Stream of Connie

I'm going to spit out my thoughts in list form, as I have no time for anything more thorough.

• After 12, no . . . 14?! Oh man. After 14 years living in the Midwest, I have finally come to appreciate the snowy winter months. I am absolutely relishing it this year, in fact.
• This might have something to do getting to be home all the time; or perhaps living rurally, where the snow actually stays white and looks pretty.
• I was always so disheartened by how dirty the snow was in the city. And the salty-filth covered cars and buses. Disgusting.
• But I think the biggest influence is living seasonally, in rhythm with our garden. Winter is a time for rest and relaxation, not working outside until it gets dark at 10:00 PM, eating the evening meal, and then collapsing into bed.
• Though I think a lot of our warm-weather labor is due to "setting up shop" with young children and half-of-the-whole being gone 50 hours a week vs. slavery to a garden patch. We have a lot going on over here!
• Writing in list-form is very lazy. I see that . . . as I could be developing all this into much more interesting and fleshed-out thoughts.
• But for a Mama with less than an hour to herself each day, if I'm lucky, this is gonna hafta' do!
• I felt myself becoming semi-unavailable today. It was like my mind was shutting my little guys out; I just needed a break and some distance. Thankfully, they played very well by themselves while I was one-room-over.
• And then I found a book shoved into the VCR. (Hee! I'm pretty sure Diego was pretending he was the mama and taking care of little Truen. I heard him say something like, "And now I am going to play a movie for you!")
• Yes, we do have a VCR. We use it, too. When our old one conked out, Squeeze's dad tracked us down a used one because 1) ours couldn't be repaired, and 2) VCRs alone aren't sold anymore.
• I have found some wonderful VHS tapes at thrift stores -the old 1980's cartoon of Charlotte's Web and Raymond Brigg's The Snowman being the best of the best.
• We don't have a record player, but purchasing a Hi-Fi is on our agenda. Same idea: think of all the wonderful children's records we could get for 25 cents!
• Both Squeeze and I have fondness in our memories for watching records spin. There is just something so intriguing about sound coming out of a needle placed on a giant revolving disc with lines scritched into it.
• Speaking of memory: Diego's new thing is to ask us to tell him stories about "when we were a little girl and boy" every single night as we are snuggling down into sleep. The light goes off, and he's on it: requesting demandingly, "Okay, tell me a story!"
• It has been fun to recall various aspects of our youth -- and also very enlightening. I have been learning new insights into Squeeze's life and who he is and was. I love him all the more, just thinking about him as a little boy. He spent so much time by himself, inventing games and stories.
• Of our boys, Truen is the one who can handle being on his own. He enjoys it, and will even play little ditties on his own while all of us are, say, snuggling in bed or sitting on the couch talking.
• I don't think Diego has ever chosen to be alone longer than the books he was drawn into lasted, or the bursts of creative play that come right after breakfast or when we get home after being out.
• Sound familiar, anyone?!