I read some time ago, an article or chapter, on the benefits of tending to ‘Hearth and Home.’ I enjoyed the language and agree that a ‘Hearth and Home’ day is one of the tickets to feeling grateful and better. We lead such very busy lives. I find it almost satirically comic to wish for a day to clean my bathroom, mop the floors, or vacuum the carpet. But hearth and home days are not always about being tidy. It begins, for me at least, with a quiet morning. I make coffee, let the dogs out, and return to bed. I am an early riser, so the 4 arousal is when all is still and quiet in the neighborhood and in the house. The cat climbs onto me and purrs. The dog settles beside me with a groan. And, we don’t worry about time or schedules or getting up to do something. Books, writing ideas, snuggling, it’s all part of the beginning of the day. Gratitude and love abound.
When I’m ready to get up, I putter, moving about the house completing tasks. I need to keep the wood-stoves going in the winter as they gently pump heat throughout the house. I stray outside between inside tasks to work on the garden on warmer days. It’s all good.
Evening beckons, and on many of our hearth and home days, we gather around the fire pit, weather permitting, with family and friends with good food and a favorite beverage. We sit near the wood-stove on inclement, coldish days and ruminate the day.
The accomplishments of small tasks give satisfaction. The break from our busy, usual days of running hither and fro gives relief. Hearth and home days are good things. They come too infrequently and are cherished when available.
