Taking a Pause

yarn that I bought while in Canada

Sometimes I want to pause time, take a breath and remember everything I'm seeing and thinking.  This week is a pause week.  The weather has been brilliant.  Cool air, blue skies or cloudy skies, intermittent and glorious.  Lots of time to look out the windows and enjoy the riot of autumn colors. 

I'm thrilled to be home and reunited with my bed, my kitchen and most of all my tender daily rituals that bring me joy.  Making coffee and drinking from my favorite mug early in the morning feels fuller and richer at my kitchen table.  Whenever I travel, I try to set that precious morning ritual stage but the location is different - hence the feeling that something is missing.

Frodo!!!  Gah!
Whenever I return home, I want to hug my country traffic.  I love how quickly I can get from point A to point B because of my rural hometown.  My kind of traffic is being behind a farm tractor hauling freshly cut corn husks (this happened after babysitting last week).  Five miles an hour at a crawl.  Yet I was blessed with rolling country side views so it ended up being fun in the end.


Whenever we return home, Holly the cat who is antisocial, is all about getting some snuggling time with my husband and risking the scary walk by Frodo under the ottoman.  Frodo is exhausted from his kennel stay so he just sleeps and lets Holly sidle by.

I miss my animals when I'm away.


I thoroughly enjoy visiting and being with family especially all the talking and laughing and being together.

I thoroughly enjoy the quiet silence of home.  I sit and enjoy the pause.


Whenever I travel, I leave the big camera behind and rely on the Iphone that does a decent job of capturing the moments with family.  Once home and I'm reunited with my Nikon, I'm out and about shooting my nature scenes and seeing details that are lost with the cellphone camera.


All week, I've been doing what I usually do:  going to the gym, babysitting, running errands etc.  I wish I could be mindful all the time and notice my happiness while doing these details daily.  Eventually, daily life will take center stage, a minor crisis will be my focus, I'll get angry or frustrated and I'll forget my contentment. 

I like this week, that for now, I'm content, I'm noticing, I'm happy and keeping the mundane holy.

peek!  I see you Holly! (this is her personality)
 In other news, I'm feverishly trying to finish this shawl, knit knit knit.  I have a crazy notion that I'll be casting off over the weekend but that is a far fetched goal.  I do love those kind of goals!


Comments

  1. kathy bNovember 1, 2018 at 5:32 PM

    I LOVE to be in my home with my pets. I adore them. I love this house in the country woods. I learned to drive a tractor today, the lawn mower kind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. StefanieNovember 1, 2018 at 5:39 PM

    Does a neighbor take care of Frodo and Holly when you two road trip? Glad you're snug as a bug in your own bed and among your happy and familiar surroundings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BonnyNovember 1, 2018 at 6:30 PM

    I wish I could feel that things were just different when I'm traveling. That would be fine, but like you, I also feel that something is missing. I keep trying, though! Enjoy your time at home!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JaneNovember 1, 2018 at 8:05 PM

    Ahh - there is no place like home. I love the ordinary days - especially when they come in autumn colors. Good luck with that shawl. Knit knit knit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MaryNovember 2, 2018 at 6:27 AM

    lovely post, Karen - I feel the same way about home ... and keeping the mundane holy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. margeneNovember 2, 2018 at 9:52 AM

    I also love the quiet, the calm, mundane of my daily routine, which isn't much of a routine, but it is mine. I feel so fortunate everyday for all I have under this roof. Your post is lovely and it brings me peace.

    ReplyDelete
  7. VeraNovember 2, 2018 at 10:57 AM

    Your phrase "keeping the mundane holy" is a wonderful one. I agree - home is best.

    ReplyDelete
  8. mamasmercantileNovember 2, 2018 at 12:47 PM

    Home is where the heart is, I feel like that despite the love that I have for travel. Such a wonderful phrase "keeping the mundane holy", perfection.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jeannie Gray KnitsNovember 2, 2018 at 1:20 PM

    I enjoy the country driving experience too, except I still can't get excited about being stuck behind a 5 mph tractor. Twenty seven years ago my country-boy husband dragged this city-girl into 'the boondocks' to live and I have to say, I've adjusted well. If there are 4 cars at our one stoplight, I freak out over the traffic now.

    Hope you can get your shawl finished this weekend. Can't wait to see it blocked!

    ReplyDelete
  10. ShirleyNovember 2, 2018 at 4:39 PM

    Your first paragraph describes my feeling perfectly! I am enjoying my ordinary fall days so much. I feel so blessed to be able to do the ordinary things that bring me so much joy. Love the glimpse of Holly at the top of the stairs. Good luck on your knitting goal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. GraceNovember 2, 2018 at 5:18 PM

    Karen, are you sure we weren't sisters in another life? : ) I could have written this post. My husband and I both agree that two weeks is about as long as we can go before longing for home. I love my daily routine and my quiet life, it just brings me such joy. Have a wonderful weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. MeredithNovember 2, 2018 at 5:57 PM

    I really do love to be home, it is my happy place. Traveling is fun but home is the best. Happy knitting!

    ReplyDelete

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