Domesticity

Photo taken October 2008

Today's a day -- thus far -- of laundry, dish-washing (by hand), weeding...and generally tidying up after the Centennial festivities.  I have neglected home and hearth; it is a delight and a comfort to 'return it to rights' (as Louisa May Alcott might have said, don't you think?)  Dead bouquets of daisies have been turfed and their vases scrubbed.  Floors have been swept and sinks scrubbed.  On a tour of the yard, two clogged eaves were unclogged so the rain water could run freely again.

Later, there'll be a long walk, and spinning and/or stitching in the Outdoor Studio -- a reward for my labours.

My life will always have dirty dishes.

If this sink can become

a place of contemplation,

let me learn constancy here.

I gaze through the window above the sink.

There i see the constancy of dawn,

the constancy of dusk,

the constancy of the seasons,

of the sun and moon,

and the rotation of the planets.

Your love is discerned by repetition.

Turn and return me to Your love.

Let my fitful human constancy

be strengthened in the willing,

wheeling wonder of Your stars.

- "Doing Dishes" - Gunilla Norris

from Being Home: A Book of Meditations

Bell Tower, New York, 1991