Sunbreak

Flowering Quince

This has been a rainy Saturday.  It rained all morning and half of the afternoon, long enough to cancel baseball practices and keep us inside.  Which was a blessing, really.  No pesky secondary commitments to tempt us away from General Conference.  But we were a bit jealous of the blue sky over Salt Lake City.

And then the sun came out.  I went outside to bask in its warmth, to admire the blossoms as they shook off the raindrops.  I watched puffy white clouds hurrying along in the wake of their gray counterparts.  It was glorious.

The world can be a gray place, with difficulties and bad news raining down around us.  But, just as the sun is always on the other side of the clouds, divine truth and love are always ready to shine down upon us.  We just have to break through the gloom and look up.  Going to church is a great opportunity to look up, Conference doubly so.  And why wait?  Personal prayer and scripture study can brighten any day.  Let's open our windows to the light of Christ!

Little Writer

D2's kindergarten teacher has been providing the class with writing prompts, and D2 is rising to the occasion.  Earlier, she challenged him to fill every line on the paper, so he'd put one word of his brief sentence on each line.  Now he is waxing more eloquent. 

In this one, a girl wants a sandwich, but has no bread.  The class discussed her options before writing.  Most of the children would go to the store; a few would decide to eat something else.  Here is D2's solution:

"She could make home made bread in the breadmaker and waited for the bread to get ready."

Well, that's what we would do, if we planned ahead.  It's a long wait, but worthwhile.

As telling as that composition was, I think this one is even more telling.  D2 brought home a library book called Marley Goes to School, by John Grogan, in which a loyal dog gets through many obstacles (literally) to follow his little girl to class.  One scene stayed on D2's mind, and some time later, I found this:

"So Marley dug up Daddy's daffodils and Mommy's violets" (sticking to the story, so far)

"and Baby Louie's mandrakes. 

Baby Louie said, 'Mom, give me my milk plug.'"

(the mandrakes say "skreem")

What does that reveal about our family culture?  "Milk plug" is the name Rollo invented for a pacifier when D2 was a baby.  Seems rather obvious, once you think about it.  And what would be more comforting for a budding herbologist?