Sunday 9 January 2011

When At Last This Night Is Upon Us, Fie On It!!

We are firmly inside the door of the new year. Shh, pause and listen for a spell. We do not look over our shoulder as we hear the quiet click behind us.

No.
Hipstamatic photos.

Instead we gather around us those dear ones that mean something to us, we pull tight the lovely threads that have slipped and loosened, carefully, with sure and steady fingers we weave them back into the fabric that is Us. And there they lie once more, caught fast, held tight, blending brightly and perfectly, just where they always were.


We have spent the last week catching up with family and friends, establishing new bonds,  reaffirming old ones, attempting to stay warm.
Tonight, the house is quiet, little heads already slumber on fragrant pillows, sleep staving off the inevitability of school tomorrow.
After almost a month off, between snow and holidays, we brace ourselves for dawn.

Fie!! Fie!! Oh, most dastardly drudge! We do not like thee, no we do NOT!!

We DO like pajama days and lie-ins, and games late into the night,
and snowmen and endless, lazy meals with dearlings, (and a glass of wine or two along with it,)
and nowhere in particular to be, and a long neglected clock that may or may not still be correct,
and pancake mornings that seem to go on and on and on forever, 
and many a moonlit dash through the sparkling garden, down the dark, dark path, 
into the welcome glow, for tea or games or chat,
and the journeys together to join hands with family,
 like the needle that pulls the thread, tracing back over each stitch yet again,
and the gathering of happiness that closes in around us,
and most of all,
time.


22 comments:

Rebecca S. said...

We are back into The Routine, and while I welcome it somewhat, I miss the holidays for the very same reasons you write of - for the looseness and freedom from 'must do' that crowds December and then creeps up after the beginning of January. That post-Christmas week is the sweetest of all. Thanks for a lovely post that I'm sure so many of your readers can relate to. xo

Irmhild said...

A quiet house, here, too. And it seems quite bare, without the tree and decorations! But spacious, and ready to welcome the baby!

Cait O'Connor said...

What gorgeous words, thank you.

Mimi said...

Ah, the bliss of that month!
Just reading your words has reminded me of how wonderful, relaxing and revitalising it has been.
Thank you, Ciara, it sweetens the bitter pill of school/routine.

Stephanie V said...

Ooh...you get a month off. That would really allow for serious cocooning with family. Our two weeks is just enough to get used to the idea and then it's back to the world.

Promotional Pens said...

Love the texture of these photos... very nice!

Martin said...

Ciara, you have distilled the essence of what should always preoccupy our minds, in the last paragraph.

Sadhbh @ Where Wishes Come From said...

How lovely your holidays sound. I'd almost forgotten schools existed, until I heard the children come up the street to the local school early this morning!!

Deborah said...

oh Ciara...that is one of your most beautiful postings yet....and is that a glimpse of Naoise W. I spy?xx

Mise said...

Drudge indeed. We're just back to school today. I never see the point of being at school in time - I feel it deprives others of the pleasure of showing a good example. So we go at our own pace, and it eases the flow. May your term go by gently!

Ciara Brehony said...

Thank you all! Sweet words as always. :-)

Stephanie, we don't actually get a month off, it's usually two weeks, but this year we had more snow than we could manage on this little island of ours, and the roads were so treacherous that most schools were closed a week or two before the holidays actually started. It was wonderful!

Deb, yes indeedy. A most wonderful gathering. If only you had been there... :-)

GourmetGirlfriend said...

soooo gorgeous! and I can't help but notice that we are thinking of the same things......
x

SWEDISH HOUSE said...

Hej Ciara
I LOVE your writing...Tou express what my heart feels...about family life and bonds and threads so poignantly and as a mother's I feel we are forever threading and sewing, re-threading, unknotting, re-sewing all the good times, bad times, fun times, sad times of family life...holding it all together. I am always hanging onto that wondrous golden thread...sometimes by the skin of my teeth...
The holidays have been wonderful...
BUT soo glad my boys are back to school tomorrow...and they are too.
Out of the Woods into civilisation ;-)
LOVE PEACE enJOY!
Julie
x

Becky | Apples of Gold said...

Beautifully worded! Wonderful post!

Unknown said...

So Beautiful Ciara! I love your poetic writing. The true magic of holidays is found in the simple moments of being together with family and friends.

commoncents said...

Very Nice!
Glad I found your blog!!

Steve
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

Jayne said...

Love the idea of listening for the click as the old year closes its door behind us. :)

kImberly at mimicharmante said...

Every single time I read your posts I am driven to purchase a ticket on the next flight over. You create such a dreamlike world that I too want to live in!!! I so wish you were closer and that I could pop by with my four for tea and a chat...
Have a wonderful rest of your weekend my friend,
xx

Juniper said...

Beautiful, you describe the end of the Christmas holiday to perfection. It is now the end of the first week back for us and already it feels Iike a sweet distant memory.

the wild magnolia said...

Splendid story weaving, family time, family ties.

Maddie M. said...

This is absolutely beautiful. It sounds so lovely.
xoxo

helen said...

Like the photos and the verse!