3.25.2008

Good morning, again

I find myself in a quiet and nearly empty house. The H has, finally, rented an office for himself outside of the house. This is momentous and wonderful, for lots of reasons. He can drive the kids to school in the morning, because his office is in the same town. That's a big relief to the Woman Sick of Driving Two Hours Per Day. But even better is that I GET TIME ALONE.

Maybe it's an only child thing, but I go a little batshit if I don't have time all by myself. I am sometimes the most sociable creature in the world, but at other times, I really, REALLY don't want to have a conversation. With anyone. I just want to be blissfully immersed in my own head. It drives the H crazy; he says, and he may be right (though I think he's just as guilty of this!) that I get so lost in my own world that I pay no attention to my family (or, say, more specificially, him, ahem.) Maybe it's true. I don't know. But what I do know (for sure, as Queen Oprah would say) is that quiet time alone is one of my greatest luxuries and joys, and for me to be productive and civil, it's an absolute necessity. So while I am not technically alone this morning (Vous is silent in her garret above the garage; the dogs are downstairs eating bones, and the cat is skulking around, no doubt soon to find me and jump up onto the desk, because that's where cats want to be when you're working--in the center of everything--) I have the sensation of solitude, and it's lovely.

It gives me time to contemplate the things I have to do--plan the vegetable garden I'm about to start to construct down by the barns (advice welcome--I have never done this before and am relying heavily on these two books to teach me); plan summer travels and kids' activities; continue the Great Organization Project of 2007 2008, and so on. Do you like to be alone? Where does your mind voyage when you are?

5 comments:

Alto2 said...

"I want to be alone." Thank you, Greta Garbo. I love being alone, but my DH just doesn't understand it. Me-time also includes quiet time. Sometimes my kids chatter so much I want to duct-tape their mouths shut!

Nicie said...

How can we dream and scheme without time alone? Go to it!

Very excited to garden vicariously with you as my sailing gets massively in the way.

Top of my list would be sweet peas creeping on your fence. I love the old fragrant varieties but they are all so good. http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/packpg/flowers/sweetpea-jewels.htm

Also, sweet 100 tomatoes.

And for something early consider fraise des bois. You can do them in a terra cotta jar too which is fun. SO much fun for the kids to nibble them off. But you can also plant them in the lawn under trees. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/growguide-362.html

If you want to start things early, you could get a cold frame. Also wonderful for raising tender things from seeds like delphiniums. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_frame


Happy Birthday and happy gardening!

E

Anonymous said...

This only child totally Gets It. Oh now I love a quiet house (though I have two cats but really they don't count). Depending on the state of my life, I either want to get lost in a book or the tv or sometimes just surf the 'net. If I am blessed with daytime alone time, then I'll sit out in the backyard and just listen to the sounds of the neighborhood.

goodfellow said...

I totally get it too, although I think my time was better spent when I was younger -- the books I read were more challenging, my dreams were bigger and more exciting... (only child too) these days, I feel stunned and sleep-deprived most of the time...

Have to mention, I used to grow the most amazing sweet peas -- I used to order them from the UK. They still don't have a website, so you have to send them a letter requesting a catalogue:

Robert Bolton & Son Birdbrook, Halstead, Essex, CO9 4BQ.

I used to grow fraises de bois as well -- just had the first ones of the season this week, in time for easter.

...and heirloom varieties of tomatoes, although in all honesty, tomatoes require too much gardening effort for someone like me.

Here in France, the lettuces are extraordinary -- nothing comparable at home -- so I would recommend some unusual but easy-to-grow greens -- definitely mache, and some French and Italian varieties...

http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/vegK.htm

Beth Nelsen said...

I too am an only child and my husband (the second of five) has trouble understanding I need "alone time." My parents have tried to explain it to him ("she would go outside and sit just staring at the sky", etc.) but he doesn't get it.

I love being home alone. These days I'm usually holed up in front of the computer working on crap for my research. Now that the days are getting longer and warmer, I'm hoping to get outside and do some sky-gazing.