Activity in isolation not so bad after all

There’s activity in virtually every corner of the county this weekend. Traffic is nuts, people are everywhere; you can just feel the place brimming with life.

You got to love that! And although I could’ve filled my boots with everything from Thunder in the Valley, Pumpkin Palooza in Wolfville, New Minas’s inaugural HarvestFest, Kentville’s Harvest Festival or events at Prescott House, guess what? I hung out at home.

The kids are with my wife in Shubenacadie visiting the grandparents, so I devoted my energies to all things domestic and went to town in a proverbial rather than literal sense.

It’s frustrating to pull into the yard every day after work and witness the woodpile standing tall and unattended. Equally as troubling is when you breach the hearth and see that the kiddies have neglected (for the umpteenth time) their myriad craft supplies and projects scattered about the living room.

God love them for their creativity and we would never do anything to dissuade such enterprise, but I think my wife and I will keel over in shock should either one of our charges decide at some point that neatness counts and they actually pick up after themselves.

I know what you’re thinking. The 10-second tidy is, in fact, an acquired skill and relies fundamentally on a parent’s insistence that it occurs.

I hear you, but it’s hard sometimes to enforce even the simplest things when supper’s on the go, they’re hollering at one another over a pencil or something equally as incidental, and a telemarketer is on the phone telling you that you need to upgrade your credit limit.

Every now and then, you have to just stop. Pull the plug on the whole damn thing and gain space to breathe.

What’s wonderful is my wife understands. Okay, there was also some rototilling to do on the farm and the kids love the atmosphere there, so it was fantastic in that regard, too, but dig this? I had the house to myself. You can’t imagine how sweet silence is until you experience its opposite.

So I cooked, cleaned, hauled wood and kicked a final stick or two to make a ridiculous personal statement. Went for a run in the woods after that and was rewarded with a glimpse of five white-tailed deer, two of which bounded away at my arrival, three that just stared at me wondering what kind of animal looked like THAT.

It was rich and surprisingly rejuvenating. Fact is, I needed it, too. I love doing wood this time of year, with leaves drifting by your nose and endless blue sky above you. Even hanging clothes is cool because it’s face-time with the sun and chickadees that practically perch on top of you.

Still, the house isn’t the same without the fam and I look forward to their return. No matter how much I enjoy the private time, the place gets too quiet too quickly. As well, Thanksgiving is a shared experience and their energy and excitement make it sing.

I hope yours is equally as warm and eventful.