The boys wanted to go down to the dining hall to play ping-pong. They had their cleaning time, reading time, and then it was their skill time. I folded laundry during reading time while all the boys read in the living room, Dad included. I’d already had some reading time during piano lessons.

I had all these thoughts I was going to write down about the Mary-Martha energy balance, about striving and performance, and the need to come back to center after periods when you’ve been going and going. Now though I’m just tired, and struggling to come up with any words to go deeper.

Here are some things I was glad for today: A warm house to come home to after being out in cold weather of rain and sleet. Food in the house that I’d planned to have here so I wouldn’t have to worry about shopping this week. Waking up in the closeness of spouses. Evening drives in the wind.