this tiny bowl has been in the center of my dining table for months now and seems to be earning a permanent place there. for lack of a better term, it's being called the fidget bowl.
in early summer, i put the bowl out and filled it with an assortment of shells, smooth stones, and sea glass collected on beaches over the years. in the weeks before our ocean get-away, the little girl and i sifted through the contents, remembering vacations past and planning for the upcoming one. when we came back, we added this year's bounty to the collection. then fall came and the summer trinkets were packed away. the bowl was quickly refilled with acorns, pinecones, seed pods, indian corn kernels, and tiny stiff apsen leaves. through autumn, folks sat at the table fidgeting, sorting and stirring with fingers while talking of apple recipes and halloween costumes and preparations for winter. and now in december, the bowl holds the sights and sounds and smells of christmas. we rolled the sweet gum pods as we planned christmas lists and rubbed the cinnamon stick as we composed holiday messages to friends. we jingled bells absentmindedly, waiting for the kitchen timer to signal cookies were finished baking.
as it gets closer to the time of putting christmas away, i wonder what to place in the bowl for the winter months. i think people might miss it if it were empty and i'm pretty sure i've come to rely on it if only a little. even now, i crush the pine needles with my thumbnail to release a hint of their woodsy fragrance as i search for the right word or the correct phrase. as i write, i just fidget.
yesterday in a store, as we passed the display of hanging plants, the little girl spotted pinwheels amongst the leaves and flowers. she was captivated with their shiny brilliance even before the wind set them in motion. we spent much too much shopping time blowing them and watching them twirl around. in the end, we bought several and placed them in garden spots and in plants around the yard where they will spin with wild abandon all summer long, much to the delight of both the little girl and her grandmother.
another fitful night of sleep, the result of too much on the mind mingling with too much on the plate. good thing my latest toy flashes colors and lights up in the dark.
time for a new toy. not sure what's inside this plastic ball but whateveritis glows and shimmers and reflects all manner of light source. i can't wait to bring it into school and put it on a windowsill and watch it shine all winter long. i just hope no little kid decides to lob it through a window.
just making sure that, like the package promises, washable crayon really is. and it's a good thing it is!
my first doll had a hole in her mouth and another one in her bottom. when you fed her from her pink tipped plastic bottle, she promptly wet out the other side whatever it was that you put into her. today's dolls have motion sensors so they can giggle and coo and wriggle and crawl as they are approached by their tiny owners. and also by older folks who are mindlessly passing by their shelves in the store on their way to buy shampoo and toothpaste. folks who scare easily when they can't figure out where those odd noises are coming from. believe me when i tell you the din of their collective chattering sounded like a chorus of crazed chipmunks. i didn't even stick around to see if they still drink from their bottles.
