Morning: We were all so happy to see rain today. It was such a gentle, springy rain, so nice for the growing things. We all booted up, put on our raincoats, and made a colorful little parade across the street and through every puddle between our house and the nature center parking lot (also a great puddle place). Maya fell down in a deep puddle once and slid through gooey mud once. Neither time was she a bit upset, and probably would have stayed sitting if I hadn't picked her up. Georgia stared down the storm drain, as did we all, watching the waterfall disappearing into that dark hole. I used to love doing that as a kid. It was so exciting when the edges got dammed with leaves and little sticks and tree seeds and I would have the very best time clearing all that away so the water could flow unobstructed and really fast down the little holes. I had to work pretty hard to convince Maya to come back toward home until I gave her something to look forward to: a bath. From one wet to the next. We were all completely soaked through, despite the raincoats, and the hot bath was just perfect.
Nap time: I got to watch K-PAX during Maya's nap. It must have been a great book, all that suspense-building about whether he was an alien or a delusional. I especially liked the part where he eats a banana with the skin on. But I kept hoping, for the actor's sake, that he got to spit out each mouthful after the camera went to the doctor. EEEW! And, of course, it was also very sad, but also hopeful, depending on what conclusion you decided on. Not many movies let you choose the ending like that. I like it. I wonder what a Jane Austen movie would be like if there was an ambiguous ending. Would it be involving or just frustrating not to know if the noble heroine ended up marrying her good-hearted gentleman friend?
Afternoon: There's a great threesome of Baha'i holy days coming up starting tomorrow called the Festival of Ridvan that celebrates Baha'u'llah's declaration of His mission and message. They're very happy holy days full of flowers and celebrating and I remember this great thing my mom did during this time when I was a kid. She would put together a miniature garden with a little paper tent in the middle and water all around (like the garden of Ridvan that was the setting for Baha'u'llah's declaration). Like all mom's craft projects, it was cute and artistic, and made from things we had around the house. It made the whole holy day memorable and at my level. So this year, I'm starting the tradition with my kids and today we made our little Ridvan garden with grass seed and alyssum flowers and pretty river rocks in a big dish thing. It was very satisfying for me, and I think the girls enjoyed it too, even if I did get fussy at the end and want to keep the watering down to a gentle sprinkling instead of a flood. Perhaps that would have been more historically accurate, but it wouldn't have helped the grass and flowers any! Maybe next year we can all have our own little gardens to make so I can be as fussy as I want about mine and let them be themselves too.
Posted by Bahiyyih at April 20, 2004 11:44 PM