Food for Thought

Time away from home is refreshing, even if you are not doing all that much. Different scenery, different climate (even the slightest change for the cooler is welcome, and it is delightfully un-humid here compared to home), different dishes to eat off of, different schedule. Ahhh.

Today we walked around downtown Roanoke. Not for long, as it was hot, and our baby companion was not up for a long slog around town - and really, neither were we. There is a very manageable farmer's market and we walked past many tomatoes and squash and beans and potatoes; our own purchase was of a couple of bottles of local wine, one red and one white. Downtown is very mellow here, unlike our downtown at home, and so it was easy to stroll and stop and look and take a few photos.

After dinner at home (with the wine, which was good), baby was fussy, but I took him outside and we sat in the chair on the deck and watched the clouds and listened to some birds and I threw the rubber dog toy about sixty-five times to the dog who finally collapsed under the deck, panting. Baby just lay back and relaxed, chewing on a toy, for quite a while. I just relaxed, too, despite the dog toy throwing time. In between throws, which I could easily accomplish while reclining in the deck chair, I watched the clouds and the birds, too, and felt the weight of a warm, smooth (and somewhat carrot encrusted) baby against my chest, nestled against the crook of my arm.

There is something about the change in scenery that allows one to readjust, to relax a little, to change the interior fussiness for all of us, adults and babies alike. (And maybe dogs, too, but I really don't know how dogs work.) To let go of whatever that thing was that was bothering us, nagging at us, keeping us up at night.

Ahh.