Prairie Lily Arts

From Humble Beginnings

Raindrops cling like crystal chandeliers to tender leaves emerging, as if to magnify the day's scant light.  My feet fall soft on damp ground yet to be tilled and readied for the year's planting.  Where winter weeds now sprawl tangled, soon heirloom tomato stalks will rise, towering over squash vines and bush beans.  Cucumbers will teem crisp and fresh for crocks full of Mama's bread and butter pickles. Herbs will frame against the rocks, lending their fragrance to sultry summer evenings, as butterflies dance in pairs above purple plumes and roses of red velvet.

Spring: An Opening Dance

 

"Is it spring now, Mama?" His smiling, little-boy face beams, bathed in sunlight.  I am not sure if his eyes or his feet dance with the greatest joy.  A breath of breeze tousles the cherry blossoms like fluttering silk delicate above his head. 

I watch an open heart... baby boy growing... like so many red buds spreading in the warmth of a new season.

His face tips to the morning's pristine sapphire expanse as if to let it fill him with all that is new... discovering life.  Seeking, drinking, savoring.

"And children's faces looking up

Holding wonder like a cup."

~ Sara Teasdale

Spring. Yes, child. Indeed. When after rest and renewal, beginnings grow.  Shelter falls away.  Beauty adorns like a gallery against the sky. 

The music of laughter floats.

"Shall we?" whispers spring. 

A bow. A curtsy.

An opening dance. 

Suz

Joining my sweet friend, Jenn, today for her photo challenge: "Spring".

Just Dig In

 

Do you sometimes find opportunities, holidays... whole seasons slip away while you are stuck in planning mode?  I am guilty.  I plan and pre-plan trips, special occasions, and projects.  But I am learning to set aside schedules, research and lists in exchange for sheer spontaneity, enthusiasm and action.

Next week is the official launch of The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge, and I don't want your family to miss a moment! Regardless of space or resource constraints, gardening is an attainable and amazing way for your family to grow memories together.  That, and, well... kids just like to play in dirt!  (Ok, so do I.... let's be real.  The farming gene didn't skip me.  I'll take muddy hands over a lovely manicure any day.)

So while I am sifting through seed packets and hunting down tools scattered throughout the garage, I thought I would share a few ideas and resources with you.

Back To Roots

 
The smell of tomatoes garnet bubbling into sauce thick. Corn silks clinging to my skin. The snap of crisp beans emerald. The ping, ping, ping of magenta and white striped horticulture beans tumbling from pod to bowl... the speckled gray-green mel-mac bowl even a little girl's fumbles couldn't break.

Summer in our house meant harvest.  Crocks were filled with cucumbers pickling, and canning jars bobbed in steel pots billowing with steam, weighing heavy on every stove burner.  The kitchen grew hot and humid before morning gave way to the high noon sun.  My mom would tie an apron about my waist... my sister's... her own.  Dad laced up muddy boots and set to tending rows.

Tuesday's Review Day at the Village

I wasn't sure if my eleven-year-old son understood what it meant for us to begin intentionally studying, building a biblical worldview.  His first reflection on why this was an important endeavor left me with a quiet smile... and a bit of wonder.  Young minds so often see clear to the essence of a matter with a simplicity that yields depth.  They lack the clutter, the distractions, the baggage of preconceptions. 

And so we begin a new level of exploring why it is we believe what we believe.  I am grateful to set out with the trail map of Apologia's Who Is God by John Hay and David Webb, the first volume of a new four-volume series, What We Believe.

So what shapes, defines, focuses your lens on the world?  Join me at The Homeschool Village for today's review?

Susan

Funny Faces and Cherry Blossoms

 
This day, the cherry blossoms whispered hello.  I sought to capture their fluid dance upon a gentle breeze.  Fragile petals shimmered translucent in a warm bath of spring sunlight.  Quiet. Delicate.

This day, my little bear skipped, climbed and jumped through his last day as a four-year-old super hero.  Tomorrow would bring cake and candles and whispered wishes. While I framed images of cherry blossoms, he swung from my legs and told me knock-knock jokes.  His little face was expectant... waiting for my laughter as if he hadn't uttered these same lines dozens of times before... just this morning.  I lower the lens and laugh.  And as my eyes meet his, he dances a wild thing dance and scrunches his little cheeks... cheeks which grow less babyish every day.

This moment the cherry blossoms fade into the background... my little silly one in focus.  May I remember these settings that I might capture a thousand of these moments... the world a beautiful backdrop, the music of laughter, a face I love filling the clear focus of my lens.

This moment.

Suz

Joining my sweet friend, Jenn, today for her photo challenge: "This Moment". The other entries will touch your heart.

The Hush of Hello

 
With an especially quiet heart,

I remember words aren't necessary to share with you

a window on my world.

I dearly love cherry blossoms.

This week they bid hello.

New, delicate, beautiful...

Like the swirling skirt of an elegant ballgown

Dancing gently upon a breeze of sun.

Suz