
Traveling here and there can wear you down, as exciting as it is to wake up in a different place now and then. It has felt like it was taking forever for Spring to arrive this year, and even when the calendar finally confirmed it, the winds kick up over the lake and it feels like November again. The older I get, the more I realize how much I relish the warm weather, even though I love the four seasons.
I’ve come to realize the remedy for the blues is to surround myself with young life, be it gazing at the new buds on trees, bulbs poking their heads up through the hard winterized dirt, or the laughter of kids. Luckily it was coming close to the annual sleepover at Nana’s, coinciding with the Apple Blossom Festival.
My two oldest grandchildren live in the city and a suburb so coming out to the ‘country’ is an adventure in itself. Out here there’s not a lot of t.v. played, the pace is slower and the summer brings long lazy days swimming in the lake.
It is still spring, so apple blossom season and all that brings is in full bloom, pun intended. The Apple Blossom Festival includes a parade, crowning of an Apple Blossom Queen and Princess, a 5K race, carnival, vendors and the “Flyin-in” pancake breakfast held on Sunday at the local airport. It is something we’ve begun to look forward to since transplanting myself here in Wayne County. For those who have grown up with this festival, it is probably not a big deal. Seeing the long rows of pancakes and sausage cooking on griddles, the smell of butter and syrup is intoxicating. Their grandpa is not marching in the parade this year; business responsibilities have taken him out of town. We ate his share between the three of us.
I am a believer in Traditions with a capital “T” and try to create as many of them as I can. They are the framer and keeper of memories; hopefully good ideas to pass on to the next generation will come from them.
This year the festival was met with cold and rainy weather, thunder booming and lightening kept peppering the skies all afternoon. They were not interested in the Saturday parade nor the rides at the carnival, hoping perhaps Sunday would be better. What was important was that we were together.
Instead, we went to Barnes & Noble, had a nice dinner at Red Robin and then to the movies. Borrowing an idea from an old friend of mine, I told them that it was time to get up and dance during the rolling credits at the end of the movie. They looked at me as if I’d lost my mind, but eagerly joined in when they saw me head to the front of the theatre. Learning to overcome self-consciousness is a gift I can give them. I learned a very long time ago not to let people have power over how I feel, and to not take myself too seriously. Seize the moment, no matter how bad you might be feeling, because everything passes, the good AND the bad.
I was happy and felt so much better having them around, listening to them laugh and joke together. They are 9 and 10 years old, an age where everything is funny and the sillier the better. Soon they will be teenagers and may not be as enamored with spending time in the country or even with each other. So for today, I was grateful for this respite, to wash myself in the love and affection we feel for each other, secretly hoping some day they will pass the tradition onto their own families. It was silly, memorable, and wonderful all in the same moment, a snapshot in my mind I will keep forever.
I felt like dancing in the movie theatre so we did, and other began to join us. A new tradition was born.
No comments:
Post a Comment