Hammock Dreamin'

This weekend was simply wonderful, like the last wink of summer before she leaves until next year. The coolness of autumn is already in the air, some leaves have turned already, maybe the last chance of shorts. t-shirt, and sandals for a long while. Today, we spent with my friend Kathrin and her family, who are stationed in Wiesbaden. After a 2.5 hour drive and great lunch we headed for the yard to enjoy the sun and let the kids tire themselves out; Emma insisted to get out the hammock as well along with all the other yard toys. After chasing down Lily for a while, I ended up in said hammock with little Violet; it was put up between two large trees, whose leaves were still green. The sun shone through them and cast an interesting pattern on us while we were just relaxing and looking up at the green canopy above us. Violet was scratching at the fabric of the hammock and chewing at her fingers. After a couple of minutes, Lily decided to join us and stayed for a while swinging before joining her new friend Julian for more playing again. Violet and I remained in the hammock, just being there and enjoying the here and now.

In our hectic lives, these moments have become so rare. On any given day I haste from A to B, not thinking, not stopping, not seeing the world around me. In these minutes today, I saw my tiny world in these moments, the hammock, the trees, the leaves, and the sun, more clearly than I have in a long time. It seemed as if time had stopped for a while, and I was simply calm and content. In this world of haste, stress, irritation, confusion, and other negative feelings, something as simple as a hammock on a sunny late-summer afternoon made an impression on me that makes me think: why don't we take time-outs any more? What keeps us from just taking a few minutes every day for ourselves; no children, no work, no chores, just us to reconnect with ourselves and recharge. I have already informed my husband that I would like to have a hammock at some point. Just to have my very own space for me-time at least every couple of days. I believe if people took more time to just calm down and give up the world around them every once in a while, this world would be a better place. Who could still hold grudges and negativities in the face of something as beautiful as this planet? I couldn't, and I feel very much refueled to take on the challenges of tomorrow, next week, and whatever comes after that.