Thursday, February 17, 2011

Mr. Golden Sun? Actually, Mom....


Mother Nature is a Funny Girl!

Yesterday I worked up a sweat in the back yard, ice chipper in hand and a baby strapped to my chest. The sun was radiant, the steady trickle of melting snow was accompanied by the dripping sounds of water in the gutters and the thud, thud, crack of steel on ice. It was glorious! Just a week ago we experienced some of the chilliest weather of the season, and beginning tonight we will go back to a more wintry winter. But, boy, was yesterday a nice treat. Vitamin D galore! The girls even ate their sack lunches outside at pre-school yesterday.

And although today is grey and soggy (Mauren's interpretation of 'foggy'), I'll remind myself in the long days of winter that are sure to follow that the delights of springtime are AWESOME and worth the wait. And even if the weather isn't so great outside, I have this picture above the couch in my livingroom created by Maurnie that makes me smile each time I glance at it. Can you tell what it is?



If you guessed a Rainbow and a Sun... you'd be half right. The multi-colored arc is, indeed, a rainbow. But the orange circle with many appendages is a scary bug walking on said rainbow! Have a great day--sunny or soggy!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars...

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star... How Zoe Wonders What You Are

"Mom, what is a star?," Zoe asks.
"What do you think a star is?," I sidestep.
"I think it is something that glows in the sky...but how does it stay up there? Why don't they fall?," she returns.
"What does your brain tell you about that?," I reply.
"I think they have gravity."
"I think you're right."


So, what is a star? By definition, a star is a "massive, luminous ball of plasma held together by gravity." Wow...how does a being with only four and a half years under her skinny little belt know so much?

Today I ponder those sparkly orbs in the night sky. The definition of a star aside, a star is an evolving mystery in the life of a child. One of the first lullabies a little one will hear, one even dads feel comfortable singing, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a thing of dozy, calm, cuddling sounds. As baby grows, little fingers reach as high as they can above their little ears, opening and closing, stretching and clenching as she acts out the song even before she can sing along. Then comes the awareness that those little white twinkle lights, haphazardly hung in the expanse above the house is what a star is. Next comes the bedtime routine of reading stories and peeking out the window for glimpses of the Evening Star. 'Star Light, Star Bright...the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have this wish I Wish tonight.' Summertime meteor showers arrive and stars are something to look for from the plaid blanket laid out in the back yard--only these ones don't stay still (oh and they aren't really stars, but you know...) but the little girls just wriggle and giggle and then get bit by mosquitos so there is no wishing upon a falling star tonight. A star becomes a landmark, a spot on a map on the way to follow Tinkerbell to Never Never Land...go past the second star to the right and go straight on 'til morning. A star is magic. A star inspires wonder...and then you're 4 and 1/2. And a star is a ball of plasma, held together and held in it's location by gravity. Thankfully, at this magical age, science and magic seem to co-exist pretty well. And members of all ages and stages in this household, lift our fingers up high over our heads, stretching them, clenching them, as our mismatched voices join together to sing to our newest family member....like a diamond in the sky...