Dusk

Dusk is the sweetest time of day. The coolness as the sun hides behind the horizon, the breeze gently caressing your neck as you walk. The birds sing intermittently, breaking the silence. Everything seems muted, softer, almost warmer and more welcoming. The moisture in the ground has a fragrance that mixes cooly with the fragrance of the dropped catalpa blossoms. The blossoms so exquisite in their delicacy. Or the autumn dusk that holds a certain crispness, accompanied by the soft rustling of leaves. Dusk has a level of intimacy as you must pull closer to see, fooled by the light and softening of corners. There is magic being caught by dusk and not yet wrapped by the darket blanket of night.

The Wild Minds of Children

Kids are definately something I adore... my own and others. I love their natural intelligence when they are young. Unfettered by the confines of social norms, or having been educated into a box. Giraffes can still be blue, Bunnies can be imaginary friends and Mum's are still capable of healing all wounds.

I thought it might me fun to share a few funny things which my own kids and others have said/done to me over the last while....

** this weekend my kids got up at 3am (at my inlaws) and thought it might be fun to 'run like bulls' (their words, no idea where the idea came from) up and down the hall into Grandma and Poppa's bedroom. What a riot, what little monkeys!
**"Mumma, my brain knew that but my hands were not listening!" A common response when my youngest has been caught colouring on carpets or walls, cutting barbie or stuffed animal hair(or her own).
**When you are grown up (referring to boys) you will have to be a Daddy too... to which my son replied that he did not. My daughter argued yes he did. He thought harder, then said 'no I don't, Uncle G is grown up and not a daddy and I want to be like Uncle G'
**"God lives in your heart and is invisible but Jesus is a person, right Mumma?" To which I think carefully and diplomatically answer "Jesus was a person a long long time ago who did really nice and good things, but he died and we remember him as being good". To which I was asked "was he around when you were little?, or when the dinosaurs were around". Hmmmm.
**Why do boys have nipples Mummy if only Mummies can feed babies.... (good question!!)
**"Mummy, your face is looking worn out. That is why you need makeup" (thanks)
**"You have no more babies in your belly right Mummy?" to which I said that is right. My daughter then said "that is not fair, I want a sister or brother that is just all mine". Too bad for you kiddo I thought! You are the clincher that I will have no more kids!
** A parent of a little girl I know told her mother what she wanted to be when she got older. Then she changed her mind and said she wanted to be "like Mrs. B.". What a doll, but I wonder what it is kids think is so awesome about my 'job'. Must be that whenever they see me I am doing something fun like coaching, or art, or singing or teaching them something cool about farms.
** "Hey, aren't you the Moo Lady"

Fairy Tales

Funny how fairy tales have changed over the years but the core story remains. Academics explain them as a sociological method of keeping children safe in an unsafe world (don't eat some old witches house or she will try to eat you) or to dissuade people from unsocial behaviours. The violence level tends to be high, the potential for failure high, and yet-- it all comes out in the wash.

Why does the love story fairy tale persist? Is it a sociological creation? Given the medieval time frame of most fairy tales oral creation, it seems to me that this does not make sense. People did not choose for themselves based on love or longing. Families chose based on finances and alliances. Could it be that the tales were expressions of pent up longing? However unrealistic it may be?

I would like to believe that fairy tale love stories are like presents beautifully wrapped and glossy. The love story in the fairy tale is like the thought behind the present. So many of us just don't stop and think about the thought behind gifts and the whys. Heck, so many people just buy instead of realizing that whether $1 or $1 million the thought behind it can make it precious. Perhaps this is why so many long for the fairy tale. They want the wrapping and glossy gift. Daring to look beyond that and into the meaning is done by few. Maybe those of us who truly want that fairy tale are searching for the deepest of meaning and connection. Maybe the reason for not finding it is that we have to wade through a sea of people enraptured with the wrapping and glossy gifts to find the few cherishing the smallest item of no value beyond emotion. Makes me think of the children's book "Something From Nothing" by Phoebe Gilman.

The intensity of a storm on the 401 last night was mind blowing. I watched it approach as I headed east. The sky was the colour of Lake Superior along the north coast... green and blue and churning. Suddenly it was on top of me, the lightening arced over the 4 lanes of traffic which had come to a standstill. The lightening would flash and immediately was followed by the thunder which reverberated through my car. Amazing. I actually shouted aloud (no one else was in the car) WoooHooo!! As suddenly as it began, it stopped. I got off the hwy to head south and the post-storm light was odd. It made the fields of winter wheat glow golden and eerie. The whole experience was surreal... and amazing. The sheer force of nature-- how could we possibly be so ridiculous to think we are more than visitors on this earth??

Beauty really is everywhere. Blowing prairie grasses, the worn wood of an old barn. Colours edited for contrast.