weekends are for exploring

The weather has been wild, like March often is. But it’s fitting as I’ve learned that March is often a month of paradoxes. While the business slows down for a few weeks before outdoor market starts, I pick up the slack with more freelance work than I should have said yes to. As overwhelming as it’s felt these past few weeks, I know that the extra income will pay for summer things like camp and travel so I push through the long hours.

The weekends, however, are time spent exploring. Unless I’m against the most dire of deadlines, I’ll make the time for weekend outings no matter how busy I am. Sometimes it’s in the city, but often we’ll take a drive. My favorite is when we come across a place we’ve never been before and it turns out to be someplace special. Jones Beach is a spot that we’ve been to more times than I can count (it’s the beach of my childhood), but I had never been to the West End before and it was beautiful. When I find a place that pulls me out of my present reality, I feel like I’ve succeeded in our weekend goals. I’ll know it too if the kids feel inspired to claim the nooks that they find in their surroundings as their “houses” and create their own little worlds. This could happen in a forest, an Ikea showroom or the sand dunes on this beach. It’s their favorite imaginary game to play. I guess the desire to stake a claim in this world starts young – or is it inherent to human nature?

Winter hasn’t stopped us from outdoor weekend outings, but I’m so ready for Spring and the colors that it brings with it. We’ve taken advantage of the full weekends that Mark has had off since the outdoor markets ended. This was the first year that we didn’t participate in any indoor weekend markets, and while we missed the extra income, these weekends were worth the trade off. The outdoor season starts up in 2 weeks, however, so our weekends will have a different rhythm and routine for the next 6 to 7 months. It’ll just be me and the girls again on Sundays. When I think about these Sundays, the memories are wrapped in warmth and summer light. Those days are coming.