Weary in the Good Way 5/5/2024

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

I shall go ahead and apologize now for my disheveled nature of writing this week.  It’s been one of those weeks.  You know what I mean. Those days when it is always something and those little moments where you think you have been fortunate enough to have a few seconds of free time, something pops up and fills that slightly blank space faster than you can say Jack Robinson.  I have had so much going on that I am not entirely certain I have the wherewithal to give you an authentic, full-fledged blog. I attempt now to give you some semblance of something at the very least. Perhaps, if nothing else, you will nod your head knowing that you too have had those days packed with chaos.  Even if it were enjoyable chaos, nonetheless, it takes a toll.  As I write this, I feel the shadowy phantom of exhaustion starting to creep upon me.  He is a sneaky specter that leads to distraction, apathy and occasionally sheer loss of consciousness. Pardon me whilst I wrestle him off me until I can give you something even close to decent.

The beginning of the week seemed innocent enough. The usual regular commutes to work started things off. Then performing my usual work duties, which, while they can vary, didn’t seem too particularly strenuous initially. Then of course we have the joys of things in the evening like homework such as studying spelling words and reading books.  I won’t even get into the science and social studies bits. My child is for whatever reason, be it blessing or cursing, is very homework heavy most nights. Our evenings are filled with rushing about getting homework done and baths taken and lunches for the next day fixed. You add anything, even the tiniest thing to that mix, and it’s like staring into a stand mixer;  a lot of things are whirling about and in the end you just hope something at least mildly resembling cohesion is the result.

The end of the week began to try to squeeze more into the crevices that are the 7 to 10 free minutes that I have over the course of the week.  Thursday evening was at my daughter’s school decorating for a Friday event that I wouldn’t be able to attend because my daughter had a field trip that day. A large chunk of Thursday evening was hanging ballons, making paper lanterns and cleaning up the mess which the former created.  After all that there was just enough time to carry out the few usual weeknight tasks before collapsing in bed.

Of course, there was the Friday adventure that was a trip to the zoo with my daughter and her grade and the grade below her. She has made that trip every year of her school career. Now, I am not opposed to the zoo. I love seeing exotic animals but, when wrangling small children while seeing said animals, it is a bit more of a zoo-like experience than I can express.  As a matter of fact, my daughter’s teacher wore a shirt that said, “We bring the zoo wherever we go”. That was ridiculously accurate. But it is a bit of refreshment to see the creatures I don’t normally get to see. The black jaguar who looks like a massive version of my own personal black feline was a sight to behold. As he lounged in his enclosure, looking like a shadow with great gooseberry eyes, I was reminded of all my trips to the zoo as I child where that same beast (or at least a very similar one) in the same display absolutely intoxicated me.  Big cats have always been a soft spot. And today, my daughter and I got to do something I have always wanted to do. I got to feed giraffes.  While it lasted very briefly, it is an experience to have the blue grey, disconcertingly long tongue of a giraffe wrap around your hand.   For some reason, the fact that I was in Montgomery, Alabama feeding a creature native to the savannahs of Africa was suddenly overwhelmingly apparent to me.  There was also the joy of getting to see baby capybaras for the first time. The adults were always cute, but the babies, when they kicked and jumped and squeaked playing like babies do, oh that was downright adorable.  While it’s tiring, I guess I am not that opposed to the zoo.

Now I am just sitting here typing. We are having lots of people over tomorrow. My husband is outside cooking a brisket and will tomorrow prepare ribs. I’ve gotten a macaroni and cheese ready to bake and we’ve pre-prepped some potato salad and baked beans. It’s that time of year that the smoker and all other methods of outdoor cooking are firing on all cylinders and the sides happen indoors. I think I have my house thoroughly sorted. I wish it smelled like some lovely baked goods or fruity smells from my wax warmers but, currently my home is full of the creeping in smell of pecan smoke and the lingering fragrance of bacon from the kitchen. Tomorrow will be full of good food and fellowship.  Hopefully, it will be a busy but relaxing time. It’s not a terrible end to a hectic week I suppose.