Lollygagging

I’m a world class lollygagger.

I love that word.  Lollygag. How it sounds and what it means. It’s old-fashioned word, the way old-fashioned is an old-fashioned word. I wonder if it’s a old-fashioned concept too? Do we spend time lollygagging these days?

Lately, I can’t help but throw my gaze up at the clouds in the sky and marvel. My jaw drops in a perfect O of awe. I keep imagining myself from the vantage of space and am amazed that gravity does such a smart job of tethering me to this spinning planet. I am so small. Then, like a true lollygagger I start to wonder how to define our planet. I used to think of it as just land and water. Terra Firma.

But what about air?

The atmosphere is just as much a part of our planet as the rock and water we can touch. That was so elegantly demonstrated yesterday by the Austrian who jumped from a balloon at the outer edge of Earth in a fearless free dive. It looked like he was in space, but he never left our atmosphere. Earth consists of both the tangible and the ephemeral.

This is why I walk around with my head in the clouds.

If I were 15 years younger, I’d sign up for meteorology school and annoy the pretty weather-girl wannabes working on their forecasts with persistent questions about the nature of each and every cloud.

But you don’t need any facts to be a lollygagger.

Just time, and the willingness to waste it.

It’s true, I have a lot on my plate these days. I’m teaching a college course, baking for the Farmer’s Market, working as a freelance writer, building mamaguru and mothering my children. But there is always time to lollygag.

Children make life busy, but they also slow down the pace. Their stride is short, so walks are long. They need frequent outings, so I am forced to leave my To Do List behind.  In a way, time stops when we’re together. In between pushing a swing or chasing a daring child, my time at playgrounds is wistful. My mind wanders to concepts literally and figuratively above my head.

Before you know it, I’m flanked by two little boys, staring up at the clouds.

Learning to lollygag.