Dear Candace,
Every spring when the Missouri hills dramatically debut with dressings of green, it feels like I’m seeing it again for the first time. The children are used to my exclamations of “Do you SEE this!? Do you SEE how much green there is now?!” when we are driving. It’s no exaggeration to say we live among the rocks and rills, hills and valleys that make this state beautiful. Two turns from my house and we’re among it all; a feast for the senses!
There is a church not far from us that I call “the church in the dell.” It is literally nestled in a valley with hills expanding upwards around it. It’s so green and picturesque right now that you have to wonder if it sprang from a fairy-tale.
I opened up the windows wider this week (for like 5 minutes when it wasn’t raining) to let in some of this gorgeously perfumed air, and very quickly everything was coated in a yellow pollen. Ah, yes. The other part of spring. So much dusting to do, so little time.
Today I worked with the boys cleaning and organizing in their bedroom. How to put this experience. Let’s just say I told them they would receive a daily parental inspection henceforth. I may have also thrown out phrases like “army beds” and “white glove dusting” and “do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” The boys swept, dusted, mopped, and thoroughly cleaned nearly everything. We still have some drawers to go through, but I already feel more emotionally stable. Three bags of trash are now gone, plus one box marked for Goodwill. Caleb’s snake, Mango, is doing quite well in his aquarium and Drew’s potted plants are thriving. There is hope in the world!
Let there be light in the darkness.
Love and green.
Rachel
