It’s absolute chaos in our house right now. Most of it self-made through house renovations so no room for complaint as ‘all good things’ as it were. Still, chaos needs to be managed and for me that means starting the day as I mean to go on.
Waking up around 5am to do some work before the boys get up, I’ve become accustomed to writing with one eye on the sky. This morning’s rose-tinted affair looked like the promise of a sure-fire sunrise but I’ve also come to know that such fire is fleeting. If you want to catch more than a passing glimpse before the glow is lost behind the rooftops you need to get your kit on and head out to an open space. In my case, my running kit and the broad horizons of Wanstead Flats.
Running to catch a sunrise has its advantages for someone who is perpetually distracted on the jog. You actually have to keep on running (although I still managed to take some pictures on the way). And as promised it was the most fiery of golden awakenings prompting a half hour sunbathing session standing up.
With fresh air in my lungs and a renewed sense of balance, I then ran home to homeschool among the chaos as best I could. Needless to say we knocked off at lunchtime as the sun and it’s Vitamin D potential was just too beckoning to miss.
It’s amazing what clearing a lost space can do in terms of attracting people into it. We have a space we call Peace Corner’, which serves a number of purposes over the year. In winter it’s a place to neatly stack a stash of seasoned wood and kindling as it’s right outside the French windows from the lounge. By late winter/early spring the wood has all but been used up and it’s time to clear any debris including blown in leaves from the magnolia tree and fallen ones from the grapevine that curls around the verandah. At the foot of the gnarled woody primary trunk of vine sit early sweet violets and a fountain of golden pheasant grass.
This is when it begins its Peace Corner duties, as happened today. A sun-soaked spot where a small bench and a winter sledge provide all the seating required (so far) to enjoy a morning or afternoon cuppa and the snack de jour – named during lockdown as a place where the boys might want to just stop and read a book or draw a picture (please, God!) while I also got some peace. Peace all round! It did actually work.
As the sun burns stronger and summer takes hold, so picnic blankets make their way in to the space and the lounge doors are flung open so inside and outside begin to blur. This continues until late autumn, with wine, cocktails and late night soirees added to the menu.
As autumn makes way for winter, the Peace Corner then gets a little extra help from a train of fairy lights woven in among the vines, the green, gold and red leaves glowing through the night. And then when the leaves fall it’s a space to sit and take cover while roasting chestnuts on a fire before the benches are cleared and the logs brought over and the whole process begins again.
Today the Peace Corner began it’s transition to spring times. Today the kids were peaceful for half an hour. Today I thanked the lord for the Peace Corner in times of chaos.