Well, our trip has almost come to an end, tomorrow bright and early we will pile back into the car and make the four hour journey back to Asheville.
What has impressed me the most this past week is the beautiful children.
Such joy, such creativity, such beauty.
Their friendship has grown stronger as they have run in the fields, gathered food from the wild, build fires...many of them, gone swimming in the creek, build houses in the tall grasses and under the bushes, gone hiking and berry picking and everything in between.
I am once again reminded of the treasure it is to live in the country.
The children were certainly dirty 95% of the time, their hair a mess filled with seeds and grass, and their clothes and faces stained with mud, and often wet as well, and yes there certainly was also a massive amount of laundry accumulated, as well as constant messes here and there.
But to see the shine in their eyes as they full of joy run across the grasses into the woods to later emerge with a tiny birds nest, or a handful of carrots or berries or peas to be cooked on the fire, or a little red newt or some other fishy creature, and to watch them work as a team while building a fire or preparing a meal or taking care of one of the littler ones who got a splinter,
has all been just magical for me to behold.
To be sure, seven children do put forth an intense amount of energy, and the week has not been without conflicts, between the girls and the boys, the littles and the bigger, yet the conflicts were always short lived and before long they were amazed by some common interest or find and all was forgotten, yet again the beauty of children.
I give thanks for this week among friends, submerging ourselves into the freedom of being, and the appreciation of nature. I again remind myself that all the recent turmoil of our lives is for a reason and that all is moving along as it should. And although our future journey will likely bring us oceans apart from the dear Watkins family I trust that the bond the children, and the mamas for that matter, share will keep bringing our families together for years to come.
~With love and gratitude~
you have quite the way with the camera! you so perfectly captured such spirit and beauty in their eyes. Love them all!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteoh those pictures!! my eyes teared up with the beauty of those children. lovely!
ReplyDeletep.s. i didn't expect to spend this early morning reading your blog....but i am enjoying it so! i say we must get our littles together this summer!
this is so beautiful and so true! when we visit family in NC, the kids spend all day picking blackberries, looking for bear tracks; digging potatoes for dinner; fishing in the creek; sitting around the campfire telling stories; making miniature homes for "elves"; your pictures, esp. the first one, could be ANY of our kids- just being KIDS! thank you for sharing such a beautiful moment in childhood...enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are a wonderful photographer!
ReplyDeleteYou have fabulously illustrated childhood here :)
We have five children of our own and as I was reading this post, I was thinking you were speaking of our own family. We live in rural Oregon on ten acres and everything you mention here in this post fits them to a "T"! The dirt, the mud, the fun, the smiles and giggles, the tears and the joy. And yet - they are all inseparable. We do everything together as a family whether it is going to the grocery store, the u-pick farm, the river, the beach sailing or whatever.
They all have so much fun together.
It is wonderful to see our four year old helping his 5 year old sister learn her reading and just as wonderful to see the older sisters helping the little ones with their learning and so much more :)
You have captured it all so well!