Rainy Autumn Day

As I awoke this morning, I heard the faint tapping of rain on our roof. I crawled out of bed, from beneath our heavy Alpaca-wool blanket, and stepped lightly onto our cool hardwood floor, shuddering from the drafty coolness of air escaping into our home through the open bathroom window. Soul-Baby was squealing with excitement as Alley filled his crib with toys and stuffed animals in an attempt to "play" with him, still a wee 6-month-old infant. They were occupied in this manner for nearly an hour which allowed me a chance to shake sleep from my mind and turn instead toward the newness of the day.

We enjoyed a breakfast of homemade granola, toast with butter and steaming mugs of Tibet Lavendar tea while we talked about the plans of our day. Alley helped me clear the table while I put Soul-Baby down for his morning nap. Once he was settled, I printed off 4 coloring pages from the DLTK website and took our watercolours, tin of water and collection of brushes down from the art cupboard so Alley could paint at her wooden table. When her wiggles grew too hard to ignore, she took periodic breaks to jump on Grandma's (borrowed) trampoline in time to the country music I was listening to as I finished the dishes.

After awhile, we decided to bundle up and sit on the porch together. I grabbed two of our favorite books: Johnny Appleseed and My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, and we hunkered into our fleece blankets to read. Our music choice by this time had changed to classical and in the background we could hear a faint lilting-ballad surrounding us with a sense of timelessness in that moment together as mother and daughter.

Soul-Baby awoke from his nap with a boyish grin. Once I had my fill of cozy hugs and cuddles from his chubby self, I bundled him and sat him beside Alley so they could breathe in the fresh air and gaze at the red and golden hues of autumn leaves on our blueberry bush.

Somehow grasping these moments of autumn makes me less afraid of winter.