Self Portrait Tuesday: Time # 3—Playtime
Posted on | March 21, 2006 | 13 Comments
By the calendar, spring is here now. Yesterday the equinox, and today, a few moments of daylight more. But at this latitude it is still cold, and we are feeling cagy. Bean and I went out into our tiny urban yard today: a mess of lumpy lawn, a broken mower under the deck, the tall gray picket fence leaning in. He raced about on the uneven ground, falling often, laughing, bringing me dried leaves (this is what he does now—bring me small things he finds: lint, a scrap of paper, leaves. And these thing suddenly are precious.)
It was good for me, after days like the past handful, to go with Bean outdoors and watch hid body fill with bubbly wonder like soda in a cup. Good to remember how easy it is pocket these small instances of joy.
We twirled until we were both dizzy and then we sat and watched the world spin. I could see his eyes still tracking the orbiting yard around him, and the grin on his face wide like the grin on mine.
It’s been an interesting week of sinking deeply into words, and now I’m longing for easier things: for messy collages, for magazines, anything where the image does all the work, and words are only for decoration. I’ve realized how important daily writing is for me—not just morning pages (though they help); doing the kind of writing that requires me to return to previous work again and again, crafting sentences on a daily basis makes it possible for me to refine meaning: like making maple syrup, so much sap evaporates before there’s real sweetness to be had.
This push I’ve had to write fits with the season. This piece of Earth has turned it’s axis again toward the sun, and everything feels it: receding ice, new shoots, and randy stray cats who come yowling around our door looking for handouts. The shift in season also reflects another internal shift—my body is going though some sort of hormonal reordering, and my moods are wildly flailing all over the board.
So it was good to go outside in the cold bright air, soak up sun and twirl.
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13 Responses to “Self Portrait Tuesday: Time # 3—Playtime”
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March 21st, 2006 @ 11:25 pm
We went to the zoo today, despite the chill. It was so very needed, the air and sudden bursts of sunlight. It made us all feel better somehow. Glad to see you spinning!
March 22nd, 2006 @ 8:08 am
nice spt. yes, even with the unexpected cold spell on the northeast it’s wonderful to get outside because the at least the sun is shining!!
“….my moods are wildly flailing all over the board” is a wonderful description to how i’ve been feeling myself. it feels like interesting times.
March 22nd, 2006 @ 10:04 am
lovely post. i live in the northeast and completely relate to what you’ve expressed. i stayed indoors alday yesterday working on a project…today is for out of doors exploring.
March 22nd, 2006 @ 12:54 pm
i really need to take the kids
outside more…
i really need to take
myself
outside more…
and its funny about the ebb and flow of
words…sometimes there are so many,
sometimes, so few…
love the photos
March 22nd, 2006 @ 1:21 pm
wheeeeeeeeee!
March 22nd, 2006 @ 3:10 pm
i love it!
March 22nd, 2006 @ 4:18 pm
For some reason the picture I nearly ALWAYS have in my head of you has you twirling and grinning
March 22nd, 2006 @ 5:08 pm
I love the picture of Bean jumping into your arms — the expression on your face is pure happiness.
What, out of curiousity, were you so busy writing for the last few days? Will it be published somewhere?
March 22nd, 2006 @ 6:00 pm
Charmaine–I’m working on applying to some writing workshops for the summer–but really, I’m working on a book length collection of creative nonfiction stories. And yes–someday it will be published somewhere (*crosses fingers*), the question is when
March 22nd, 2006 @ 8:05 pm
Love the cropping on that large photo.
March 22nd, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
I loved seeing a slice of enjoyment from your urban backyard. My god, he’s the cutest bundle. My kids haven’t needed that kind of layering all winter, although we could have used coats during our visit to Dallas the past couple of days. One final cold spell here, and then it’s all warming up thereafter. Plenty warm, at that.
“doing the kind of writing that requires me to return to previous work again and again, crafting sentences on a daily basis makes it possible for me to refine meaning” –I should try this, working on my writing until it’s more refined. I don’t allow much time for this, I admit. I remember dad (a good proofreader of my high school papers) calling a lot of my writing “fluff,” and I can hear him calling a lot of my writing today “fluffy.” LOL
March 28th, 2006 @ 10:12 am
Isn’t the promise of a Northern spring grand? Nice photos!
June 26th, 2006 @ 12:10 am
Love lil bean! remember the times when spinning around was such fun – the little delights of childhood!