On, In, and Around Mondays: Eternity in My Back Yard
They have been sledding, and I with them. But now I am sitting on the porch, watching. I don't know what I love better. The way they laugh, or the hot pink gloves, or them throwing snow balls at the house.
My Eldest makes an art of it. "This is clouds," she says. "Mountains. A rainbow. Rain!"
Splat, splat, splat, the snow balls pile up on stucco, stay. She sees shapes. I see a girl beautiful, beautiful.
Now she picks up an icicle from the ground. I am sure she might throw it too, delight in the splintering. Instead she tiptoes to a barren Rose of Sharon, stands looking, starts touching branches to test their curves.
Gently, she places the icicle on a tenuous cradle. It stays. She walks away.
I sit and sip, watch the icicle, think of artist Andy Goldsworthy. My Eldest has pored over his books, seen him play with nature in just this way—unconcerned with how the sun or the water or the wind might reclaim his art.
Ephemeral beauty, somehow speaking of eternity. Like her, like you, like me.
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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.
If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)
This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...
Labels: family stories, natural art, On in and Around Mondays
posted by L.L. Barkat at 11:07 AM
14 Comments:
I love the idea of the snow sticking to the stucco & forming "cloud shapes". Beautiful imagery, as always!
Oh, this is just lovely. And playful to :)
those icicles held ...
what a thought
I just delight in that icicle!
And Andy Goldsworthy. I have a video about his work, and books. Have you taken your daughter to see his wall at Storm King? I love how it meanders, disappears, picks up; it's hand-made of course from stones on the property.
Pure beauty.
I remember days of icicle sipping.
Maureen, yes! That is where she first learned of Goldsworthy. She was quite little at the time, and shocked me by asking for his book 'Wall' when she saw it in the gift shop, after we finished our own meandering across the property.
Needless to say, Christmas honored the request. :)
Such a beautiful moment you have captured of a beautiful girl.
Lovely.
I enjoy every moment of seeing your world through your eyes and words. What a lovely picture L.L.
I was looking at my soon-to-be-married daughter the other day and marveling at how grownup she suddenly seems. The little girl still peeking out occasionally, but a grown woman now. sigh....
Delicate icicles seem a fitting metaphor for your playful and inventive little girl. Very nice!
What a beauty that icicle is! I puzzled over how a fat icicle could have formed around a twig when the rest of the tree branches were bare. That the icicle was "placed" there, adds much flavor to your story.
Perhaps all of us are playing a bit like Andy Galsworthy when we photograph ephemeral items that will soon decay or melt or fade away. But oh, the memories! And the photos to prove we were blessed by the fleeting things.
I've added my link for "On...Mondays." As usual, clicking on the link gives notice -- "page not found." Just click on the extreme right-hand link ("go to homepage"), it ought to be there in plain sight! (Laura doesn't seem to know, any more than I do, why it gives the message it does.)
Here's the link, also.
http://kingfishercrossing.blogspot.com/2011/02/peanut-shells.html
Oops. I meant Andy Goldworthy!
Such a beautiful picture of substantial yet ephemeral beauty
L.L., I get goosebumps at the interaction with your children and how you've taught them to look at the world this way. Reminds me of my own mother, like you a poet, who taught me to find beauty in the world just the same.
Beautiful.
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