Sunday, October 23, 2005

Golden Light and Purple Shadows…

The house is quiet, and an unusual calm has descended as I sit in front of the tv with my husband. The children are outside playing… cleaning and chores have made them welcome the freedom. The temperatures have turned cooler here… more like the winter temperatures we are used to in Texas, yet it is only fall here and the cold doesn’t bite the same way. It is still cold enough to make the children grateful for the lighter part of their new winter coats. Eyes twinkle above noses and cheeks and chin that grow rosy in the cold, and lips that are chapped from repeated lickings. While most are still green, the leaves outside are turning to vibrant colors; reds and maroons, yellows and gold, chocolates and beiges. Some evenings you can already catch the scent of burning wood on the air.

It is a welcome respite before the storm of another week. Lessons, chores, laundry will occupy our days; grading, cooking, showering and reading time our evenings. Once again we start behind as we struggle to get back our equilibrium after the last two months of illness and chaos. The girls have welcomed the return of our routine and work hard for me, so we will be back in the groove sooner rather than later. Despite the unexpected trials God has allowed to come our way, it has been a productive year so far and I have great hopes for it to continue as such. In the meantime I plan to that end in the quiet as Viggo plays Frank T. Hobson in the background… and pray God leads and blesses our studies, giving wisdom to me as I teach and to my children as they learn. May we both seek to sit at His feet and learn together always.

Soon, this oasis of peace will end. As golden light fades to purple shadows, the thunder of not-so-little feet will approach the door and the evening will erupt in exuberant descriptions of battles fought and wars won. Dishes will clatter, and showers will run. Books will be read, prayers said, tucks given… and night will descend bathing everything in its stillness. I am grateful for each and every moment. Mercy drops of life with the family I love.

  
Posted by Anne in 22:18:47 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

The Children’s Hour

The Children’s Hour
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down in the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And molder in dust away!

Posted by Anne in 22:16:45 | Permalink | Comments (1) »