life lately

Here’s a little story about last week, a story that I’m telling you not so much for its entertainment value than for the fact that I want to remember it. I told a friend we had been busy, but in order to stop the glorification of that, I'd now opt for full instead, full in the sense that Joshua Fields Milburn of The Minimalists uses the word; in fact, for describing days that are full of lovely things, and family stuff, and love, the word busy just sounds so wrong somehow, it has negative connotations to it that don't begin to reflect the way I actually felt last week. So when I am once again longing to he somewhere else, live in the city again perhaps, as I am wont to do on days when it feels like nothing is happening and Oh-god-I-am-so-bored-here, I will hopefully find my way back to this piece of writing and remember.

To tell a story about Thursday last week I need to go back to December and my birthday. I had told friends and family I absolutely didn't need anything for my birthday, like I have been telling them for years. Rather than throwing a party in order to acquire more stuff for myself, I spend my birthdays doing fun things with my family. However, despite my reluctant attitude towards presents my mom and siblings gave me a gift voucher for a beauty & massage salon in our neighbouring town, which I thought was a fantastic idea for a present indeed.

I spent most of it on sensible treatments like having my brows done, but I did want to try something different as well, something I would probably never end up trying if I had to pay for it myself. And that's how I ended up fully clothed on a table in a dark room, with a massage therapist gently holding her hands on my body. Having done some research on the different options the salon offered, I had settled on reiki, because it was kind of sufficiently out there. I'm truthfully not sure if I believed, before hand, I'd get anything out of it, but sure enough, after about half an hour I felt the tension in my body release and even drowsed off for a moment. Afterwards, I felt relaxed, and so loved, and in dire need of coffee as I was super sleepy but still needed to go shopping with my daughter, who had come along to make art in the oriental atmosphere of the salon.

So we made our way to the mall, picked a coffee shop and got some wake-up liquid for me & buns so huge we couldn't finish the ice creams we had an hour later. We wandered around the mall, buying nothing (we were picky & not on a spending spree that day), until it was time to pick up dad from work and go have tacos at this new restaurant in town. All in all Thursday almost fulfilled my wish of being in a city for a change, mainly because there were other people around I guess, and we had fun places to go to? It was almost like being in the city except that it was just a twenty-minute ride away from our lovely home which has plenty of room and no upstairs or downstairs neighbours to think of, and has more space than the three of us actually need.

While Friday was just us hanging about at home, making black bean burgers, having our two remaining hens picked up by a farmer with a proper homestead & a flock of more birds, and watching important documentaries on Netflix, oh OK, watching Gossip Girl on Netflix, we had more on our agenda on Saturday. We hastily ate a lunch of leftover black bean burgers at home, packed our Kånkens full of snacks, drinks, blankets & rain gear, and embarked on a road trip to an annual church event in a nearby town. (Oh yes, I am actually going to call every trip we make this summer a road trip.)   

We listened to speeches, sang the hymns we knew, camped on our blankets, had enormous plates full of food made by volunteers, hung out with relatives, and walked for what seemed like hours until we got sick of walking and drove to visit my grandparents, who are now 'too old and cranky' (their words, not mine) to attend such events for three days straight so instead of going had stayed home and listened to it all on radio. Grandpa was particularly pleased to have us there, since we interrupted the evening sermon. Apparently they had 'heard enough of God's word' for one day already. 

In the evening, back home, we listened to some folk music and watched the sun set & then rise again soon after, enjoying the peace and calm of the country life. I sometimes may forget it, but nights like that serve as reminders of how lovely we have it here. In fact, that's exactly what my husband said that night as the sunset was painting beautiful pictures on our walls and it was just the two of us: 'We have it so lovely here, don’t we?' And then we both nodded our heads and listened to some more music and watched the night sky turn a different color pretty much every minute.  We had a free Sunday ahead of us, were knackered from all the roadtripping and walking we had done, and full of both all the food we'd had and all the love we had felt in the past couple of days, and I realized I really would rather be nowhere else but here.