Blueberry Apple Pancakes

There's something about Saturday mornings...

Maybe it's the smell and sound of Starbucks coffee percolating from the kitchen.

Maybe it's the mild summer breezes of late August that turn my living room curtains into sage and rose butterfly wings.

Maybe it's the comforting warmth of my husband sleeping in right next to me and the knowledge that just across the hall...my children are tucked into their own little dream worlds.

Whatever it is, Saturday mornings kind of rock. I love their slow rise and rhythm. The lazy grace that spells relief from five weekdays' worth of frenzied pressure to perform, to beat the clock, to dance to the cadence drummed by executives, children, co-workers and my own crazy compulsion to be perfect.


Saturday mornings are like clean air to ravaged lungs. 

This morning, I awoke to breathe in deeply.

I'm not sure why, but even being busy on Saturdays feels different than being busy during the week. At 10:45 am, I found myself in the midst of a kitchen cyclone. A pan of turkey bacon and sausage over there. A pan of sizzling hashbrowns over here. A griddle of blueberry apple pancakes sending the subtle aroma of cloves and cardamom wafting across the counter space. Fresh garden tomatoes and green onions sauteeing in butter, soon to be blanketed by poured scrambled eggs with sour cream and sharp cheddar. A spatula in one hand. A wire whisk in the other. A knife to the right and a spoon for tasting to the left. The buzz of conversation from my husband and sons' debating world history and radical religion. The predictable, staccato tug on my shorts from my little girl. 

"I want pancakes, Mommy."

One look into those gigantic beautiful, blue eyes and I feel the rush of Saturday's easement over my tired mind. 

Despite the crazy kitchen. 

Despite the multi-tasking mania of Wife-And-Mother-At-Domestic-Labors.

"Blueberry apple pancakes?" I whisper to her, as I reach down to lift her into my arms.

"Yeah!" she smiles contentedly, as she snuggles into my neck.

"Me too, baby. Coming right up."

Thank God for Saturday mornings, Starbucks coffee, my phenomenal children...and blueberry apple pancakes.