the season for noise
I could not get to the campsite fast enough. I’ve been looking forward to a few days away. Visions of drinking coffee with two hands while I looked out over the lake danced in my head. I would listen to the leaves rustling. I would smell the campfire. I’d close my eyes and soak in the peacefulness of it all.
I got my chair ready. Added some leftover decorations from the Be Crafty Workshop (more on that later) and waited for that perfect quiet moment.
The perfect quiet moment never came – at least on that day it didn’t. If I only posted this picture with the caption, “Camping with the family!”…I guarantee the vision that would come to your mind would be quite the opposite of what was happening on the other side of the camera.
On the other side of the camera:
- One boy had a dumbbell in one hand and bag of chips in the other (we are all about balance around here)
- One boy was reciting lines from Nacho Libre in a surprisingly accurate accent
- One boy was just making noise. Just because.
- One girl was playing a tin whistle that I specifically said was not allowed on this trip.
- One girl was complaining her muffin didn’t taste right.
For the love…I just wanted 10 minutes with my coffee and the sounds of nature.
I stepped in the trailer and told Chris this is just not my season for quiet. I crave quiet, but my life is so very loud. I told him one day we will travel in a smaller trailer and it will be just the two of us. I’ll probably tell him he isn’t allowed to talk to me and he’ll go roam the campgrounds and meet everyone. He’ll invite them all to dinner at our trailer and I’ll smile at his love for people (thankful for the quiet moments of my morning before he decided to host a party).
My season for quiet will come (I hope!). For now, I’ll take a deep breath and try to choose each day to soak in the sounds of childhood surrounding me. I can either focus on lack of quiet in my life or I can focus on the sounds of a full life. Some days are much easier to see the beauty in the noise!
I do love my boisterous crew, but I am also going to be sure to send them all away for a bit so I can enjoy that cup of coffee in my cute chair by my cute trailer before we head home!
