These September days call us again and again. Away from our work – our canning and cleaning and doing – and down to the creek, up to the woods.
And we go. Again and again.
We laugh, we talk, we forage. We sit in silence together beneath giant trees, listening to the voice of the forest.
And I feel my anxiety and worries slip away into the soft, brown earth.
Every time.
And I am thankful.
Fall means a new schedule for us. New work days, new lessons, a new tempo of life and learning.
And despite our free-form homeschooling and home life, I still like to have a rhythm to (loosely) follow, day after day, week after week. It insures that we make time for things that we value. Like reading together each day, and clean laundry now and then. Like work days and project time and all the rest.
It's the second week of September and I'm still trying to hammer some semblance of a rhythm out of our eclectic days.
Yesterday was to be our first day on track. Our rhythm fell apart before breakfast.
But it's okay. Because there are things more important than rhythm. Things more important that getting dinner made on time. Things more important that checking this screen.
Things more important than any busy excuse we have to miss out on the juiciness that is a September day in the woods.
As for our rhythm? We'll try again tomorrow.
And I think "drop everything and go to the woods" has earned it's own place on our schedule this season.
As I have said before, I love your “drop everything and go” attitude and I wish I was more like you in that regard. What I have trouble dealing with is leaving basic things undone. I would never sit down to read a book if my living room was cluttered or messy. I would never leave dishes in the sink and go play. I would never not make my bed in the morning. Yes I have a very clean and organized house but more often than not, I am too tired by the end of the day to do anything fun or spontaneous. Maybe we should run at each other really fast and you could perhaps rub off on me a bit. 😉
PS Rachel, Paul has been suffering so much with an allergic reaction to something and he told me yesterday that NOTHING makes his skin feel better than your body butters. We have been using them for years and I think he is your biggest fan!
I’m so glad!
I could use a clean living room now and then, so let’s try that running at each other thing soon. 🙂
We run up to the mountains a lot here too. Albeit not everyday but we are lucky to be able to go the woods when we want. I just love the freedom of homeschool. Your days can change just as you need them too.
Please tell me what those yellow flowers are! I have some in my yard. Thanks!
Hi Laura, They are goldenrod, a native perennial prairie plant. They are sometimes blamed for ragweed allergies because they are so vibrant and bloom at the same time. We harvest these to dye some yellow wool!
I bake with goldenrod. It’s wonderful. Too bad it’s often accused of being a weed when it’s really a flower.
So much in this post- clean laundry IS good now and then and so often our “schedule” falls apart before breakfast- thank you for naming what is!