The world outside

Lately our view of the world has included four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Day in, day out, we live our lives in the confines of our moderately sized ranch home, watching the gray landscape roll by.

But this week the weather gods smiled down upon us and blessed Central Ohio with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. In fact, today we hit 63 degrees. For the record, it's Feb. 11, the time of year when we're usually delighted to see 40, let alone 60!

So despite the fact that Noah's been battling a wicked cold and ear infection (no croup, thank goodness!), I decided yesterday that we needed a healthy dose of fresh air. I had it in my mind that a walk on the local Kokosing Gap Trail would be refreshing. But, when we got there, the parking lot was a melting skating rink and the asphalt path was ice-covered.

Undaunted, I pushed Noah along the 100-yard stretch of path that was maneuverable, did a 180 and strolled us back to the car. Fidgeting, picture-taking and sippy cup/snack distribution time all included, we were out of the car maybe 15 minutes. Still, just breathing in that cool air (with hints of warm at the edges) was a relief to my lungs and my mental state.

Today, I took Noah to the sitter's house for just a half day, so we had a few hours together this afternoon after his nap to bop around. I had hoped to make it into town to one of the nifty playgrounds, but just as we were pulling out of the driveway my windshield started to dot with rain drops. No deal.

Instead of the playground I opted for our mushy, squishy yard. Noah didn't mind at all. He loved running and sloshing through the muddy, brown grass. Personally, I was just happy to SEE the grass, water-logged as it may be. After a while I began a stick-collection regimen and attempted to recruit Noah. That wasn't so successful, but it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and gave him room to run.

Once the rain really began to let loose, we headed for the safety of our garage. There are a myriad of gadgets, junk, vehicles, lawn mowers and whatnot to keep Noah in a happy state for hours, so I did a little tidying up while explored.

Since our garage lacks doors (how fancy, I know), we have a leaf issue in the third bay each fall. I decided now was as good as time as any to rake the leaves that had collected in October and November. Noah took one look at that pile and got inspired. He played, tossed and frolicked, and I enjoyed just taking shots of him having fun.


I see from the TV weatherman that the temperature has already fallen 15 degrees from a few hours ago and that tomorrow snowflakes are in the forecast. Guess it's back to business as usual!