crunchy-leaved margin

Today's been a Saturday with a wide berth of margin. I don't know if "margin" has been reduced to a buzzword, but whether it has or not, that's exactly what we've had and what our tired bodies and souls have very much needed.

Margin: A limit in a condition or process, beyond or below which something is no longer possible or acceptable

 Today's margin: a measure of unscheduled time. The "condition or process": living. The something "no longer possible or acceptable" without the limits of margin: peace. If I rewrite the definition with these substitutions it reads:

Margin: A measure of unscheduled time in living, beyond or below which peace is no longer possible or acceptable.

How's that for a definition?

Today I am really thankful for margin in this day and in the day ahead, knowing that our schedule is much freer tomorrow than the Sundays of our recent history. There's even an additional whole hour of potential margin since it's time to "fall back" for daylight savings time.

Margin is so very good.

The only thing we had to do today was take Brilliant Beauty to her aerial dance trapeze class, but that's always fascinating and an enjoyment. I took all three kids with me to get some time together. It also gave Ma Luffin Mayun time to get a bike ride in before the coming weekend when he will ride 120 miles to raise money to support two organizations in India, one that works to bring medical care to the people of India and the other that helps bring relief to women and children trapped in the sex-slave industry. I'm thankful he's strong and healthy, that he has a bike, that he's able to ride it, and that he can combine all of those realities to take a grueling ride one weekend out of the year whose ultimate goal is to help the helpers that are helping the hurting. He's grateful for the opportunity, grateful that he and his family are healthy, and that his daughters and son have never had to spend one minute experiencing the horror of enslavement. His gratitude in action today looked like a long ride on a small seat of a road bike this blustery day, a small offering compared to the hoped-for outcome.

After trapeze class the kids and I were hungry. We grabbed lunch, a funny combination of fast food and accidental vegan fare from a truly local grocery store. Then we gave ourselves over to the allure of the fall winds swirling beautiful leaves, found a plot of land in the near middle of downtown, and made a picnic of it. We planted ourselves in the sun because the shade and the breeze made it more than a little chilly. It was hard for the kids to fill their hungry bellies since sitting still long enough to eat was in direct competition with taking off their shoes (because they always take off their shoes...it may be a disorder) and kicking up the crunchy leaves or tossing them in the air or jumping the hopscotch they'd drawn with the piece of chalk that came in one of their kids meals. It was glorious.

I'm thankful for margin in our life today. I acted on it by enjoying it's presence, staying slow in the day, and kicking and crunching leaves under my feet.