Our friend Kim is a very talented textile artist. Holding a place of distinction in her treasury of skills is her masterful quilting. We have several quilts she has created for us – t-shirt quilts, tie quilts and pillows, a quilted wizards cloak that I wear on Purim decorated with pieces of colorful kippot I have collected.
Today, the whole family piled in the car and headed out to just past Conyers to visit Kim at her home. While Johanna worked in Kim’s studio on her own new quilt creation (also fantastic), the kids and I spent the morning splashing around in Kim’s pool and enduring epic water pistol battles. When we had had enough, lunch was tater tots and veggie nuggets. It was Nirvana.
Summer time, among its many blessings, can afford us with long and luxurious days filled with simple pleasures and family. None of these things seem so significant on their own. Squirt guns and tater tots. It was all pretty low key and casual.
Still, today I felt profoundly grateful and blessed. I felt special, as if I were the monarch in the capital city, not at a friend’s house in rural Georgia. More often than not, the great experiences appear simple. If the little things in life seem insignificant, look again. They are not. It is an immeasurable goodness to splash in the pool and spend joyful time with your kids. There is profound joy and camaraderie in collaborating with friends to create beautiful works of art. Happiness and blessings are found woven together with friendships, parents and children, and quilted pieces of fabric.