Light Sabers and Dog Turds

Jonah and I were outside having a light saber fight this morning in the snow. Light, fluffy, wonderful snow that instantly buries the dog turds as they are deposited by my faithful pup...I am grateful for the dog turds because they are a tremendous improvement over the diarrhea all over the rugs that was happening a couple days ago. Banchi must have snatched a rotten morsel of food or stumbled into some rat poison or something--he spent two days staring at the wall and not leaving the kitchen. He wouldn't go more than a few paces from the building to do his thing and even let loose in the basement in front of our building superintendent once, much to my horror. We had just had a talk about putting animals to sleep (not at all related to Banchi) and Jonah said: "I don't think you would even need to give him a shot--" It was really funny because it was so true--there was one point where he got up for a drink of water and I wouldn't have been surprised, watching him sway back and forth, if he just keeled over and that was it. But this is Banchi we are talking about and I can't say I even got all that alarmed. He does this about once a year. You'd think he'd learn, that maybe eating things you don't recognize is a bad idea?
But I digress. What I really was going to talk about was having a light saber fight in front of a street full of traffic stopped at a traffic light. It is fun to add in lots of extra moves, like as if you are ducking or doing flips in between your strikes. I wonder what I would think if I was sitting on a bus and saw people light saber fighting in the snow. Jonah *adores* light saber fighting. He likes to pretend that you cut off his hand so he has to switch hands or that you cut off his leg and he has to hop around on the other. He laughs with joy each time the light sabers make contact and if you spin or jump down a couple stairs his eyebrows raise in excitement and his cheeks flush.
Privacy in NY--it is different. You do things in front of lots and lots of other people that you wouldn't ordinarily do, but it becomes so normal that you stop noticing it and that is probably why I recall my whole life seeing photos of people doing ordinary things on the streets of New York that seem so much like things you wouldn't do on the street. I remember waking up in Calcutta and walking out on the streets in the morning, surprised by how chilly it was and in the last remnants of the morning mist there were frail old men crouched in filthy folds of fabric on the curb. Their knees almost to their faces in what can only be described as the Indian Crouch-- I have never seen other peoples assume this position so easily, they were lined up waiting for a shave. A shave! On the curb. Some guy with an old fashioned shaving blade was crouched in front of them diligently slathering on the foamy white cream and shaving these old men in turn.
I haven't resorted to shaving on the street, but I can see the path from here to there.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
January is not going to go down as my favorite month this year. Brett has been away for nearly 3 weeks, and sometimes I just repeat Pam England's phrase "Do nothing extra" as I slog through the day. It wasn't just the dog who was sick--Simon has had double ear infections. He has been fussy and crying and his sparkle was all but gone. He is better now, and we managed to kick it without antibiotics, despite dire warnings from my pediatrician who I am most definitely going to need to break up with stat. I totally make her twitchy and she makes me lose confidence in myself. Simon, always a great sleeper, has been totally unable to stay asleep without me holding him at an angle. That is why you have gotten no posts for a while. When I finally stumble out of bed at odd hours to finish the dishes and check email and brush my teeth there are few coherent thoughts holding themselves together long enough to do something about.
I had finally taken Simon to the Dr. because I was worried about his cough. Since my other two had never had ear infections, I never even considered his ears, and I feel like a very nonintuitive mom for not noticing that he had obvious symptoms (in retrospect)...but now I know, and all I can say is yay to garlic/mullein ear drops. He holds stone still now when I put them in, and smiles, I can tell they offer great relief.
Now that he is feeling better he is, ummm, well, into everything. He isn't crawling yet, but can turn himself around and he must be related to Elasta-Girl because if you turn your back things fly off of shelves that he can't possibly reach with normal baby-length arms.
The other thing about January is how c.o.l.d. it has been. The buildings channel the wind and the wind chill, it takes your breath away. Sure, there is sledding and snowball fights and ice skating and snow slushes...but those are all perfectly enjoyable at 32 degrees, and less so at 9 degrees.
Whenever possible we have been hibernating on days that we don't have other things planned. Baking, school projects, games and reading have filled our days. It is nice, and I am so glad to be with the kids--there are all sorts of reminders of how very big they are getting and how fleeting this time is.
Despite the fact that as I reflect back over a new month in a new year and that it has felt like a lot of work, there is Joy here. I feel it bubble up inside me as I kick the snow on the sidewalks, I laugh with friends, I snuggle with kids and delight in Latin and History, read good books and appreciate my hubby (albeit via the phone). Even though there is an economic crisis and wars and really hard things in the world, not to mention cockroaches in my kitchen, I feel a lightness of optimism and bright eyed curiosity about what comes next. After all, the inauguration is in 2 days and sometimes even plane crashes result in heroes and rescues.