This week takes a different kind of energy. K doesn't have preschool all week. H was off all day Tuesday and has half-days Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Such a schedule means I volunteered to help several friends with child care this week. I love giving the girls a chance to play with friends in a place I can supervise. While I will invite kids over next time we have a weird half-day schedule, having extra kids in your house day after day is tiring. Though all the visiting children have been girls who are kind and obedient, I feel drained. Planning crafts, lunches for five, occasionally refereeing. Conferences are today and tomorrow. I met my new tutee for the literacy council this week. I had gotten used to having quiet time four afternoons a week to recharge. Most people do not get such a luxury-- I am thankful. New events and people do not energize me. I am creature of habit who feels most content and relaxed in the familiar. Change is healthy, stretching my tendency to marinate in the same old, exposing my brain new situations for contemplation.

To add to my energy drain, is the weather. This delightful problem means I have been outside in the yard whenever possible--planting bulbs (over 100 of them thanks to Aldi and the Mejier 75% bulb sale), cleaning up the garden, repotting plants, raking leaves. The garden is still producing---romaine, carrots and broccoli. Everything else has been cleaned out. Yesterday I cut bunches of rosemary and parsley to hang in my kitchen and dry. The smell hovering over the kitchen sink makes dishes a pleasure to wash. H took a snack of fresh garden carrots to school yesterday and bragged to all her friends about them. Such connections to the earth, to an ancient, simpler way of life delight me. I can't explain why growing my own food is so intoxicating. To survive the winter months, I will imagine the debris of the garden, freshly turned under the surface, nourishing the soil (not dirt!) for spring and oh joy...I will begin planning for next year. Only four or five months until I can start planting seeds indoors.