about things. And you can't deny the cuteness of a small girl, pedalling like mad on a pink tricycle while wearing a hooded jacket. Oh, and don't forget the constant talking and singing along with it.

Now, I am here (and most rarely of all) I am alone. Lynda (probably feeling guilty about being at work every Saturday morning) has taken the kids to the grocery store and then to the park. There is chili in the crockpot and sugar cookies cooling on the counter.

It's a good day so far.