Mmmmmmm

We just had an early dinner. It was pure comfort food:
Cream of Potato soup (with shredded cheddar and bacon to top it off)
Surry smoked sausage from the Fresh Market

It was perfect for this grey, rainy winter day. Warming, filling, and comforting. I needed that.

A shameless plug:
My kids and I have been playing with the haiku form - three lines, with 5 - 7 - 5 syllables - and trying to see who can compose the most terrible, awful, horrible haiku. The results have included groaners, mean ones, gross ones, and some hilariously silly ones. We started a blog together - Horrible Haiku - so that we can play together and celebrate our perversion of this ancient and beautiful art form. Now, when I listen to my internal dialogue, I start counting syllables. And (hee hee) so do they! We invited their four older cousins and a couple other family members to play with us, and I'm thinking about some games to play on the blog - posting a picture one day a week for inspiration, having a word of the day that everyone has to use in a haiku that day, silly stuff like that.

I'm re-learning a couple of things that I'd forgotten. Play is good; fun is good; intentional silliness is good; and it's important to build a little "recess" in the middle of all the work. Also, beautiful art can be inspired by the most simple, mundane, or even goofy things. Games help to get the creative juices flowing, and when we're having fun, we're more creative and more productive. I am thankful to have recalled these lessons, and I hope my kids, nieces, nephews, and other family members enjoy their word-play as much as I do.