I no more need to say that I hated school, you all know it by now. And, sadly, as a child, I spent my whole month of August dreading that infamous back to school day. We would stop going on camping trips so my mom would be at home available to receive the call as weather or not she'll have a [teaching] contract this year. But no more! No school for any of the person living in my house, this year! Of course, I still have to hear my mom dread the back to school day, counting her last days of freedom... But that's her problem now and I've decided to make peace with August and give it a try... And today I was rewarded.
When the babies woke up from a shared bed nap in the late after-noon, I decided we'd go to the field Papa was; he wouldn't be home for 1½ hour, and 1½ hour was about the time it took to get there walking with a toddler (about 30 min for an adult alone) ... And if we didn't made it before he finishes, well, we'd have our lift back home.
Oups, no sling no stroller.... left in the car in which Papa got at the in-laws to get the tractor. After browsing our winter collection, I found a scarf wide and long enough to hold my 1 year old. Of course Mariann requested one to put a plastic baby in and off we went. I was not able, however, to convince her that she really didn't need that hair brush.
Mariann stopped in delight at every butterflies, put many rocks in her pockets, jumped in every mud pit, thrown rocks at every swamps and fed the "baby frogs" with fresh herbs. She was marvelled by the stream and talked back to the birds. She patiently convinced a ladybug to mount on her hand each time it fell for 10 minutes and grabbed, kneeling in the dirt, a bunch of chamomile flowers to give her father.
And that's when we reached the little oatmeal field before the huge potato one, after the woodland road that I felt this sense of pure happiness.
The sky was as blue as my little boy's eye, not a cloud to see. As far as I could look, there was only fields or forests, and right in front of me, align with the earth road, was this big bright Moon smiling at us. "The Moon's awake!" Mariann said in delight, and she started to sing a french song that speaks about the Moon. The air was fresh and warm, not too humid, not too dry. My baby boy held against me was brushing the plastic baby's hair... because Mariann had enough of carrying her baby long before... There was so much to see!
And there was that sense of letting go. I wasn't hurrying to nowhere. I was just glad not to be at home, waiting for my men to arrive while the babies got impatient and fussy. I was standing in that oatmeal field, with a little pain on my neck from the sling, getting hit by an hairbrush every now and then, waiting for Mariann to walk just another couple meter more before getting back to walk. Time froze, and I've savoured every bit while it lasted.
Thank you Mother Earth. For oatmeal fields, babies and ladybugs.
Oups, no sling no stroller.... left in the car in which Papa got at the in-laws to get the tractor. After browsing our winter collection, I found a scarf wide and long enough to hold my 1 year old. Of course Mariann requested one to put a plastic baby in and off we went. I was not able, however, to convince her that she really didn't need that hair brush.
Mariann stopped in delight at every butterflies, put many rocks in her pockets, jumped in every mud pit, thrown rocks at every swamps and fed the "baby frogs" with fresh herbs. She was marvelled by the stream and talked back to the birds. She patiently convinced a ladybug to mount on her hand each time it fell for 10 minutes and grabbed, kneeling in the dirt, a bunch of chamomile flowers to give her father.
And that's when we reached the little oatmeal field before the huge potato one, after the woodland road that I felt this sense of pure happiness.
The sky was as blue as my little boy's eye, not a cloud to see. As far as I could look, there was only fields or forests, and right in front of me, align with the earth road, was this big bright Moon smiling at us. "The Moon's awake!" Mariann said in delight, and she started to sing a french song that speaks about the Moon. The air was fresh and warm, not too humid, not too dry. My baby boy held against me was brushing the plastic baby's hair... because Mariann had enough of carrying her baby long before... There was so much to see!
And there was that sense of letting go. I wasn't hurrying to nowhere. I was just glad not to be at home, waiting for my men to arrive while the babies got impatient and fussy. I was standing in that oatmeal field, with a little pain on my neck from the sling, getting hit by an hairbrush every now and then, waiting for Mariann to walk just another couple meter more before getting back to walk. Time froze, and I've savoured every bit while it lasted.
Thank you Mother Earth. For oatmeal fields, babies and ladybugs.
This made me happy! Enjoy it all!
ReplyDeleteAndréann, this is the loveliest blog post you've written. And that's saying a lot! Love to you and Papa and the wee ones.
ReplyDeleteYou captured such a beautiful moment with your words. It was such a joy to read! I felt like I was with you on every step of your walk. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! So inspiring!
ReplyDelete