Sunday, October 5, 2008

When Traditional Meets the Unconventional

I truly love the life we are living, and normally embrace the unconventional aspects of it. It has been good for me. It has grown me as person. I confess that when it comes to holidays, I have a real problem with it though. There are two dynamics that I've noticed are becoming a part of our holiday theme. One is that we no longer have that same excitement about holidays. We live the life we normally looked forward to when holidays did occur. So holidays are just not all that unique or special in the same way. We don't have the same need for days of rest or for family time since that is how we live pretty much every single day.

The other thing I've noticed is that I still tend to want to cling to the traditional while the rest of the family is like...not so much. They want to keep our holidays more in kind to our whole lives and feel no need to continue doing the same things we used to on those days. And really, I understand the logic in that thinking. Because it makes more sense to overall live the life you want than to strive for that a few certain days out of the year. But the emotional side of me is having a temper tantrum because I still want some days that are really different than the rest. I like special sometimes, even when I'm not sure how to make that happen. Our desires have clashed in some pretty ugly ways because of it. It has me feeling a bit like this:



Today, I decided to try something that would in fact make the day different for me. If the old traditions aren't working, maybe it is time for new ones I thought. So I hopped in the truck and went and took one of those Sunday drives that I said last year that I was going to try to do and learn to like.



It was a great day for it. Sunny and warm. The air smelled sweet from blossoming flowers. And since it was just me, I could go at my own pace. I confess, I rather liked this Sunday drive thing. I still don't see myself doing it on a regular basis, but I really might be able to make this one of my new holiday traditions.





I've been stressed about some things to do with my girls. I could feel that stress just melting away the longer I was out and snapping pictures.

I don't think I really hit my groove with the whole thing though until I came across these fine creatures.

I was pretty captivated by them. They were somewhat intrigued by me. Mostly, we just stared at each other. Ok, I confess that they were probably staring at me because I was in a noisy dually truck. Standing on the hood to get better shots. In a skirt. I stared at them because it's been a long time since I realized how awesome cows are.

And somehow, that was enough for me for the moment. Just being outside, alive and aware of the life around me seemed special enough. I'm a woman in my forties, so it remains to be seen if that will be enough next time. But it was good for today and today is all that matters, right?



Happy Easter from Florida! Hope your day was special too!

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