Sugar Coated Air

Sometimes, you have to sit down and force yourself to write. You don't want to, you cringe at the thought of banging out the words in your head and arranging them in straight little lines. The chaos of your life can't possibly be captured within this little white box- words simply do no justice to the incredibly inspiring, sad, peculiar events that have become the carousal theme music of my life. But writing is like tapping a stack of pages against a flat surface. All the crooked edges and loose corners suddenly lay straight against each other. The words on the pages don't have to make any sense at all- they look nice. They look presentable. You might be tricked into believing there's a novel written on those pages, if you only glance. I guess what I'm trying to say is that writing puts some order into my life. So, without further ado:

Spring has shown it's gleaming pearly whites. The air smells sweet. I'm not even kidding; all day I've been looking for the culprit to the incredibly enticing sweet smell in the air. But then, after an hour of yard work and many, many deep breaths I realized that is was the air. It's like sugar plum fairies were dancing on the wind. (Pause. Let us for a moment appreciate that sentence). So, spring has shown it's gleaming, pearly whites. And apparently, spring has good breath.

We slept in today. I woke up before Kade and lay with my face beneath the sheets, breathing and listening to the groans of the house, kids playing next door, the cat clawing at the carpet on the stairs. I knew it would be a good day before I stumbled my way up to the kitchen. The sunlight literally seeped into the house,  tiny dust particles floated across the kitchen table. When Kade woke up, it was time for play. We took a huge bite out of Spring, let it dribble down our faces, wiped it on our shirts. We played in the dirt, we went on three walks, we have eaten more fresh produce in the last week than I probably have in my entire life combined. We drove to the grocery store with our windows rolled down, cleaned out the car, changed our sheets.  It's been a few years since Utah got a real spring. I'm not sure how long it will last so while its here, we're going to hold on tight.

Kade is such a lover- his favorite toy right now is a stroller that he can push his 'baby' around in. He pushed it almost two blocks today before tiring out. He pauses to make sure baby is still tucked in safely, goes extra careful over hills and "pops wheeleys."

 

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I love the smell of dirt. Around three o'clock pm today I was down on all fours in a flower bed. I pulled weeds, raked leaves, threw rocks back into the window wells. By the time I found myself back in the house my knees and hands were black, I had a spider bite on my knee and my cheeks were a rosy red. I also had a giant smile on my face and the faint smell of dirt in my nose long after my shower. There will be much, much more yard work for these hands in the near future.

Life has been its usual rhythmic chaos. Pockets of stress encased in glorious, fleeting moments of comfort. I'm ready for spring and the freshness that it brings with it. I hope the sweet smelling air lingers, leaving traces on my clothes and hair. I hope the sun's warm kisses leave freckles on my nose. I hope I can slow down and enjoy this. But mostly, I hope that you can too.

 

Happy Spring.