Rainy Day Play

The clouds rolled in and the wind picked up in the afternoon.  Rain is predicted again for today.  With a little more forethought this go-round, the wood pile is now tarped, more firewood is on the porch, and the deck chairs are tucked away.  The bin of grape stems has been emptied and returned, tailbone intact, and the girls enjoyed their treat (with more to come).  I finished the book I'd started the day before, and had to restrain myself from jumping right into the sequel, saving it for the rainy days ahead.  My son, Dave, called in the evening.  He was with a friend and they'd been discussing how to keep her children occupied when house-bound.  He was calling to get the recipe for salt water taffy...something we'd make on a rainy day when the Kids were small.  It pleases me no end that, lo, these many years later, he would remember a childhood event with such pleasure.  It was sticky and messy and more candy got eaten during the process than was saved, and none of that mattered because they were having so much fun.  Money was really tight when the Kids were growing up and I had to get inventive to find ways to keep them busy.  The erasers on a box of pencils could be cut into shapes (I did the cutting at their direction) and with a few drops of food coloring could be used to make stamps for stationery.  Bits of string dipped into diluted white glue were made into shapes like snowflakes and left to dry and stiffen on waxed paper, to be hung later in the window.  Flour-and-water paste and torn strips of newspaper made papier-mache. 

Makes me want to go out and rent some Kids for a day.