ahead of the rain

There are not many things that can get me out the door before 8am without an important appointment or a fire. Especially with a fully-dressed toddler and all of his essentials in tow. But this morning that's exactly what I did--spare clothes, diapers, snacks, and all. Because of this:

This is not a we'll-go-play-later sky. This is a get up, pack your car, stuff your belly into a protesting non-maternity t-shirt, and carpe-freaking-diem sky. This sky was not going to wait--wind and rainstorms were expected to roll in by mid-morning--so neither did we. To the Greenway we went, where we were the only ones up and at 'em besides the gatekeeper who collected our day-use fee of cupholder quarters before turning back to his paper.

Toddlers are kind of like chickens. You've got to let them free-range.

There were no horses around today (the Greenway is open to hikers, bikers, and equestrians), so it wasn't long before Remy sidled under the fence of the empty arena (there was an open gate, but that wouldn't have been as fun). "Arena" in little-boy language is "Giant Field of Glorious Dirt," so you can guess where we spent most of our time.

He was literally more excited about the barrels and jump standards than I have ever seen him in a toy aisle. Nice to know my genes are in there, alive and well.

This provided the opportunity to learn one of life's cardinal rules: always leave the jump standards the way you found them.


Obviously I'm not riding right now since I'm pregnant, but someday this kid is gonna make a kick-ass arena assistant.

We saw plenty of signs of spring, even as the clouds started to blow in, reminding us that 70-degree February mornings don't last long at all.

And before it started sprinkling, we squeezed in a stroll up the orchard fence line to watch a tractor chug up and down the neat rows of trees, picking dandelions along the way.


The first raindrops started falling as we pulled out of the parking lot, and the day quickly got soggy and grey, making me glad I'd resisted the temptation of "later." "Later" is not in a two-year-old's vocabulary. Which sometimes makes them difficult, but mostly just makes them smarter than us.