Warm Laundry and Baby Boy

Warm laundry...mmmm

 

Being intrepid did not always work in Little Man's best interests.

When Mummy turned her back, he crawled toward a vase, leading to a crash and broken glass.  Then Little Man discovered a spoon and Daddy’s iPad.  Just a few bashes resulted in a clang, a flash¸ and some loud buzzing.

Yes, being intrepid could possibly drive Mummy over an emotional cliff.

I crawled here, and stood up.  NOW what do I do?

This is a repost from 2013. Italicize underlined word are from Wednesday Words, prompts for bloggers to play with. Little Man is now12 yrs old with a little brother (now 6 yrs) who dearly loves his big brother.  We grandparents love them so much.

 

 

Life in the Fast Line

 

Tools of the trade

Talking to my grandsons on the far side of the world is so precious. Suddenly the preschool boys are missing teeth, standing taller, and having stories to tell me. But with FaceTime or Skype, I can watch them grow up some.

My daughter is such a sweet mom. I was never that patient or inventive as she is.  Today we talked and the boys were doing their nighttime routine, which meant to brush teeth, bathe, go to the toilet, and talk to me from the bathroom.

So, talking to anyone who is sitting on the toilet is a bit awkward while Mommy holds the iPhone so they can see me, and I see them.  I love them so much that my heart swells.

After one particularly rowdy routine, I gazed at my sweet girl, and started singing Life in the Fast Lane, blew a kiss at the group, and hung up.

Oh, so nice to be sitting on my side of the screen.

Small Shrines

Farmers walked along this land.

European countries with such centuries of history have, by sheer time, amassed incredible buildings, structures, monuments, and fountains that shout to the visitor:  “I have been here longer than you can imagine!" 

Shrines to the past stand tall, but most visitors do not know what they memorialize. Tourists are there to see, but not to learn. They suffer from camera overload:  so many photo opportunities stand that it is overwhelming to pick and choose. They may try, but there are too many places and things.

We have traveled to Switzerland every summer since 2013. When our daughter gave us a grandson, we hungered to hold him and see him grow. Each time, he taller and soon he was taking us on big adventures of his own making. Now we have his little brother to enjoy.

On the way back to our rented apartment, on the right, each day we passed by a cemetery where tombstones were also made.  On the left, we traveled by clearly ignored shrines of their own, clustered together.

Unlike the grand shrines of historical figures, these shrines require abstract thinking.

I labeled this post "Small Shrines".  

These are stone watering troughs from old farmlands, gathered together  to share the history of the farmers.

An old English telephone booth without its glass, has no phones where a plant had grown. It was there on purpose, I hope.

Each day we walked along the river.

A tree leans along the Aure River, hanging on with its roots until the next snow-melt flood

Sometimes the Small Shrines speak the loudest.
Sometimes one has walk along a river.

Sometimes one has to search for them and sometimes one has

to look to the left.