Now *those* cheeks are river stones to caress, Melissa. Those gleaming eyes, the hint of smile on those lips… This world, heart, stops… and melts with you.
I never get used to what He does: every child, every soul: a masterpiece.
Breathtaking.
Snuggle that Baby (don’t they always stay, in some ways, our babies? Toddlers? Teens? Pshaw.)
Let the river roll, friend….
“Exploration,” says John Stilgoe, author of Outside Lies Magic, “is a liberal art, because it is an art that liberates, that frees, that opens away from narrowness. And it is fun.”
Yes: it is so, so much fun, and that is why I write these posts all chattery with excitement over this or that connection the kids made today. (Or that I made myself!) I know I get carried away, but that’s the point, isn’t it, that way leading on to way has carried me away?
And yet—and yet—I think we are at once ‘carried away’ and made more fully present in the now, more rooted, by these relationships between ideas about things past and future. The joy of connection makes me want to celebrate this moment, this brief encounter with wild-haired child and broad-trunked tree, bus going by, sign on church wall, Scottish warlord creeping over the tower wall and startling the English soldier’s wife who has just put her babe in arms to sleep by crooning that the Black Douglas won’t get him. Child, laughing, shouting “Dinna ye be sae sure aboot that!” across the courtyard outside the library. How can I not celebrate this freedom?
Every day is complicated, messy, and full of friction. And every day has glorious or cozy moments worth celebrating. I seldom bother to chronicle the friction and the mess because writing time is fleeting and precious—and childhood even more so. I’d rather capture the small joys that I might forget—or take for granted—if I don’t take time to set them down in words.
(Excerpt from this post about Real Life, quoted here because I don't want anyone to be under the impression that things are always perfect around here! Heaven knows we are anything but. Perfect, frictionless, orderly? Nope. Happy? Most of the time!)
Be like the bird
Who, pausing in flight
On limb too slight,
Feels it give way beneath her,
Yet sings,
Knowing she has wings.
Simply beautiful photos. Beautiful.
Posted on January 8th, 2008 at 9:42 pmNow *those* cheeks are river stones to caress, Melissa. Those gleaming eyes, the hint of smile on those lips… This world, heart, stops… and melts with you.
I never get used to what He does: every child, every soul: a masterpiece.
Breathtaking.
Snuggle that Baby (don’t they always stay, in some ways, our babies? Toddlers? Teens? Pshaw.)
Let the river roll, friend….
All’s grace,
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 4:31 amAnn
Total fallopian quiver at the second picture.
Good thing I’m already preggers!
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 6:25 amShe has such beautiful eyes.
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 6:47 amAnd who could blame him?
)
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 7:45 amAdorable! Does she ever get to wear that knit hat in Southern CA?
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 10:29 amShe’s absolutely adorable, but now I can’t get that song out of my head!
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 11:36 amShe. Is. Adorable.
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 2:06 pmDo you guys need a baby-sitter? (I know ASL, so we’re all good!)
Absolutely sweet! The pictures, and that your husband is smitten. Too precious.
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 4:38 pmOh my, look at those eyes! And that expression. That’s one child who absolutely, completely knows she’s loved. Good job, you.
And good job getting yourself such an amazing father for your children.
Posted on January 9th, 2008 at 9:56 pmah, she looks so cute! i miss my boys being that age.
Posted on January 10th, 2008 at 1:14 amShe is absolutly adorable! Those cheeks, beautiful!
Posted on January 10th, 2008 at 6:49 amShe is beyond beautiful! Just gorgeous!
And she looks exactly like the little picture of Jane I’ve had framed in my kitchen these past 11 years! I am stunned by the resemblance!!!
Posted on January 10th, 2008 at 12:49 pm