While Anne was up to her elbows in buttercream and bakery boxes, I spent the weekend knee deep in sunshine and soil. The more I get to know myself, the more I realize this is really what my heart reaches after - sun drenched evenings, gilded but brisk. A whiff of summer on the breeze. Dirt under my fingernails, reminders of the day's labors all around. Sometimes Nate asks me about my dream house and all I really care about anymore is the land, lots of it and flat - room to play and grow. (And inside? A big, long sturdy table. Room enough for twelve, and made of wood so weathered that the ding of a stray fork or scrape of a slipped knife would just blend into the history that's already there.)
People talk about kids needing to get outside - how it's good for them to run around and get dirty. And it is! But it's good for grown ups, too. I don't think we ever outgrow that need for fresh air and room to run. There is so much energy outside. So much wonder.
The other day I was perusing one of my favorite stores in a little town just south of here. It's pretty much floor to ceiling trinkets and baubles, but there are a few worthwhile things - some pretty scarves and useful kitchen accessories. I'm not much for trinkets, but there was one thing in the store that I couldn't leave without: a tiny printed card. I loved the message too much...
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
- Kahlil Gibran
- Kahlil Gibran
Saturday I let my feet feel the earth. And the wind played with my hair. And the sunshine danced on my face. And in a long line of good, busy, to-do filled days, Saturday stands out - simple and splendid.
7 comments:
Beautiful Em! And I couldn't agree more. People think we are crazy for buying this old house (me included sometimes!) but that's exactly why we did it. Room to play and grow...and plenty of dirt to dig in.
I absolutely loved this post -- Poignant and thoughtful. Thanks for sharing!
I love it! I am always sending my boys out to play and every once in a while I think "I need to get out there too!" Thanks for the reminder!
Amen, Em, amen. Funny that you mention the dream house land...Neil and I were talking last week about our "someday house" and I realized that while we have every last bit of the land hammered out in our minds, I've never thought about the house itself. :-) Just the orchard, the asparagus beds, the chicken coop, the woods...you know, the important stuff. I feel sad every time I look out in our way-too-sunny suburban backyard and realize that my children don't have the kind of running wild in the woods childhood I had (hopefully when we graduate we can move somewhere very different).
Believe me--I would love nothing more than to have dirt under my nails, the wind blowing through my hair and sunshine-kissed cheeks, but anytime I've ventured out in the last two months (Utah) I come in smelling like wet dog. Grrrr.
i need more real dirt in my life. for real.
em, your writing is magical.
I almost feel like we have kindred spirits, lol. Your vibe has always been right on my wave-length and this is right up there for me too. I'm tortured looking out my windows in Alaska at the sunny mountains at bedtime and just can't wait to get out in them the next day! Being outside is being closer to God to me.
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