Simple Sunday

Even though my life has moved away from a strict Monday through Friday workweek, I still think of weekends as, well, weekends. I've always loved Sundays, and still like to keep them simple and uncluttered. I even wish that we would go back to the days when stores didn't open on Sundays. Not necessarily for religious reasons, but just because it meant there was one day set aside for enjoying simple, unrushed, unmaterialistic pleasures. Family, friends, food, fresh air, fun.

Since we moved to the Southwest 10 years ago, I've been far away from family and my New England roots. I think that writing The Christmas Village was a way of keeping close to those roots, since it takes place in Vermont. (I'm from Massachusetts, but the village just spoke "Vermont" to me :-) In the book, 12-year-old Jamie is drawn to the miniature village because it looks like a perfect place where time stands still. When he finds himself IN the village, it's 1932, a time much like today, when people had lost their jobs and maybe their homes to hard economic times. Even so, the people in Canterbury - the village - pull together and help each other out.

When I wrote this story, I know that I felt the pull of days gone by. Those weren't "the good old days" by any means! But there was a simplicity to life and a one-on-one connectness between people that has, if not disappeared, at least diminished.  One of the reasons I'm looking forward to our RV adventure is that it will take us all over the country, where we will be able to spend time in person with family and friends.

Today, we're keeping our Sunday simple. We're meeting friends for breakfast, then back here for a quiet day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it's not too windy, so a nice walk to work off that breakfast is probably in order. I'll write some posts for my upcoming WOW blog tour (starts tomorrow) and then maybe a nap. My dad, who passed away two years ago, was a great napper. I got the Napping Gene from him. Miss you, Dad. You too, Mom.

What's on your agenda today? Simple? Or not so much?

Either way, hope it's a good one.

That's Mom & Dad in the living room of our home
in Andover, MA, where they lived for 54 years.