Monday, June 26, 2006

Ennui and Me

I'm afraid that the term "unseasonably hot" is going to become a quaint memory. Or else a daily reality. The kids' long-sleeved, long-legged, SPF 50 bathing suits came today. Amazing just how precious a little bod is when it's wearing a wetsuit-style swimsuit. They all appear to have skin like mine, which tans before it burns. On the other hand, awareness of sun damage is so much greater now for them than it was for me as a child that I keep them wrapped up like Bedouins, while still wanting them to be able to spend as much time as possible in the water.

When I feel like engaging in some self-berating for not living on a farm where my wild children could run free, simultaneously having the sense of accomplishment and responsibility of taking care of large animals (who's been to the county fair lately?) or for choosing to settle in a part of the country with astronomical, near-joke status real estate prices, I think about the good stuff.

My spouse works hard so we can afford to live in this area. My garden grows year-round. We can swim easily and well all over. The bay is a few minute's walk from the house, and there are a number of public lakes within a few minutes' drive. The swim lesson program run by the parks department appears to be a good one. We have a tight, large, homeschooling group. They go to lakes a lot. They don't laugh when I put my hair up with knitting needles:

There are, however, days when a litany of blessings still isn't enough to overcome the weight of whatever it is I'm carrying. So the knitting, of all things, suffers. My "Cabaret" remains sleeveless, and I hate the edging I started for Thing 1's tank top. I've lost my Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns somewhere (don't ask me how!) and the woman who found my lost wedding ring hasn't contacted me again after our rendezvous didn't work out.

Oh well. Swim lessons start again today, and it's time to make bread for the fair. This, like all things, will pass, and sometimes that's about the best lesson to remember.

9 comments:

brewerburns said...

I think we all get a little knitting ennui when the weather gets nicer.

Rain said...

I hope you get your ring back soon.

I think the summer does tend to put knitting on the back burner a little especially when it's so hot.

amanda j said...

You could always think of me here in Tasmania freezing my butt off!

bfmomma said...

your lost wedding ring? how on earth did I miss that?

It's hard to knit much in the summer for me, too. I'm at a standstill...

Wish we had it warm enough to swim...

meredith said...

what i'm trying to figure out is how to know which things wil pass and which things won't.
i really hope you get your ring back.

Stefaneener said...

Well, yeah, Meredith, that is the hard part. Currently, as a sop to my sanity, I'm assuming that everything that bothers me will pass. Either that or someday I'll be dead and it's won't matter anyhow.

Bfmoma, I dropped my wedding ring in a parking lot after an attack of hand-hives. I've lost a wedding ring before, and that one wasn't insured. Because this one is, I got it back yesterday from a little girl who had found it. Apparently, though, either I or someone else had run over it. It's pretty scratched up. We have to go to a jeweler and do something. Oh well.

Amanda, I do think of you. I'm almost exclusively knitting cotton things right now, anyhow. That seems to work for the temperature.

jen said...

The kids don't have large animals to feed and shovel after, but they do have a yard full of bees and parents with enough sense to make sure they're appreciating things like lakes and gardens and snakes.

I'm trying to picture an SPF 50 swimsuit....

aurora said...

I love both of those photos - the needles, and the dentist (eeek!)

SPF swimsuits are a grand invention. I'm glad to hear that you got your ring back :)

K said...

Ditto on yay for getting the ring back. Your jeweler should be able to buff it back to goodness.

Summer is a funny season - it's a blast because there's so much to do and it will drive you nuts because there is so much to do!

Sometimes I think the feeling of ennui comes from just being a bit (or a lot) overwhelmed.

But you are right, it does pass and then you will be wondering what you were fussing about!