Hasta Luego

Today finally (finally! a month behind schedule!) feels like spring.
Here is our backyard, with grass struggling to green up.
The last vestiges of snow pile along the edges of our property and beneath our big pine trees.
It's been a long winter.
And last week felt like a total loss, with several snowfalls and plenty of other griefs.
Some weeks are just like that.

Somehow we survived another winter.
I do wonder why our ancestors settled in Minnesota.
They didn't have LL Bean, or central heating, or proper coffee.
They had to use outhouses.
And milk cows.
And do without a hundred little conveniences that I take for granted.

However, they did take pleasure in reading.
Above are the latest books I got out for Malachi.
He can't be allowed to hold them, because he would rip them to pieces and then chew up the shreds.

From top left, clockwise:
Who's A Friend of the Water-Spurting Whale. I like it because it doesn't have too many words, and they are well-chosen passages from Job.
 Down by the Bay. This one has a great tune and pretty good rhymes.
Nose, Toes, Antlers, Tail. A favorite, full of silly animals and very fun to read. Several pages are missing so I need to order a new one.
Rosie's Walk (El Paseo de Rosie). It's important to read to the baby in Spanish as much as possible. And it's good for my Spanish.
You Are Special. A classic by Max Lucado. I still can't get through it without tearing up.

 Basket made by my Great-Great Grandmother Magdalena,

mended with a shoelace by my Great-Grandfather Herbold. 

(He was a thorough Bible scholar, but was also remembered for creative repairs such as this one).

 

The strange thing is, my forefathers probably had very few children's books.
And their kids were somewhat brilliant.
Go figure.

We don't just pass the time reading.
Sometimes we listen to a few tunes.
Remember this old toy?
I got it a few summers ago at a garage sale, little suspecting that -Boom!- I'd wind up having a little guy who would play with it.

Happy spring, everyone.
We welcome it with joy.



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