snowy valentines
This is not the kind of housecleaning that will burn any calories, these slow sweeps of the broom, lazy dog underfoot. She finally plops herself down unapologetically in the warmest strip of sunlight, never mind that its precisely atop my careful pile of dirt. I survey the perpetually dirty hardwood and it occurs to me that I may never own the kind of floors that always look effortlessly clean, the kind without the subtle gaps between the floorboards that catch and show every little thing.
I’m on my third cup of coffee, not because I’m an addict but because I keep finding my mug, three-quarters full and forgotten on the freshly polished countertop near the stacks of crinkled school papers. I think about my daughters’ faces this morning as I handed them each their own fresh red rose, singular and straight in real glass vases, unable to imagine a day that they will wilt. I remember their genuine and soft sighs of surprise, and I think this is a very nice way to start a day.
The sun seems to be enjoying itself on the freshly fallen snow, on the trees like broken pretzels dipped in yogurt. Or white chocolate, probably, because it’s sweeter, and these winters really are very beautiful, they really are, when the snow is new and the sun is bright and the coffee is hot and the kids are sighing and there’s a promise of a dinner date tonight and my mind is quiet and the kitchen is clean, at least, as clean as it gets around here. Not as clean as theirs. Not as clean as yours. Organized clutter, suspended chaos, dark and dirty things swept away or hidden, at least, for now.
And it’s lovely.
And it’s enough.
But Why Mommy says:
Happy Valentines day.
While I enjoyed the warm this week, there is something about snow covered trees that is so beautiful. It makes me happy (but I do wish it would go away for good now).
February 14th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Renée aka Mekhismom says:
What a beautiful way to start the day. I am all too familiar with the organized clutter-although I must admit that mine is not that organized. Enjoy the rest of your day.
February 14th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Knickcole says:
What a beautiful blog! It’s wonderful to see that someone’s thoughts were like mine today. Your daughter’s are lucky to have a mom like you! So if the floor doesn’t sparkle or appear to be so very clean- at least your children know you love them and that you care about them so much. That’s the joy of being a mom.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:29 am
JD at I Do Things says:
My day (and life) is very different from yours (except for the dirty floors), but I share your sense of contentment and appreciation of a quiet, beautiful morning. Ooh, and a dinner date tonight!
February 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Prefers Her Fantasy Life says:
WOW! A dinner date AND a clean kitchen. I’m jealous.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Kat says:
Happy Valentine’s Day, Maggie. Your house sounds very similar to mine…organized clutter.
Enjoy your dinner date.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
racheld says:
Yes. ‘Tis enough. ‘Twill serve.
And sighs of happiness—those are worth the wait, like Caro’s this morning. She’d sat here at the computer in “our domain”—colder than the upstairs, which is hers—since she arrived home from work about five ayem. She was swapping hands on the mouse, holding the other clasped under her shirt.
I picked up the soft red throw from my ottoman and threw it into the dryer for just a moment, with a lavender dryer-sheet. Her smile and sigh as I sneaked up behind her and draped it warm across her shoulders were absolutely delighted and delightful.
She said, “This is the BEST Valentine I ever had!”
Doncha just LOVE the little Happies?
February 14th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Postmarc says:
The beauty of this inch-plus of snow is the tabula rasa as I look out the window on the big and little white lumps.
The down side is all the reflective light streaming in, an organic floodlight on all the floorcracks, the fingerprints, the previously hidden layers.
I, too, clean, but with a Shrimp Alfredo dinner carrot dangling at the end of the chores stick.
Enjoy your Valentine’s Day with the ones you love. Thanks for taking the time to post for us.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Frogdancer says:
Lovely post.
My son gave me the soundtrack to the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ episode where they all sing. We all just love that ep! We were coming back from seeing my friend who was burnt out in the bushfires. We sang it nearly all the way home.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Rhea says:
Beautiful images; single red roses, a bit of sunlight on the hardwood floor, snow and happy little girls.
Nice.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
3boys1mommy says:
Sigh.
Happy Valentines Day Maggie.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
we_be_toys says:
I bet your kitchen IS cleaner than mine – I’ve been baking for the past two days, and all the backpack/school shtuff is piled onto the barstools at the island. What, do people really sit in those things??
I like the image of chocolate covered pretzel trees – mmm! But I haven’t had to stare at whiteness for three months, so snow always looks inviting to me.
I bet the girls loved the rose in a vase – nice touch, Mom!
The sun isn’t shining today, but I still went for a walk – evidently my health issues are based on an almost complete lack of Vitamin D3, so this ole vampire has to go out in the sun every day. Aughhhh! The light! It burns!
PS – thanks for the comment on the Twilight post – if Maggie says it, then it must be so! ;P
February 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
we_be_toys says:
Oops! Almost forgot, in my ramblings of me, me, ME-
Happy Valentine’s Day Magdalena!
Hope you have a great dinner date!
February 14th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Alison Veres says:
It’s so nice to hear you talk about the beauty of winter. It actually gave me goosebumps and a little tingly feeling along the sides of my face… because I know you don’t always love the winter, and you struggle with it sometimes, and you write about it and I understand how you feel. But then, when you come around to find the beauty in it? It makes me feel good. And now the Spring is coming. And I’m really looking forward to it. But a little part of me will grieve the passing of winter.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Jennifer H says:
This makes me sigh, too.
February 14th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Mr Lady says:
I’m sitting here, teeth still unbrushed, sun starting to set in the sky. The dishes from yesterday’s lunch are carefully piled in the sink, like the game of Tetris I can’t admit I’m about to lose. Candy wrappers, Webkinz and scotch tape cover my coffee table, the coffee long empty and waiting to get thrown out.
The toddler had her first bath of the week, the kids have substituted $1.99 chocolates for lunch, and every time I sweep my floors all can suddenly see every scratch, every ding, every scuff that someday will come out of our security deposit.
I haven’t seen my husband yet today, everyone in my house but my had a Valentine gift waiting for them when they awoke, and I think I should be miserable.
But you know what? I wouldn’t trade these messy, forgetful, workaholic people for anything. I’d rather be buried in filth and listen to giggles all day than have a clean house and silence.
You’re right, it is enough.
February 14th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Fran says:
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy the respite.
February 14th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Christina says:
Ok, seriously. Why do dogs do that? Mine will stay 2 feet in front of me the entire time I’m sweeping the floors and as soon as I leave to get the dustpan, she turns around and lays in my pile. Dingy Dog!
Beautiful post =D
February 14th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
The Introvert says:
Beautiful.
February 14th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Mojo says:
Oh yeah… Valentine’s Day. I knew I was forgetting something. That means tomorrow’s the day for Tonka’s Interceptor and Frontline. Thanks for reminding me.
Actually, I guess it’s today that Tonka gets his monthly treatments, since midnight has passed and it’s now the 15th. Another Valentine’s Day that I can ignore and get away with it because, hey… there are some perks to being unattached. But all in all it was a productive afternoon… the mound of clipped branches form the shrubbery has been converted to beneficial mulch and my back is now questioning my ancestry, the Hurricanes got pounded (again) and I still haven’t gotten my hair cut.
But now? I get to get horizontal for a few hours and perhaps tomorrow I’ll finally get that haircut I so desperately need.
And I hope you had the bestest Valentine’s dinner date ever and that “dessert” was especially fine tonight… erm… last night. ‘Cos if I can’t have my share, I can’t think of anybody I’d rather give it to than you.
February 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Heather says:
We had not one, but two Webkinz and heaven help me: a bottle of David Beckam cologne for the middle schooler.
Ahhhh.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
flutter says:
all we need in life is enough.
February 15th, 2009 at 12:24 am
A Free Man says:
“And it’s lovely.
And it’s enough.”
Perfect, Maggie. I love those days – when it’s just enough. No aspiration for something else, no false needs. God I love days like that.
Hey, I’m doing a little interview project over on my site – bloggers interviewing other bloggers. Thought it could be fun. If you’re interested, come over and check it out.
February 15th, 2009 at 4:48 am
P says:
*Oh.* Sigh.
This is what I love abt winter in Wisconsin. And your writing.
xoxoxo
February 15th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Karen MEG says:
Happy Valentine’s day Maggie…and that single rose for each of your girls… what a precious Mom you are.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:14 am
jen says:
you sound so peaceful. content. it’s lovely.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Natalie says:
Ahhh lovely, Maggie. ‘Twas a lovely Valentine’s for us as well.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am
mary says:
What a lovely picture you just painted for me. xo
February 15th, 2009 at 10:22 am
maggie says:
happy valentine’s day Maggie
February 15th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Madge says:
i love when it’s enough. that’s my challenge — letting it be enough.
and honey, my kithen is way way dirtier than yours. trust me. i’m afraid to go in there.
February 15th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Melissa says:
Thanks for making my heart smile just now. ♥
February 15th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Dee says:
Aah a mother’s love and the sigh of kids. Lovely.
My mother in law loved her garden especially her roses. When she died my husband passed a single red rose to every female at the funeral. They loved it.
Simple gestures can mean so much.
February 15th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
For Myself says:
Long slow exhale whose origin seems to be the toes…
ahhhhh. enough.
February 15th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Woman in a window says:
Nice imagery. Any day dipped in white chocolate is more than bearable. And winter is so, when spring is around the bend.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Dalon says:
this made me smile
thank you for the fresh perspective … I share a home with dust bunnies and clutter (oh, and two boys and a husband) as well as a cat (i.e. the queen) and have days when I can barely pull my head above water (it seems) to take a deep breath and enjoy all that I do have instead of what I think I want or need … a clean home is a far off dream … but I’ve promised myself when my income reaches a certain level again (after kids are in school), a house-cleaner is the first thing I will spend money on for sanity’s sake 
February 16th, 2009 at 12:41 am
mamatulip says:
Oh, this is lovely.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Kate Coveny Hood says:
Sometimes I think those are my best days. The ones where what is, is enough. I’m working on making that every day. So far – I’m up to once a week but I’ll take it!
February 16th, 2009 at 11:52 am
MIT Mommy says:
Your kitchen is probably cleaner than mine =).
February 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Elizabeth says:
You are a beautiful writer. Let’s be honest: people who are great thinkers do NOT have clean kitchens. Haha. The more organized chaos the better!
February 16th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
teri says:
My house is always messy! Maybe its time for me and others like me to just accept this is how I do house. Spotlessness is not the goal.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Gypsy says:
Lovely.
And I promise you, your kitchen is as clean as mine. Cleaner.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
arizaphale says:
Hi Maggie
Loved this post. Made me think of my days in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. God I loved that place. Trees like pretzels dipped in yoghurt…. *sigh*
In the UK we all suffered from SADS (Seasonally Affected Depression Disorder) in winter. It’s real. You can buy ‘sunboxes’ to stick your head in and combat it!!
February 24th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Coco says:
Two years ago I got my hubby a red Roomba for Valentines. I got a great deal on it at Sears. About 90.00. Yes he appreciated it because he does the floors. Love him. This thing works great. In fact I could not beleive the amount of dirt and dust bunnies this thing collects. I had no idea my floors were so filthy. You should try one. I have heard the older models are better, and cheaper. Try ebay.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 am