The Gift of a Day

I cleared my calendar (well almost) and vowed to ignore my ever growing "to-do" list for the day. Today, I decided, was going to be about me. After I got my kids on the bus, I headed over to the local nature center to enjoy a run on the trails. It felt energizing to sweat in the sun and the solitude although I did startle a herd (if 5 can be considered a herd) of deer, cross paths with a couple turkey, flush out this prehistoric looking crane (I guess all cranes look otherworldly) and pause long enough to count the basking turtles knowing that my girl would want to know how many I had seen.

I quickly discovered that the Grassland Loop was still a soggy spring mess. I felt like a long jumper leaping over mud pits, or trying to. I have short legs and well, I wasn't always successful at clearing them. I was like a defiant child turning my shoes from pink to brown as the drying dirt caked up and down my legs. I don't like being dirty...at all! I thought, "If my Mom could see me now!" And then I realized that she could see me all right and that encouraged me to run faster...to jump more enthusiastically...to get dirtier and all with a smile on my face.

I finished that loop and then headed for the tree tops. I climbed the observation tower and welcomed the burn in my quads more present with each flight of stairs I conquered. At the top, I paused only long enough to catch my breath and to thank God for this beautiful world...the brilliant blue sky, the new baby buds on all the trees, the peace in my heart.

Do you know that it hurts more to go down than to come up? The sting in my legs was painfully apparent as I made my way down the bluff to the lake. A lone piece of driftwood off erred a welcome reprieve as well as the perfect vantage point from which to watch the waves ebb and flow. I sat mesmerized for what felt like forever. I focused on a group of children playing in the sand. I thought of my kids. How quickly they are growing up...how time moves at a supersonic pace sometimes that it is near impossible to capture or cherish the moments, and yet that's what this life is made up of...moments.

Energized, I sprinted as fast as I could for as long as my legs (and lungs) held out. The adrenaline subsided and the lactic acid set in. I was sweaty, stinky, covered in mud, yet I felt energized and even beautiful. Taking care of myself the good old fashioned way has that affect on me. It grounds me, clears my head, opens my heart and breaths life into my limbs. It's the only way I can keep putting one foot in front of the other moment after moment, day after day after day.

And speaking of feet...after scrubbing in the shower, me and my girly girl headed to the spa to get my toes and her fingers done hence the "almost clearing of the calendar." It was a fun mother/daughter date, and actually something my Mom and I once enjoyed together. Even though my daughter is only 4, she really revelled in the pampering and I believe she was a tougher client than I was...hemming and hawing over just the right color, needing more lotion and extra sparkles! I love the way she knows what she wants and is not the least bit afraid to ask for it!

Her Daddy just walked in the door and she shouted from across the room, "Look at my nails!" Now she is dressed in protective gear (a Darth Vadar helmet and a bullet proof vest) ready for Nerf gun battle with her brother and his friend. It is all about moments. Each one is a gift!