Budding Naturalists

Friends

by Emily Dickinson

Are friends delight or pain?

Could bounty but remain

Riches were good.

But if they only stay

Bolder to fly away,

Riches are sad.

Not a completely accurate portrayal of my sentiments but close enough. We have spent a few precious days with treasured friends and enjoyed every minute of it. I am so grateful for the effort they made to get here that I am not complaining they were only able to stay a few days. I'll take what I can get, the time with friends is too precious.
The children played & played, never fussed (well, except a few squabbles between my boys but that is just life). They dressed up and preformed a play, spent time building a house in the woods by a dried up waterfall, read books, hiked, played in the creek, stayed up late, read their Story Starters, and just truly enjoyed each others company.

I was so stressed when they arrived because earlier in the day a frozen 16 lbs turkey was dropped into my silgranite sink causing it to shatter (who knew granite could shatter????) & how in the world could I function without a kitchen sink? It literally has cracks all through (that leak) and an 8 in. triangle missing, so we stuck a bowl under it and kept on going! I had bought a new lampshade for the boys/guest room & before company could arrive, the boys knocked it over & it began to melt/ burn through the lampshade by the time I noticed.
Now, let me tell you about my friend, she is always pulled together, she always looks great, even in jeans & t-shirt, and has this fabulous knack for making things like a broken sink seem like no big deal. She is so laid back, nothing is too stressful or worth getting upset about. I wish I had her ability to let things just roll off my back. I can see this quality in her children also, they are all such a pleasure to be around.
So without much planning on our part we have managed a get together once a month for the girls to read their Story Starters, so the pressure is on to get together in May & be consistent. I think we need a few days at the beach anyway...