Summer is upon us, and despite my every effort to make it a stress-free one, I have found myself overwhelmed. I feel like all my blogs are about that nowadays, so I'm going to reflect on a few exceptional days.
Two weekends ago, we visited a local park that I'm pretty sure is Dylan's favorite. There is a playground and a little (dirty) lake there, as well as a path that leads to an un-used steel mill. Anyway, here are my favorite photos from that day. If you want to see all of them, you can. Just click HERE.
It really was a good day. The sun was hot and it wasn't sticky. Dylan climbed on steel beams and watched some people fishing. He played on the playground and jumped off of stuff and got really dirty and took off his shirt...all things kids like him enjoy.
Before the park and such, we went mini-golfing:
...which was a disaster. Dylan is probably the first child alive to break a putter. Yep. broke it. in half. No idea how.
That was a fun walk to the booth. Let me tell you.
"How the heck did you break that?"
"I don't know. It just broke."
"It's metal. It doesn't just break"
"Well...Mum...it did. It just broked."
"Broke. It's just broke."
"...Whatever."
Anyway, he also rode go karts and played video games while we were there. After the park, we had pizza and ice cream for dinner.
It was a good day. Our feet were dirty and we fell asleep as soon as we got home. The sun does that to us.
I need days like this with Dylan. Without them I start getting pulled under. Real life and all the things that suck people dry starts to take over. I begin feeling myself turning into one of those people who lives like a robot. Joy has an incredible way of prioritizing your heart for you. Spending time with a child somehow shifts things.
Dylan doesn't care if the electric is late. He isn't watching the gas gauge or counting calories or nervously chewing the inside of his lip. He isn't calculating bills or projecting the next month's income. He's not worrying about how to pay for college, when he'll have time to return voicemails, or debating between a 6 or 8 cylinder.
No. He is pressing his face against the car window. He's asking me why his ring finger, pointer, pinky, and middle finger all fit up his nose...but his thumb doesn't. Dylan is studying a leaf. He is climbing to the highest point in the whole place, looking down, and wondering if he can stick it. He's humming a nameless tune, chewing on action figure's hands, and kicking his shoes off on the swing.
In a moment, I remember what is important. The electric can be shut off and just as easily be turned back on. Gas tanks can be filled. Calories can be burned off. Bills are never going anywhere. College is still 12 years away, and voicemails are saved safely in my inbox.
In a moment, I remember that Dylan's days cannot be replaced or stored away and relived. They are fleeting and fast and remarkable. In one sunny day, everything falls where it belongs.
"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain. But he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
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