Simple Pleasures

Harrison and I had been working in the lasagna garden and had just gotten it finished.

[Correction: I was working in the garden while Harrison roamed around the backyard, occasionally stopping by to see what I had gotten done and offer suggestions. I think he’s ready for management.]

The tomatoes, tomatillos, squash and zucchini had just gotten in the ground and Harrison had just made his last suggestion for the project (“You should move this tomato plant here and put the tomatillo plant here.” [Basically, switch them.] “Why should I do that, son?” “Because it would make me happy.” Imp.)

I turned on the sprinkler and Harrison stood watching it, fascinated. About that time, Robert came outside with Laura; they had just gotten home. Laura was thrilled to see me and even more so to see Harrison and squawked her happy noise so I picked her up and snuggled her a bit.

She, around this time, noticed the sprinkler and became engrossed, as well, so I put her down to go explore. She promptly sat down near the slide where she could simultaneously pick and eat grass blades and watch the water over in the garden. I took this as my cue to quietly entertain her and her brother, so I broke out a small bottle of bubbles she had gotten back at Easter and started blowing them.

It took a few blows, but she eventually did and squawked again, signaling that I was doing something very good. She clambered up and came over to where I was sitting, grinning her ‘magic is afoot and I must partake in it’ smile. She was content to just watch the bubbles rise up, higher and higher, until they delicately popped. Harrison, on the other hand, took each bit of soap lather as a personal challenge; he jumped, lunged, twisted and annihilated those bubbles. They didn’t stand a chance against his cat-like ninja skills.

As mundane as this is—the kids chased bubbles and watched water squirt out of a sprinkler!—it’s this kind of ‘slice of life’ business that I really enjoy the most. Holidays are nice, birthdays are good, but I treasure the day to day time I spend with my family the most. Emily wanted to go back to a special day in Our Town, but I really have to say that I would trade almost every birthday party and all the stress over invitations, cleaning and exhaustion for just the simple days.