winter wanderings

Winter began over the weekend, here. And with a new season out there, I hope comes a new season for me, within. This sea change, it's the best thing we ever did. But it's also the hardest thing we ever did. We seem to have hit a season of challenge. I could write the list of challenges for the past two-and-a-half years, but what would be the point? They have been worth it. It's all been worth it, to live here.

But it doesn't make it less hard.

One of the tricky things is that we moved into a small house, temporarily. We are still there, two-and-a-half years later. And our family has grown. It occurred to me on Saturday, that my little boy, who was only a baby when we came here, has never played in his own yard. This place is set on a steep, steep hill. The yard is all the way down there, and comprised of construction fill, which has become more and more exposed as the heavy rain has washed soil away. And it occurred to me that I haven't made the best efforts to find alternative outdoor play solutions.

So on Saturday afternoon, we went for a little walk, just up to the corner, to collect some beautiful Autumn leaves. The walk got longer and longer, as we searched for puddles to jump in. I examined a little corner of our town with a child's-eye-view for a change, wandering slowly, careening back and forth, looking closely at droplets of water clinging to grevillia leaves. My baby girl got heavy in my arms as the rain started to fall, and the boys' gumboots filled with water as they stomped in tiny lakes.

And it didn't matter. Because it all doesn't, really. We just have to patiently wait this season out, a new one is coming. I know it.