WayfaringStrangers

Only if you peer into the creek, still and quiet, might eye and brain in a flash discover a small turtle in your palm. You both blink, surprised. Only if a toddler's chubby hand bumbles persistently for the black ant in the grass, dropping it over and over, finding it again, does the ant finally realize its mortality the moment the toddler discovers its mighty bite. Only if I scan the sky, against cirrus and azure, can I begin to distinguish wingspan of eagle, buzzard, hawk, heron. There's a world up there. Only if one sits on a tree stump, alone, no earbuds, that in five minutes time one may hear the unmistakable slither at one's feet. One was not alone. Only if he must conquer creek will he find a stick to measure depth. Cautiously first, then charging on. Creek is known, joy found. He's a Navy Seal now. Only if we step to edge of pond, clear on top, muddy bottom, there's nothing here- then we toss the pebble and a thousand fat

Blogging has taken a backseat to real life. In the past 3 weekends, we have celebrated Easter with my family, then I went on a Girls' trip with my mom and sisters, and then Behn and I ran the 10-mile Broadstreet Run in Philadelphia with some family. The weeks fly by, with homeschooling, work, commuting, and making big life decisions (house-related...more on that another time). Besides lots of running to train for the race, I've also been taking some riding lessons again. Samuel is still in preschool for another month, and the other two have schoolwork and tumbling class. Whew! Thankfully our calendar is clear for the foreseeable future. We need a break. I did want to pop in on here to share a few thoughts about homeschooling and something Graham said yesterday. He and Patrick caught TEN toads in the yard and put them all into a giant plastic bin, full of dirt, rocks, weeds, etc, creating the best habitat that they could. In the middle of it all, Graham exclaimed, 'This is