The Country Visit

This past week Bobby boy visited his Godfather up at his place in the country in the middle of woods, about 1.5hrs east of where we live. We left in the morning and he slept through most of the way there. Then, once we reached, he was given the tour of the house. We had our morning snacks and talked for a bit, before we headed out to the porch. It was mid morning, and the porch opened up towards a sloping yard sprinkled with a few hedges and trees, before it met with the pond. It was really pretty view! The sun felt good and we hung out on the porch for a little bit. Then  I decided it was time for Bobby's banana and oatmeal breakfast/snack. The boy likes his banana and oatmeal, and soon it was all gone. 

After the snack, we decided to head out for a walk into the woods. We went up and down the country road first, and then went about walking into the woods - looking at trees and jumping over the creek and avoiding prickly vines. Bobby was intently watching, I was wearing him in a baby carrier. At some point, he decided the soft thump of my feet is rather soothing, and his eyes are getting heavier. 'There's much to see, but surely i can rest my eyes for just a small moment', that's what he must have thought, cause next time I checked him, he had dozed off.

We circled around the lake, and heard pitter-platter-plops of numerous frogs jumping in to the pond with the rustling of my feet walking. I peered into the water to see them, but didn't see a single frog. They were quite the clandestine critters. 

We came back home and fixed up lunch. Bobby relaxed with his dinosaur ball, fussed when it didn't fit all the way into his mouth, and chewed on fingers. 

Soon it was time to head back home. The boy had missed his nap and I hoped he would sleep on the way home. We waved Keith goodbye, and headed back late afternoon. Bobby did sleep almost all the way home. It was a good visit!

Hidalgo The Beautiful Horse

I saw the movie Hidalgo yesterday- a friend of mine privy to my ardent appreciation of Mr. Vigo Mortensen and also of horses was nice enough to lend the DVD.

I liked the movie. The details about the actual race were okay. But I loved the horse. I loved the part where in the end, the cowboy comes back and buys all the Indian's horses and frees them all. There's something about an unbridled wild horse that to me embodies the spirit of freedom (both mental and physical), and beauty. Maybe it represents a life I want to have but don't. Maybe it's just a myth and none of us really live a life of truly being free of our demons, vices, inhibitions and fears. And then I see these beautiful animals running free - mostly on screen but once in real - and that's what they represents to me. That something that beautiful actually exists.

While watching the movie it brought to mind two things -
One being my agenda of having Suhaana learn horse riding maybe when she's three (have to check minimum required age). This is the part where I thrust all my unfulfilled aspirations on Suhaana. And I need to do that before she's old enough I have a voice and say no! Well, she is already there in some ways. But I actually think she'll enjoy it as well. She loves the outdoors. She likes the animals she's known so far - dogs, ducks, cats. She was curious about the giraffe we saw at zoo last week. So I'm hopeful she'll like it.

The other thought was a moving target. I started wondering how do we want to bring up Suhaana. Should she grow up closer to nature than to TV. Should she grow up closer to amenities and interactions or some place more serene and slower - so she has time to know herself before getting on any group bandwagon. But what are the skills she needs to have to live in the world today and or tomorrow. Is it love of nature or is it the ability to network in an ever inter-connected web of social life? I wonder..

Ants

It was an interesting day today. While the rest of the country, especially the north east turns into a deep freezer, we had a summery 77F out here. That might mean many things to many people, but for me that means Suhaana and I are going out walking in the evening.

Instead of going to our usual playground, we took a detour. Brisk walked (that will have to do for now till I figure out the time slot in my day for some real workout) to a different playground farther off. It had sloping grass patch on which the little girl loved to run around: Climb up the slope, then scuttle down. Then run back up the slope to where Mommy is. Give her a hug, then run back down. Then run up the slope. Come close to Mumma, she's expecting to catch me now, but dodge her and run back down hill..
The little one had a blast!

Then, we packed up from there and headed to another play area- the evening was far from over. More slides to slide on, wood chips to collect and running around to do. I caught up with a friend of mine at the playground while keeping an eye on her. When we were ready to leave, Suhaana came running to me throwing her hands about, fussing. I picked her up and saw her hands, there were several ants sticking to her palm. And in all the throwing her hands about, she wasn't even letting me brush them off. Even when I held her hand tightly, the ants were really stuck on her palm. I was so anxious to get them off and dying inside thinking they must be biting her. Finally all the ants were off and we bid our good byes to my friend and were off headed home. I was expecting the hand to hurt and itch her - but thankfully she was just fine soon after. A hand wash and creme later, there were some damages (mild swelling in the hand), but it could've been so much worse(if it really bothered her).

All's well that ends well!