Wide Open Spaces

It’s amazing sometimes how I get inspired from other blogs. I love my blogroll, there are some great authors over there Between reading and writing some personal stuff, I just had no inspiration to write on here. Oh yes things are happening, but when it’s mostly boring work stuff… eh, who cares. (It’s not actually boring, it’s actually really exciting – but to the rest of the world, it would be boring ) But seeing that other people have written, it makes me want to as well – even just a bit. Even if it’s 15 minutes over the time I know I need to stop and go get ready for the day.

Sunday after church we had an impromptu lunch with some good friends of ours who we have not seen in such a long time. It was beyond fabulous. They own about 20 acres of land just less than a 10 minute drive from our house. Prayse got to ride on a four-wheeler, run outside in the grass. She was energized, she was alive! She kept calling to me to come join her and Daddy, since I wasn’t going to crawl onto a four-wheeler in a white skirt my friend gave me some of her clothes to lounge in.

It was all kinds of great as we were creeping along their yard (until P hit the gas – oh my what a jolt!! She laughed until Daddy said no more – adventerous spirit anyone?). We would stop, I’d squeeze him around the middle a bit more, rest my chin on his shoulder – and we’d talk. The kind of talk we used to talk. About dreams, about past mistakes even – and what we want to do in the future. It made us want a small little place outside of town, near a lake where not only could our 2 year old be free, but us too. Yep, us “city” folk.  I almost felt guilty because Prayse loved it so much. Our house is so small, she doesn’t even get up to full speed to run before she’s slowing down to turn around. Our “yard” which is communal and has more pine trees w/ pine needles on the ground than you’ve ever seen is not the best place to run. R grew up in the country, I grew up going fishing and running around outside like it was my job. Oh wait, as a kid it kind of is isn’t it?

I need to give her more open spaces, beyond just the occasional trips to the park. We need to go camping, fishing, go to the lake, go wild, run, PLAY! B/c guess what? Then R and I get to as well. When we’re pulled out of our everyday and I’m not seeing dishes, laundry, toys on the floor, a floor that needs swept, my computer just sitting there knowing emails are piling up with a work to-do list running through my mind. And he’s not sitting there with clients calling, texting, the computer upstairs calling his name as his work to-do list is getting crazy – when we’re out of our element and the “calls” of our daily lives aren’t in our face – that is when we actually get to have a conversation. I think that’s why I always loved going on walks, whether it was with my Mom, meeting my friend Meghan when she lived close by, with Raymonn before we had Prayse. Because the conversations suddenly got real. We haven’t done that. Not for a really long time. I don’t think ever as the three of us. Maybe it’s time to revive that – and put a little more effort into getting outside of our typical life to enjoy each other as a family.