In bed with the flu for a couple of days, like a sweat lodge vacation and a diet all in one.
I was incapacitated but fairly alert: the first day, it was marvelous to hear Beeb the Mom and Sweet Potato go about their day together without me around to distort their groove. The house was spriggy and sparkly with the sound of their joking, and playing, and talking, up and down the stairs, all morning.
The next day Sweet Potato was at daycare, and the house was quiet -- the sound of Beeb concentrating on making things and getting her things done.
It’s Beeb’s nature to confine her personal intensity within a small perimeter. In the old days Beeb and I would spend a lot of time close to each other, doing things, making prints and drawings or cooking or reading or watching movies. It was a time of slow color and intimacy. Now that our life together demands a greater efficacy, we execute our roles of Breadwinner and Stayhomer, but I’m out of Beeb’s everyday sweetness perimeter now, so it was great to feel that her sweetness is still in place, and that Sweet Potato burbles in it all day.
Breadwinner and Stayhomer trust each other and rely on each other, but being near the “personal” Beeb again reminded me how much I admire her gentle, oddball way of arranging herself. I also loved how well her way fit in with Sweet Potato’s way, which is going heavily the way of the oddball, too.
Happy anniversary, you beautiful old Beeb. So far, so good, anyway!