At quarter of nine in the morning, the mercury stands at 83 degrees. Already I have mowed the lawn, written a blog, revised a writing assignment, and cleaned up half a gallon of forest green paint from the office floor. The sitter arrives, and it is time for me to go in search of stillness.…
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By Flowing Waters
There’s just something about running water. It’s one of the most familiar images the world—a symbol of bounty and peace. It’s Biblical, yes, but it’s also ingrained in human nature—this sense of being bound to the streams for our very lives. Whenever you turn on one of those programs of calming music, it’s inevitably paired…
Read MoreNature Boy
…and he loves to be down in the woods, exploring the creek bank and throwing rocks. He doesn’t understand the frightening implications of BP’s Gulf fiasco. And I don’t think I would want him to, frankly. Not at the age of five. Imagine the anxiety a small child would feel, carrying a weight that heavy.…
Read MoreMiraculous
It is spring, and I return to the woods. To the stillness of nature and the silence of my heart. To the quiet of a creek, placid in the wake of the weekend’s storms, but nonetheless bearing the marks of the power contained in them. I sit on a fallen tree above the…
Read MoreBicycle Day
It’s a sad fact of life that it’s easier to set goals for yourself and your family than it is to live them. Case in point: Christian and I want our family to be a family that enjoys being physically active. That doesn’t mean we want the kids involved in every sport imaginable. It means that…
Read MoreAwakening
I live inside a filter. The first touch of my baby’s cheek against my lips makes my heart catch. The first taste of birthday cake after five weeks without sweets is like a slice of Heaven. But within seconds, my brain filters it out, in search of the next new stimulus. Is this simply the…
Read MoreSprung
On Wednesday, spring arrived. I heard it in the darkness before dawn, when the tree frogs began croaking in chorus, and two different bird species took up an obbligato—too impatient to wait for the sunrise. I felt it in the change of the air I breathed in, warmer, wetter, charged with energy prepared to burst.…
Read MoreBe Still
Quiet quiet quiet my soul like a child at rest like a child at rest. Soft as a snowflake peace descends and comes to rest deep within me. And in the stillness you embrace me And in the silence, I hear your voice… “Be still be still and know…
Read MoreHope
In stillness. In silence. In the stark cut of light against shadow. I see hope in a world poised in watchful readiness. Hovering, gathering its energy for an explosion soon to come.
Read MoreSnowy Days
Well, I finally got my wish: we got enough snow to play in. And as usual, something you whine and gripe about, only to get, presents more facets than you were prepared for. For instance: the snow came on the day that Julianna was supposed to have her “play-based assessment” for Early Childhood Special Ed.…
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Kathleen M. Basi 