Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Sky notes

Last month when we arrived at my mother's house, a perfect half moon hung big and low in the sky. That first evening, I pointed it out to Helena in amazement.

sun moon stars rain
children guessed (but only a few
...)


She made it our habit, for the duration of our stay, at bedtime to step outside and gaze at the moon. She started singing, "Au claire de la lune...," but neither of us could remember the words. We half hummed, half mumbled; giggled and hugged. It was beautiful.

I called J-F daily to remind me of the lyrics, but they didn't take. It didn't matter.

I've since learned the words and can sing them on demand. Only there's been little need. We've been too busy or too tired to look up. Until we went to the cottage last week.

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
...)


Since our return, it's been her habit at bedtime to ask Papa to show her the stars. He drops everything at that moment (he wanted be an astronaut). Helena wants a star. They step out into the courtyard.

This evening after supper, Helena and I went for a stroll. The moon was yellow, big and low in the sky. And we sang.

(Even Malaysia goes to the Moon!)

3 comments:

Tim said...

I was the same way as a kid. Whenever I'm back in the country (where I have free view of the stars), I wind up sitting for hours. Say, you could always have a star named after her.

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful post. Made me wish I could take a walk in the country, too.

Isabella K said...

I love that idea, Tim — but I'll wait a few years, till she's able to appreciate just how cool it is (and admits she doesn't need any more toys). But we did send her name up on the Deep Impact mission.