From the monthly archives:

April 2009

Windows that always face the sunshine

by Sunny Daydreame on April 14, 2009

in Family Adventures, Simple Living

When I was young, we lived in a big old house with a big front porch and windows that always seemed to face the sunlight.

My bedroom had lace curtains and a balcony.

My dad would take me out on the balcony and sing me to sleep:

“God made the stars in the sky,
God made the moon way up high.

God made the dog go…”
“Woof woof” (that was my part of the song)

“God made the cat go.”
“Meow!”

and on and on the song went until either I fell asleep or dad sang something like “God made the fish go…”

“How does a fish go, Daddy?”

Mom sang to me too:

“I love little Sunny, she is so sweet
I love little Sunny, she is so sweet.
I love little Sunny,
I love little Sunny,
I love little Sunny my girl.”

I sing that song to my own baby now.

I spent my days playing and helping my mommy. I like to help her fold laundry.

Everytime I found a pair of Daddy’s underwear, I would hold them up and say in the loud voice that is standard for a 3 year old, “But in the Borld is dis?”  Then I would giggle and laugh.

Everytime I hear my tea kettle whistle I feel happy, everytime I hear a sewing machine I know that all is right with the world. I’m sure it takes me back to those days playing in the sunshine and listening to Mom hum as she went through her day–cleaning, sewing, painting, and always stopping for a afternoon cup of tea.

Now I live in an old house of my own with lace curtains (soon) and windows that always face the sunshine.  I have a baby of my own and I sing to him.  He’s too little to help me fold laundry, but I have a big oak table for him to sit on when he is read to help.  For now he just rides in the backpack and watches.

I hope that someday my baby will associate Mom humming, the tea kettle whistling, and the sewing machine buzzing along with his own happy childhood.  That’s the life I want for myself.  That’s the life I want for my baby.

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Vision and Beauty

by Sunny Daydreame on April 13, 2009

in Home Remodel

The key to buying a fixer upper home is having vision–to see beyond the boxed in front porch and the kitchen and bathroom that got “Modernized” in the 1950’s (WHY OH WHY couldn’t they have left the clawfoot tub?) To wonder what kind of wood the trim is under umpteen layers of paint. To see that the awkward, gangly girl can become a beauty with a little love and care.

Saturday Brenton spend the day tearing our house down to the original wood siding and opening the front porch up. I drove up to the house after being on a shopping trip and I felt her smile at me. She seemed to say, “I met the right guy and he’s helping me shine again.”

That night I stood out on the newly open front porch and listened to the rain falling. I imagined watching the sunrise while sitting in a wicker chair and drinking a cup of coffee.

Vision is seeing sunrises through the pile of construction garbage.

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Communing with an Army of Frogs

by Sunny Daydreame on April 9, 2009

in Travel & Adventure

As I stepped out the door, I was hit by the sun filtering through the clouds and a humidity that I was more accustomed to when living in the South. For a moment, the highway beside the trail cleared and in the brief quiet from road noise, I was surrounded by the soft croaking of an army of frogs. I was taken back to those sultry southern summer nights and the tree frogs that lived around the swimming pool. Each night I drifted of to sleep to the sound of Whippoorwills, Cicadas, and tree frogs while the sweet scent of honeysuckle drifted in through my open bedroom windows.

Just as quickly as it cleared, the highway traffic returned and the quiet moment of communing with the tree frogs ended.

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Best Friends

April 2, 2009

I think we all need a best friend in the bathroom mirror.  The kind of friend who always makes you laugh.

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