I Wonder if Squirrels are Overworked?

I'm feeling very lazy today.  I worked yesterday at school (yes, yesterday was Saturday) and then I came home to find  Greg cleaning out the garage. All I could think to say was "Heavens to Betsy...."   He said, "You don't have to touch any of this!"  He actually said it with a straight face.  In any event, I eventually was pulled into helping because I'm an organizational freak and I love the feeling of being ruthless with "stuff". The garage can now house two cars.  We spent the required amount of time admiring our work before realizing it was nearly time for the long overdue "date night" that we had planned.  We were so tired, we curled up in front of the TV and watched Out of Africa instead of going out like we had planned.  And we actually stayed awake for the entire thing.  Have you ever seen that movie or read the book?  If not, you should.  It is a beautiful true story.  It inspires me to go someplace quiet and calm and exotic and grow my own coffee beans.

That brings me to our awe-inspiring son.  I have this kind of love you/hate you relationship with technology but one of the things that I love are my frequent texts and emails from my kids.  Hardly a day goes by that I don't get a funny text or a tear-inducing picture that frequently involves one of our grand kids.  We are all rarely in the same time zone and we aren't often all together under the same roof, but technology brings us close every single day.

Not long ago, I got a picture (text) of a big burlap bag with ETHIOPIA printed on it  from Ty.  Ty has always been my curious guy - the one who used to ask me 50 times a day why and follow up each answer with another why.  He used to frequently drive me nuts with his questions but I don't think he ever suspected.  God blessed me with a mother's poker face nearly every day.  Add to that the fact that I walked around with Mister Rogers' lyrics swirling around in my head and I thought for sure I would scar him if I didn't go head-to-head with the question/answer sessions.

"Did you know.....did you know....did you know that it's alright to wonder?"  

(Click below to read the lyrics and to hear Crystal Gayle singing it! By the way, if you are the parent of a preschooler and you don't have some Mister Rogers on your iPod .....shame on you - purchase a download today - makes the job of parenting SO much easier with the lessons to be learned!)

Crystal Gayle Singing Mister Rogers' "Did You Know/"

In any event, I've always been in awe of Ty's ability to "wonder" and to just plow forward even in a situation where it wasn't encouraged.  Back to the picture of the burlap bag - Ty has evidently begun wondering about the process of how coffee gets to his French press and is also a little peeved at the cost.  He's been wondering so much that he has started roasting his own coffee.  I knew he was working on something the weekend of his sister's college graduation because I kept hearing these little buzz sessions between him and Greg.   But I was so busy, I didn't bother to get details.  I now realize the details are that he ordered a 50-pound bag of coffee beans from Ethiopia and he is going to roast them all, grind them up and drink them.  I hope at a greatly reduced price.....but does it really matter?  He wondered and he now knows. What a kid!

I am also assured that he and his incredible wife are nurturing this sense of wonder in their adorable offspring too and this makes my heart leap!  Do you wonder how I know this?  They all took a walk last night and these are the pictures they sent me from their walk:

Have you ever seen such a site?

Is it THAT  hard to collect food?

The snap of the camera must have awakened him - what adventure will ensue?

I was on the other side of the lake when Ty was standing with his family wondering about this squirrel but I know that a lot of smiling and laughing and questioning went on.  And I'm sure Ty will chuckle about it for days with that infectious laugh that I have grown to adore over the years.

So even though Greg and I were tired last night after a hard day of garage cleaning labor, our life must be better than the life of a squirrel AND when we're tired, we have a bed to splay ourselves out on instead of a tree branch!  Although tree branches are not all bad...............

"It's our insides that make us who we are, that allow us to dream 

and wonder and feel for others. That's what's essential. 

That's what will always make the biggest difference in our world."

-Fred Rogers, Commencement Address at Middlebury College, May 2001