I did still keep up my writing, so as it is after 1:00 am Nova Scotia time (while only 10:00 pm Saskatchewan time), I'm going to simply copy and paste those writings here to catch you up.
Take care, and have a lovely week.
August 26, 2012…It’s so peaceful here
We’re on to the last leg of our trip. We took the ferry from Saint
John, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova
Scotia and wound our way to Milford South. Chris found this wonderful area that rents
cabins, at a place called Milford House.
Right now, I’m sitting on our porch, looking at the lights of the cabins
dance on the lake. In fact, our cabin
has its very own dock, which all of my children promptly made there way to
within seconds of getting here. Nothing
seemed better than dangling feet off that dock!
And the cabin itself is so cozy. It is truly a summer-only cabin, but it felt
like home from the minute we walked in.
It is the type of place we could spend weeks in. From the porch that overlooks the lake, to
the rustic furniture, floors and walls and brick fireplace, to the smells of
the pines and firs, to the sounds of frogs croaking and fish splashing, it is
pure heaven. We’re seriously considering
ditching the rest of our planned outings and just having free time out here,
because free time is important too. And
there is much to be learned from canoeing and hiking and fishing, and having
lazy afternoons with our feet in the lake while we work out the details of
those stories we started conjuring up while in the Haunted Wood not too long
ago. Learning about listening to and
following our hearts, because only our hearts know when we need time to ground
ourselves, when we’ve been so far from the familiar for what is, relatively, a
long time for my little ones. Learning
about a slower pace of life that is far away from airports or highways. Learning about simple pleasures. Learning to enjoy the silence of the modern
world.
I take a deep breath in as the wind brushes
my face. It feels good here.
August 27, 2012…Land ho!
We pretended to be explorers, English
pioneers to be exact, this morning and afternoon. We traveled by canoe and entered unknown (to
us) waters. We pretended we were coming
ashore at a Miq’maq camp, where we exchanged warm greetings and joined together
to fish for our supper. In actuality, we
canoed to a beach and played in the water.
With the confidence that comes with wearing a life jacket, Jaelyn was
able to swim to the dock not far from the beach. Nicholas gathered enough courage to tumble
off the dock and be towed to shore by his father. We snacked and then set sail for our
cabin. We stopped at an island in the
lake to explore. Despite the island
being smaller than our cabin, there were some finds. There were little tiny frogs, a tadpole,
minnows, rocks, seaweed… Who knew you
could find so much in such a small space.
Now, there’s nothing but the rest of the
afternoon ahead of us…Astrin is laying down for her nap for the first time in
ages and Nicholas and Jaelyn are still in their life jackets…Nicholas digging
for bait and Jaelyn wading in the water swinging a stick around wildly. From the porch, Chris is fiddling with the
camera and taking a few shots, and I’m reclining and writing. The air still smells lovely, the leaves are
rustling in the wind but it is, curiously, not brushing our skin. We have absolutely nothing planned for the
rest of the day, except supper. So,
maybe I’ll convince Chris that we could rent a fishing rod, perhaps we’ll play
a game, perhaps it will be silent enough for me to come up with some ideas for
a few children’s stories I’d like to write.
You see, while on this trip, we’ve been
more acutely aware of our conversations about what we refer to as our moral
compasses and the voices we use when we talk to others. I’m drawn to the Waldorf perspective and
using stories as a mirror – to emotionally involve the child in the behaviour
of others so they can think of the choices they make in their own
behaviour. I’ll be using Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour
as a guide as I write these stories. And
to tell the truth, I may even use a board game we have, Create-a-Story, to help
me build the bones of the stories. And even
though these resources are at home and I am here, I think I can still come up
with a few ideas while I’m surrounded by such beauty and have some rare and
blessed free time.
Of course, I likely won’t use my children’s
names in the stories, and I likely won’t even use people – my stories will likely
star animals as the main characters. In
fact, I’m sure I’ll be using their favorite animals as the protagonists. And since I won’t have a large store of my
own stories soon, we’ll pick up some books of fables and spend time each
morning, before we set out into the world, reading through them. Ideally, I would have a theme for each
week. Realistically, I know it will take
me lots of time doing research to go that route, and that just starting
bring us benefits. And perhaps my foray
into writing stories for my children will further inspire them to start writing
stories of their own.
I promise to share once those stories are
ready to go (and I’ve gathered up all my courage, too!)
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