ordinary miracles

At the start of this summer, I had lofty plans of family togetherness.  I planned for us to do things together like catch fireflies, stargaze, roast s'mores,  read,  run through the sprinklers etc... For myself I had plans of reading, finishing a painting project or two and deep cleaning and de-cluttering.  Most days however, I got uncooperative, grouchy kids who had to be refereed every few minutes.  It seemed that we couldn’t go an hour without the kids fighting over something, which left little time for me to get much done... that is until our power went out on Monday.

As inconvenient as not having power is, it sparked a miracle in its wake. There has been no TV for the boys to sit in front of and vegetate. There are no video games to fight over. My husband voluntarily took 3 of the kids to the Laundromat yesterday and did the fifteen loads of laundry piled up on my kitchen floor, while my oldest stayed home to paint (this in itself is amazing, seeing as my husband has volunteered exactly 3 times EVER to take anyone with him on errands).  The biggest miracle of all is that my children are playing together and getting along. They have engaged in impromptu games of hide and seek, we set up a tent in the backyard as a getaway for them to read or hang out in because it is cooler outside, and the oldest 3 slept in it the first night sans fighting. I caught my ten year old giving my five year old a hug yesterday just because. And today he helped him get his shoes on and even tied them for him so we could go on a walk. they are calling each other buddy, and taking turns unprompted by me, with the only handheld video game system we can find at the moment.  It seems the affability that has infected my children has infected some neighbors as well. The houses across the street got their power back yesterday afternoon, and many neighbors have extension cords stretched across the road to our side so people can run fans or their refrigerators. I learned the name of my neighbor to the north, whom I have lived next to for 8 years, I guess I never had occasion or inclination to know it before. We met the neighbors across the street, who moved in recently, another thing we were generally not inclined to do.

Of course I miss the convenience of flipping a light switch versus opening the curtains for light, and I miss my washer most of all, but for now, It seems that my wish of a family togetherness summer has been granted, even if it is fleeting. Our summer days have slowed to a lazy pace that is filled with laughter, and fun, and now finally, seven weeks into summer it actually feels a bit like a vacation.  Eventually the power will come back on and we will go back to using too much electricity,  running our air conditioner and electronic items, but for now I will bask in the glow of a summer slowed down and the goodwill shared between fellow human beings .