by Denise Dykstra

I was recently at a basketball game and saw some friends I haven’t seen in a while. My boys don’t play basketball and I have never been a fan of attending. I am afraid a basketball may somehow find a way to hit me when I am not paying attention. It’s a real fear.

Also, I can’t move around to talk to friends. Not that one can talk at a basketball game, it’s always hustling and it’s always loud.

Speaking of loud, I can’t handle the sound of the whistles from the refs. All in all, I am not a fan of basketball. I am a fan of the kids I see playing and I also am a fan of cheering on the parents who are cheering on their players.

Anyhow, I was at the game and I gave a friend a hug and she asked, “What have you been up to lately?”

I shrug. “Oh, you know, it’s kind of just the Ho-Hum season right now.”

The Ho-Hum season is why I have been trying to come up with a thrilling story to share with you all. But there isn’t anything big and thrilling.

I could share how Cash the Cat has seemed determined to ruin every knitting project I pick up, but I still have managed to finish a hat for my husband this weekend. My boys tell me I sound like a crazy old cat lady if I tell that story.

There is the ongoing saga of shoveling snow from the driveway and sidewalks at our home that I could tell you about. It would be rather funny to get the perspective of shoveling from our son’s friend who spent the night so he could hang out with us on the school snow day, and looked shocked to find himself in our driveway shoveling out nearly ten inches of snow. So much for lounging the day away!

There could be an entire discussion on the Olympics. I am trying really really really hard to get into the Olympics this year, but I’m not succeeding very well. It’s difficult to watch the Olympics when you are trying to binge-watch “Sweet Magnolias” at the same time.

Don’t get me started on podcasts! With all the windows shut up and the silence that winter offers a home, my podcast listening has become impressive!

What I guess I am getting at is that there is a lot more free time right now. We are in-between the rushing seasons and have settled into the cold and cozy season. The season where it’s easier to find a free weekend and make some plans vs the weekends of summer when you rarely seem to find a moment not planned.

However, when making plans in this season, one always runs the risk of terrible weather that keeps you homebound instead of outbound.

I don’t want to waste this quiet-ish time. While I am fully content to look out the window and declare, “Well, the roads look slippery. I say we stay home.” I also find I am writing in a lot more of “I miss you so much, let’s get together!” dates.

This week, I am meeting with two friends. We gather around the kitchen table, where she assures us she has scrubbed off all the earlier spilled breakfast syrup. We pull out notebooks and write down notes as we drink gallons of coffee and laugh our heads off and think about what could be coming up in the next season of life. Meeting with them has become a highlight of the month and we only could do it now in this ho-hum season because we finally have the time.

Tonight I messaged another friend and said, “I miss you so much that I’ll even go with you when you walk your dog so we can catch up.”

I am all about summer porch parties, but the weather in Michigan is not so great for that right now. Instead of bemoaning the fact that we can’t hang out around a campfire swatting mosquitoes, instead, we headed out in snow boots to grab some dinner and catch up face to face one Saturday night with our neighbor friends.

It’s not that I want to bring my wall calendar — yes, I still use a wall calendar that hangs in my kitchen — to tears over being too busy in this ho-hum season, but I also am attempting not to waste it either.

And when those dates get canceled due to weather, the text conversations or even actual voice to voice phone calls are pretty epic.

I am thankful for this ho-hum time that is so seemingly small and inconsequential that I rarely even take a photo of something I have done during the day. When I get together with friends, I don’t consider what cute dress I’ll wear but more of how many layers I can put on and still survive outdoors.

However, these small inconsequential moments are feeding my very soul. These “I have missed you so much” dates are making my heart sing. The gallons of coffee I have had around a still slightly sticky kitchen table are precious to me.

Life is so often made grand by these small moments.

So tell me, what small thing can you do this week to make your life grand? Walking with a friend? Meet at a kitchen table with a warm drink? Try out a restaurant you’ve been meaning to visit? Share what you are doing or plan to do, your ideas may inspire others!