Back from a visit with my 94 year old, vivacious, inspiring Grandmother. So many feelings: gratitude, tenderness, nostalgia, fear of the unknown. We went to the beach and planted ourselves in the sand for a few hours watching the waves- a ritual I have done with her since I was a very small child. We collected a few shells for the children and she told sailing stories. The day after I returned my first child turned 7. Rudolph Steiner wrote about 7 year cycles. According to him, the second seven year cycle is associated with Mercury. At this time, the child's imagination and feeling life takes center stage. I can feel the changes. All of them. With my Grand, with me, with my sons, the seasons. When I am with my Grandmother, we always read poetry. This is one of our favorites by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
God's World
O WORLD, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag 5
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is 10
As stretcheth me apart. Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year.
My soul is all but out of me,—let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.
