Another one of the architectural marvels of Tuscany, the so called “zebra cathedral” with its black and white marble is just a stunning structure from both the inside and out. You could spend hours trying to decipher the codes of a place like this, the numerology and symbolism of it are begging investigation. The mystery in history…
I just love the growing excitement every new morning with Lea as she counts down to Christmas eve! The pure joy that children are able to go through is pure, untainted, robust, explosive and highly contagious! I recommend spending as much time as you can with children to catch some of their of effervescence and unrelenting ability to create happiness. And as someone very wise once said: “happy people attract essences”
Once upon time there was a glass jar. It was created in a factory and fitted with a tin lid. The jar was filled with factory made marmalade of strawberry picked from German fields. The marmalade was enjoyed over many wonderful family breakfasts over buttered bread. The jar was finally emptied, washed and refilled with home made marmalade. Then this girl found it, filled it with bugs, then bugs were set free and she filled it with bird bones dug out of holes in the ground, then it was filled with bird feathers, and finally it became the jar that housed a ‘green perfume’, and finally a ‘stone soup’!
A normal afternoon in the life of a 7 year old…
Temperatures reached a high of 37 degrees centigrade today in Shanghai. The streets were steaming, and the breeze felt like the caresses of a nearby fire. This city gets brutally uncomfortable during the summer months and still some of its residents must sweat for their money. They come back from their outdoor jobs with a sense of relief drawn on their faces as another hard day’s work is done.
At times in my parenting of Lea I feel like an internal reflection day is needed, a ‘her and me’ time that can bring harmony, rhythm and a much needed routine into lives together. Today felt like the right day to rewrite our daily plans, look back at our week, plan ahead and see what we have missed. Children can run so wild and chaotic but as soon as you invite them to a process like this, they love to play a part. It was like a magical calm descended on us this afternoon. We took all the time we needed without any pressure to gather ourselves, to stop and then hit the reset button of our daily routine. Of course we left some time for the goofy and the silly 🙂
