Savoring Little Moments
I recently spent a weekend filled with little moments and although our location wasn’t fancy, and we didn’t fly anywhere, and we didn’t have a huge agenda, separately these moments added up to some wonderful memories.
We drove to Wisconsin and stayed in a quaint, old-school motel. It smelled a little musty but we had a cute little bistro set of table and chairs outside of our wooden screen door that my husband sat at and read a book. Downtime for him when his mind isn’t turned on thinking about work and analyzing problems is precious and I was so glad he could relax. I also didn’t feel guilty leaving him as my daughter and I walked through this little town, exploring it’s shops and boutiques. We discovered plenty of eclectic finds and it was fun having my teenage daughter pick out things I would never think to wear and being surprised when I tried them on. She even found a fabulous vintage dress that she will look fantastic in when she wears it to prom. Our conversations while trying on clothes and encouraging each other are times neither of us will forget.
My husband and I love charcuterie boards - I mean who doesn’t love little bites of cheese and cured meats, fruits and olives with good bread? We introduced our daughter to our favorite afternoon snack that day at a Creamery where they had a goat farm up the road and made their own cheese. I was in heaven. And not just because the food was delicious and fresh, but because we nibbled and talked and laughed as we watched the world go by on a sunny afternoon and we didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything other than just enjoy our time together.
Later that night my daughter, who is a night owl, wanted us to see if we could spot the northern lights. She took the driver seat, put in 80s music, made me navigate, and my husband who is normally the driver was just along for the ride. We sang our hearts out to 80s tunes (good and bad) as we headed north on dirt back roads and made jokes about a creepy cemetery we passed. We did see some very dim and disappointing northern lights that weren’t dancing but rather sitting on the horizon. But our night will be remembered not for what we didn’t see, but for the journey together.
And the journey together is what made all these little moments come together into something special. We didn't spend a lot of money getting here, didn’t do anything extraordinary while here, but we will remember that weekend for a long time for the conversations, laughs and time spent together. We need to remember to do that more often.
