STAY, in the Breath

Hello Everyone!

I have been reading Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, by Anthony Esolen.

Method 1: Keep Your Children Indoors as Much as Possible (I’d say it goes for all of us)

“Albert Einstein used to say that he had first begun to wonder about the speed of light when he was a boy, lazing about by himself upon the sunny mountains outside Florence. He found there a clue that led him the to the secret curvatures of the universe. Robert Frost found in the rugged hills of New Hampshire clues to that far more difficult maze, the human heart. So he recalls how the slender white birches, laced with icicles in the winter and bent over….” ~Anthony Esolen,Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child pg. 40

So far, the read has me challenged now that “winter” is officially blowing through here in Kentucky. A few weeks ago my dad compared our rainy weather in Lexington lately to something more like tropical weather to his morning greeting of subzero temperatures with the wind factor in Ohio right now, but since January has hit it still feels a bit cold to me and has me saying “No” to the “Can we go outside?” question more than I wish were true!

I actually began writing this post prior to a wonderful recent snowfall that a few of us managed to get out in and enjoy as the sun came up and lit with the most wonderful hues of yellow I know. I still want to post this though as a challenge to myself and anyone else who cares for the reminder to get outside. Today’s photos are of this past summer for inspiration and maybe to feel a bit warmer on this chilly day, but next post, will be of some winter outings… (click on the image to see a larger version)

I recognized as I chose the photos that one of the places my family and I made some of our best memories this past year was at the 3000 acre nature preserve of the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg Kentucky. I cannot recommend their clean water ways and 40 miles of trails highly enough! We LOVE it there, and always seem to come home with a story, but I suppose that’s the way it is with walking out your front door…

Pictured above our trail-mates are considering the path ahead as we had, all eight of us (although I hardly hold the 3 year old accountable on this one!), managed to leave our trail maps back in the car! It was a pivotal moment where we all decided to push on, discovering 5 miles later the full impact of our decision!! hahaha! It was such a tough hike for the kids, (and for the parents!) but what a triumph we all felt at the end. And the way I saw them pull together had this mama smiling the whole way. In fact the photo at the head of this post is from the same hike, and isn’t posed in the least. That’s my 11 and 9 year old fortifying one another up “one more hill”.

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ~ ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Catching praying mantises at sunset was hard until I realized I just needed to wait for them to take off and then I could easily follow their silhouette against the sky. It was awesome.” ~ E.Myers 12 yrs.

“Courage is found in unlikely places.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Little by little, one travels far”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

Alright! Let’s go on an adventure! Happy Weekend Everybody!
Raynna