All in a Muddle

When I was a kid we lived near the beach. My Grandmere and Grandpere lived a block from the beach. So we swam and swam, played in the sand, and then we ran back to their house and were STOPPED in the yard so we could get hosed off before a proper shower.

There was giggling, wiggling, showering, and then usually something cold to drink. Fresca was popular at the time.

Today my little family lives nowhere near the beach, but the kids make do as kids always have. Summer water fun is far away, but near to home we have the winter wonderland of the pasture outside our door.

And the first storm of the year brings the mud. Do we have mud! Oceans of mud. Piles and piles of mud in puddles; and since we have kids we have kids in puddles.

Now of course you can't just splash a bit, you have to splash a long while. This is not nearly as much fun to do alone as with your sister or brother. Certainly mud applications involve far more than just the boots and clothing. Hair is a fine target, and as indigenous populations around the world will attest, skin applications are of primary importance. Urgent in fact. Opportunity to bond with one's fellow mud lingerers should not be passed by.

When we lived in more temperate climes, we used to have the kids construct mud puddles with a shovel and a hose. The front yard was fine with us, just build a bridge so mom and dad don't fall in. The neighbors were aghast. Perfect lawns and all.

Perhaps the reason I really found Robin to be my soul mate was her reaction to the mud puddle Aliana had made. She didn't shriek or scream about the hole in the yard...she just asked Aliana which plastic animals were best suited to the swamp. I believe hippos were chosen. Well done.

Now we have two little ones again, and while we can't really excavate around here, neither do we have to. Mud abounds. Winter has taken over for summer, the mountains for the beach and the more things are different the more they seem to be the same...

And then there is the hose, the squealing, the dancing around ...and something nice to drink. We'll skip the Fresca though. Being a cold wet day I think we'll go with some hot spiced milk. Cinnamon sounds just about right.