Mother Nature's beauty and Winter Wheat

Taken @ 9:35 pm when it should have been getting dark

Two more followers... welcome Office and Iona, glad to have you join us.






We had a very hot humid day here yesterday, and as always the storms were all around us.  It rained in the early evening, but not a lot of rain, no wind - no real storm, just a little rain.

After 10pm, the street lights are on, but the sky is still light

At 9:30pm I was sitting in my sunroom, just kinda gazing in space and the room was quite dark as it was getting dark outside.  All of a sudden it was like the sun had come up was shining right in the sunroom.  The whole room glowed. 
I jumped up and looked outside and we had the weirdest sky.  It was getting dark but and there were still a lot of clouds around but behind the clouds the sky was just glowing.  It cast erie shadows everywhere.  I grabbed the camera to see if I could get some pictures, but they don't really show what I saw.  By 10pm it was dark out but the sky was still light, I attempted to get pictures of that too, but didn't quite pull it off.

Anyway, I was one of those wow, would you look at mother nature moments... totally beautiful, and then gone forever...



Winter Wheat....

As the radio played softly in the background, Emilie returned to the kitchen and started on the breakfast dishes.  The children were so obviously taken with the new radio, that their promise to help her with the dishes was long forgotten.  She did not give it another thought as she poured heated water from the stove into the dishpan, and started carrying the dishes to the sink.  Truthfully, she was glad of the distraction - this way she could ponder the circumstances of Karl’s gift, without interference from anyone else in the room.

There was a lot for her to think about.  Karl seemed to be moving their relationship to a new plateau, one that she was not entirely sure she was ready for.  In the first place, she had made no decision about her future here with him.  She didn’t know if she was going to return to her family in Germany, or if she would stay here and work for Karl.  And what if he wanted more of her?  What if he wanted her to be the children’s new mother; then what was she to do?  She never wanted a marriage without love, but would she be willing to settle into just such a relationship, if only for the sake of his two small children?  She didn’t know…  she didn’t know… she repeated the thought over and over in her mind, as she made swift work of completing the dishes.

“Emilie, what are you doing?”  Charles Jr.’s voice broke into her thoughts;  “we were supposed to do those dishes for you!”

She waved his concern away,  “Oh, don’t worry about that, Charles.  You just go and enjoy the day with the other children.  I have other things I needed to do for our dinner, anyway.   Go now – off with you,” she shooed him out of her domain.

“The children should have kept their promise,” Karl’s low voice startled her into a jump.

She turned to face him as he moved closer to the counter;  “It’s okay Karl, really – just let them enjoy the day . . .”

He had reached her side and stepped closer still,  “Are you enjoying the day as well, Emilie?”  His eyes roamed her face, and settled on her mouth.

He was too close.  She scurried from under his scrutiny, and moved to the stove, where she busied herself stirring something that was boiling on the stove.  

“I am,” she glanced at him quickly then turned her attention back to her stirring.

“Why are you running away from me, Emilie,” Karl’s voice lightly caressed her nerves.

“I am not running away from you Karl Wright,” she protested with dignity,  “I merely have many chores to do this morning before our dinner guests arrive.” 

Karl threw back his head and howled his laughter.  “Oh Emilie, I can see right through you,” he said merrily, as he moved close, pecked a kiss on her flushed cheek, and exited the room.

The day was like a dream.  Time and time again throughout the remainder of the day, Emilie thanked her God for the blessings of her new friends and family.  Not in a long while had she laughed as much as when Frederich and Annie and the other Bell children had joined the merry makers already present in Karl Wright’s home.  The children delighted her, her friend Annie inspired her, and the men-folk reassured her that life here on the Canadian prairies could be good – even in these troubled times.

Frederich had arrived with a bottle of homemade liquor of some sort, and he and Karl had regular samplings of the brew throughout the day.  Annie bustled around Emilie’s kitchen with authority, and helped produce the wondrous Christmas feast, that they all were fortunate to eat.  

They feasted on a beautifully roasted goose, raised by Annie herself, along with meatballs, potatoes, turnips, carrots, and assortment of pickles and pumpkin pie for desert.  While the women cleaned the kitchen after dinner, the children entertained each other with their new toys and games, and at the end of the evening, delighted the grown-ups one more time with their own version of the Christmas Story.  Emilie provided another late meal of cold meat sandwiches, tea and baked cookies and cake, and then Frederich and Annie and the children in their care hugged their goodbyes and headed for home.

By the time the children were securely tucked in bed, and all the work for the day was over, Emilie was more exhausted that she could ever remember having been before.  She hung the last towel to dry on the handle of the cupboard drawer, and stretched her aching back.  She could barely keep her eyes from closing, and looked forward to the comfort of her thick feather bed.

Karl appeared at the doorway to the kitchen and leaned his body into the framework of the opening.  He had witnessed the stretch of her tired body, and the monstrous yawn that had accompanied it, but he couldn’t help wanting to spend just a few more minutes in her company.  He had an overwhelming desire to sweep her in his arms and swirl her around the room.  He wanted more than that . . . but she wasn’t ready for him – he knew that with a certainty. 

He leaned away from the door, and cleared his throat,  “Are you all done in here?”  He asked from where he stood.

She smiled tiredly at him,  “Yes, finally.  I think I’m off to bed now.”

“Thank you for the best Christmas that I can remember,” he said softly, and took a step forward.

She shook her head in denial,  “That can’t be true, Karl . . .”

“Oh but it is.  Never has a day meant so much to me as this day has,” he took another step.

She regarded him closely;  “ I had a wonderful day too.  Thank you as well, Karl.”

He had reached the spot of the floor where she stood.  He reached for her tiny hand and gathered it into his own large one.  With his free hand he cupped her chin, and lifted it so he could gaze into her eyes.  She moved not a muscle; neither toward him nor away from him, and he was encouraged.  Slowly, oh so slowly, he lowered his head until his breath mingled with hers.  Still she stayed.  Down went his head until their lips met - and then time stood still.  The world ceased to exist, but for the two of them - it spun and tilted and spun some more until he thought he might fall, but he held fast to his anchor, and realized that his anchor was the woman he held in his arms.

He removed his lips from her mouth, and used them to graze a path across her brow.  He enfolded her securely in his strong arms and swayed with her resting there.  Before releasing her, he washed the skin of her brow with his lips once more, and then set her away from his body.  He gently turned her in the direction of her room, and urged her on her way.

“Good night, Emilie,” he whispered, but she had already left the room.  He turned to his own bedroom, and knew it would be a very long night indeed.