To the Wild and Beyond

I recently spent two weeks in a midwestern knoll where the woods were chilly and brisk. A two-and-a-half-hour flight brought me one thousand miles from home and presented me with temperatures thirty degrees less than the balmy ones that waved goodbye. Temperatures held above freezing, but with frosty remnants of earlier snowfall.

Indoors, however, the air was cozy, playful, and busy with love. My oldest daughter’s home was abuzz with the usual activity and holiday bustle. Children needed to be readied for school, parents discussed the arrival of siblings, and as the grandmother, I relished all the flurried animations.

When the sun warmed the covered porch during the afternoon, I wrapped myself in a blanket and sipped a cup of tea while listening to a breeze sail through the trees as though it were calling a winter bird. Occasionally one responded and I could hear the cawing of a lonely, feathered friend in flight as it searched for a bare branch to rest. Squirrels joined in the hunt as they scuttled among dried, fallen leaves scrounging for last-minute meals to pack away for the winter.

Early on in my stay, my granddaughter pointed out the kitchen window to the tree where, a week prior, she and her mother had spotted a pileated woodpecker tapping a hole as big as its head. They caught him on video wearing his red cap and full black cape surrounded by the season’s first snowflakes. In her narration, my daughter cackles the Woody laugh, surprising her daughter with memories from her childhood.

Heading on an outing the Sunday after Thanksgiving, my son-in-law pointed out a family of wild turkeys making their way through the neighborhood. They must have felt free to roam since the danger of capture was no longer a threat. We admired them, considering their parade a humorous surprise, and would never have harmed them.

My time spent in the colder part of the country was not entirely nature oriented. Alas, there were “wild” happenings with the humans as well. Three generations under one roof can cause rowdy, unrestrained incidents, especially if the siblings are competitive.

Still, I welcomed every bit of the commotion and even opted to join in the fun. I doubt the mayhem scared away my son’s fiancé, either. She enjoyed the good cheer, and I know we all savored her cooking on Thanksgiving Eve and the quiche she prepared and served in the morning.

My son-in-law is a wonderful host — a casual, make-yourself-at-home kind of guy who fits in well with the loud family he married into. From his seat at the head of the dinner table, he smiled genuinely in the group selfie my son took, and I am convinced it was not because of the “spirits” he doled out. His fellow sports-loving in-laws added to the excitement throughout the weekend, and I bet he misses the camaraderie.

Saturday evening, we bade the expectant newlyweds a sad goodbye. Fortunately, my second daughter’s farewell was less traumatic, since we knew she would return the following weekend for another occasion: my oldest grandchild’s sixteenth birthday. More fun preparation was in store during the week for her milestone celebration.

I taught my dexterous grandson how to play Rummy and he showed me his athletic skills during his first fifth grade basketball game. His younger sister proved her prowess as a mommy’s helper, a baker’s assistant, and as an artist. Their six-year-old brother has the energy of a Border Collie, the singing voice of a child star, and a killer smile.

While their siblings attended school, the preschooler and his crawling baby brother entertained and enamored me, and their mama and I filled the hours with chatter. By Saturday afternoon, their aunt was back and fun with the portable Bose speaker began. We had raucous, unrestrained fun as we each took turns choosing our favorite songs and learning the musical tastes of our generations.

Sunday brought a dual baptism, breakfast at a family diner, birthday-cake baking, a Bears game, and hearty grilled steaks, making the day fly by too fast. Before I knew it, morning arrived and I headed to the airport loaded with kisses and a nagging, irritable cough. As she apologized profusely for the wintry germs, I promised my daughter her concerns were pointless — that without hesitation, I would do it all over again, so as not to waste any wonderful, wild moment.

Thank you, My Darling, for the wild and beyond!