One of the slowest springs in my life, we spent it chasing spring blossoms around our neighborhood. Normally, we did the same thing before but this year, we were limited to our village only. Not being able to take the car and drive to a meadow or forest nearby, we marveled at every single spring blossoms we could find. And we found plenty, thanks to the warm days bestowed upon us. Every single day, we would take Miles out for several walks, always in a different direction. It reminded me of the first time Miles came into our lives five years ago. It was the dead of summer, we didn’t have a car and Miles had too much energy.
We used to go outside twice a day, exploring every forest nearby. These days, we find ourselves in a similar enough situation. Grégory’s been at home for the past month and a half and there’s no one happier about that than Miles. The only difference is that Miles probably has a bit less energy now, even though he vehemently denies that! During all of these walks and several hikes, I carried my camera with me in hopes of spotting spring blossoms.
First came the cherry blossoms followed by the apple ones. Rockfoils, white and purple lilacs, a mix of English and Spanish bluebells, and the charming forget-me-nots. Those are just some of the lovely flowers gracing our neighborhood! Living here in Belgium, I learned the names of flowers and plants I never even saw before in Croatia.
In a nutshell, I spent the entirety of April lost in books. The month flew by and I was captivated by so many beautiful stories. Barcelona in the 1940s, the high society of 19th-century Russia, Canada during the 1930s, Brooklyn at the beginning of the 20th-century, a Moscow hotel in 1922. Those are just some of the engaging stories I delved into lately. And there is so much more left to read! I’ve been going through our bookshelf, deliberately picking anything with more than 500 pages. Nonetheless, I have so many more books left! Not to mention I often get the urge to dive into a known universe, to reread an old favorite.
Basically, since we were already forced to stay in, I focused on doing my favorite thing when at home. In fact, staying in for days with only books on my mind reminded me of my childhood. Seeing as I have a big family, our house was often chaotic and loud. So in the summer months, I would take my bike and stacks of books and visit my grandma. She lived at the edge of the town and her life was the exact opposite of our home. Peace and harmony, laced with slow days and halcyon moments spent with books. I still cherish those long-gone days.
It was rather nice to revisit that feeling now, especially during this state of universal anxiety. Oddly enough, I actually found myself feeling more relaxed than ever. Having Grégory at home with us, enjoying our daily outings, and using up all the free time on something as calming as reading books has made me extremely happy. Of course, I know we’re lucky in this situation. Lucky that we don’t have head-splitting worries and can instead enjoy the free time together. Because having all this extra time has made our life much more joyful and idyllic and that’s all I want to concentrate on right now. The little things in life, that one could argue are in fact the most important things in life.
