Last night Torsten and I walked to the grocery store to buy some milk. (The fact that we can walk to the grocery store still makes me so happy.) We took the dog with us and strolled, not in any rush, and when we got there I waited outside with Montana while Torsten bought the milk, and then we walked home.
It's so simple, right? It's nothing, it's the kind of thing you wouldn't even bother Tweeting about, and yet. The weather was beautiful, cool and dry, and it was dark and we could see all the stars, and we passed a few neighbors and cheerfully said hello to all of them. We saw a fox and listened to the sprinklers in the park and debated cloth vs. disposable diapers (still no conclusions on this one, in case you're curious).
It was just peaceful, you know? It was a regular everyday basic thing to do and yet it was wonderful, because it was us together, me and Torsten and Piglet and Montana (and yes it is deliberate that I listed Piglet before Montana, because she's about to find out that she'll be moving down the totem pole). And everything about it was lovely. And I hope that even when we have a non-sleeping baby, and then a tantrumy toddler, and then an exhausting whirlwind of elementary school activities, every now and then we'll find time to take a walk and even time to enjoy it.
And I'm really excited for the time when the four of us go for a walk, but Piglet is in the stroller, or a baby carrier, instead of inside me. When there's a real live baby to take for walks.
Of course, the baby is due in January and so it will be more like tramping cautiously through the snow than strolling through the peaceful mild evening, and we will have to use the baby carrier and not the stroller unless we get a special snow-equipped stroller, and it will be chilly and we likely won't go as far as the grocery store.
But then! Then the baby will get bigger and the weather will get warmer and even though it's all a big cycle it will feel so different, every year, every time. And I love this year, this time, but I am also so excited about next year, this time.
But in the meantime a walk with my husband is enough. More than enough.
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14 years ago
This is so sweet! We live in the woods so we can't walk anywhere to get anything, so this sounds so lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have 1 December kid and 3 January kids, so come find me because I'll be here to help you through the winter with babies!
I WISH we could! We live in the hot hot concrete jungle of Houston. The new house will have bridle trails and a lot of forest to shade us, so I bet we can then, but right now the street would burn Blanca's little feet!
ReplyDeleteI love family walks. We were going to go out to dinner one night last week, and hubby was running late from work. The restaurant was only about 3/4 mile away. I asked my son if we should meet hubby there, wait for him to pick us up, or walk there. I was so glad when he said walk. :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds so lovely!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this. And I've had this feeling too. Sometimes the simplest pleasures really are the best.
ReplyDeleteI totally looked forward to that kind of thing too, before we had children. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I ACHED for it.
ReplyDeleteI have always made an effort to enjoy those kinds of things- the simple, pure, happy things- because life with children is messy and chaotic and NOT AT ALL as I imagined. EXCEPT, sometimes it's exactly like I imagined... only better.
And living someplace "walkable" was HIGH on our priority list. We don't usually walk to the grocery, b/c it's a little farther than comfortable, especially considering we usually need more than a few things. (As in: too much stuff to transport home, along with three kids.) However, we CAN (and often do) walk to the library, the kids' school and other playgrounds, church, and nearly every single friends' house. I love that when we are leaving to go somewhere, my kids automatically ask "Are we walking, biking, or driving?" Besides all of the peaceful and lovely aspects already mentioned, I want them to rely on their own two feet to get places, ya know?
ReplyDeleteWe've been doing an evening dogwalk/ bike ride and even though sometimes I get frustrated--"oh, do we HAVE to go?" I may have said on more than one occasion, as bedtime slipped by and it seems like our days are nothing but duffle bags that we're trying to cram more and more activities into--when we're out, watching the sky turn color and the day fade, it always feels like, Yes. This is where we should be.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the city, Sweets and I have to walk our dog (we have a shared yard, but wouldn't let her do her business there all the time). And you know what? Even though we supposedly take turns, at least once a day, we wind up walking together. It really is a special time, no matter what the weather - and adding a baby into the mix will make it that much more outstanding!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I can't imagine walking through snow - but enjoying a spring or an autumn stroll with hubby, baby and puppy seems like a pretty darned good thing to me!
ReplyDeleteSo, so sweet. I love taking walks, whether it's alone or with people. There is something so calming about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is great.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as one who's had two summer babies....one advantage I see in a winter baby is that by summertime, you can actually be outside more with a baby that does more than just lay there. AND you can put sunscreen on a six-month-old.
ReplyDeleteLast summer, we pretty much stayed inside all the time. BORING!
Take advantage of those evening walks while you can - once kids get regular bedtimes, it can feel like you're a slave to bedtime and spontaneous walks...well....kind of an oxymoron, really.
When I see families out walking together it just makes my heart all melty.
ReplyDelete