Saturday, January 26, 2013

An afternoon with my daughter

Warmth for the road ahead
London, ON
January 2013
It's an ordinary Saturday afternoon in an ordinary town. I'm running a bunch of ordinary errands with my daughter. To an outsider, this is as routine as it gets.
Yet it isn't ordinary at all. As we sit in the corner of a neighborhood coffee spot and sip our hot chocolates, we're doing something - well, let's call it nothing - that I wish we had more time to do. She's 15, an age when wanting to hang out with the 'rents is a hit-or-miss proposition.


Today she wanted to come along, so here we are, off on  grand adventure that to anyone else seems forgettable, but to us is anything but. I know she'll add today to her growing bank of memories, of days marked not by the spectacular, but by the ordinary. But to her they aren't. And that's all that matters to me.

Your turn: Ordinary things that aren't. Please discuss.

One more thing: I shot and composed this photo and entry on my Microsoft Surface. Getting a lot of interested stares here in the Starbucks. Neat.

7 comments:

lissa said...

I just had an evening like your afternoon. We took the kids to the Canadiens' home opener last Saturday. The Habs lost. But I blogged about it because Sometimes it's about more than the win.

I love your sharing this afternoon with your daughter and with us. I *get* it. May you share many more with all 3 of your gorgeous kids (and I'm sure you will).

Unknown said...

So, one day my 13 year old and I are simply driving down the long curvy road to our preferred grocer. There is a biker on the side of the road riding to his hears content, I'm assuming. The radio channels have been changed and landed on the perfect song. One that is a classic song for slow motion action in movies and t.v. where you see some poor fellow taking a nose dive in a very hilarious way. We both thought the same thing at the same moment and burst into laughter at the same loud volume and didn't stop until the song was over. good times.

Mike Wood said...

Those things are to be cherished. The routine might not be so one day. But here is to more errands and hot chocolates. :)

For me seeing the routine, the otherwise unnoticed, is cherished. And hopefully I photograph it and do it justice.
http://goo.gl/SbBmh

rennratt said...

Some of my favorite memories from childhood involve the 'mundane'. Or what my dad considered mundane. I used to garden with him, and I miss it every day.

I hope to have a garden again someday, and hope it's before my daughter is too old to enjoy the benefits.

rennratt said...

Some of my favorite memories from childhood involve the 'mundane'. Or what my dad considered mundane. I used to garden with him, and I miss it every day.

I hope to have a garden again someday, and hope it's before my daughter is too old to enjoy the benefits.

Pamela said...

counting the "pops" when my mom was so busy canning -- I thought I was her best helper ever.

Pat Tillett said...

This is a great and thought provoking post Carmi...

We have five adult kids. When they were young I tried very hard to have special moments like this one with each of them. The results were as different as each of them are. I seemed to have more time with my son, probably because of sports. The other kids were all girls and those great moments were sadly fewer and further between. However, my first granddaughter is 10 and for some reason, her and I just click together. I can honestly (but not proudly) say that I've had more great moments and one-on-one time with her, than with her mom, or any of our other kids. I agree with you and these moments are something to treasure.

Thinking about it just now, I'm pretty sure it's because she relates really well to adults. She was born into a four generation household that included her mom, three aunts, her uncle, her grandmother (my wife), me and her great grandmother. It was like living with the crew of the Millennium Falcon, but we loved it and she totally benefited from it.