A Morning to Reclaim

Anu Garg's Daily-word mail always ends with a quote, and usually these quotes are absolutely fantastic---simple and truly pearls of wisdom, without the sermons. I try to make that mail one of the first things to read, and of course read it from top to bottom, savoring the end quote throughout the day. Today's was just as poetically lovely:

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. -Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892) 

This used to be so true for most of us in the bygone days....me in particular, would sit with my warm glass of water, and look out at the greenery, or at the sky or at anything that was outside my house, outside my mundane existence, and that which was full of fresh air. Even with the glass windows shut tight, I inhaled a freshness through my eyes and my ears. I was perhaps still but not lifeless. I was filling my limbs with my share of the undivided nature. 

Today, I often do check the measurements of nature in the morning, before stepping out of the house: the weather forecast, precipitation chances and temperatures, but the shade of greyness in the rain filled clouds, the height of waves on the Hudson river and the newest cherry blossoms---still not as profuse to be pictured, but getting there, are lost to me. I am forever zipping to some place, for something. 

And we are all doing that most of the time. Our urban environments and life-styles are of course dotted with time accounting---and urban mothers' schedules are going beyond the roof. Between ferrying kids to school, grocery, enrichment classes, ped visits and playdates, there is almost no breather for the bees and the birds. And yet, it is our little companions--the children, who most need that time to take their steps, make their impressions and indulge their senses. They need to be shown the waves, their fingers need to touch the water, their feet need to jump into and out of the puddles and their hair need to get wet for them to even know what  a lovely earth they are born into. And as their moms, we need to first start, to start our days soaking in the glory of the morning glory. Time to make a trip to Home Depot to buy some potted plants? No, not another car-ride.....not for now at least.