Right in the middle of the season, professional football players get a bye week. On injured reserve or not, they kick up their feet that Sunday and watch everyone else mix it up on the turf, cut across the field, get chased by antagonists. We should all be so lucky.
I’m taking a bye week, sort of. I’m not kicking my feet up, but my daughter has been on injured reserve for the past few days, in the asthmatic way, and needed some extra TLC. If you’re a parent, you know that multiple days with a sick kid at home means you lose track of time, you wander in circles. You eat smorgasbord for dinner, because nobody’s in the mood for a full-on dinner. And when I get loopy after walking in circles, I turn to knitting, not writing. I’m on dishcloth number three (simple and square are good for loopy). Knit, purl, knit, purl, knit knit knit.
Despite the sick and crazy, little bouts of creativity popped up here and there. One day, I settled my daughter into bed and she drew pictures while I read to her. Amazing pictures in between coughing fits: a colorful parrot, an American flag surrounded by a crowd of cheering patriots, and Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) all Picasso-style.
The next day, we baked up a batch of pumpkin bread that begged to be eaten right out of the oven. Pumpkin bread makes for a good afternoon snack, and may even be the cure-all. When I heard the little girlie singing in the shower and caught her getting all gussied up in front of the mirror, I knew she was on the mend.
The writing fairies haven’t totally ditched me either, despite my neglect of pen and paper. My flash fiction piece, “Iron Shadows,” hit the digital presses. You can read it here, in the Fall/Winter issue of Rose & Thorn Journal (Thanks to editors Kathryn Magendie and Angie Ledbetter!).
What would you do on a bye week?