Water Sprites

Tonight while dinner was in the oven I took a walk around our yard and returned to the backyard to find that Tessie had had an accident.  Oh joy.  I stripped her down in the grass and was about to go get her some clean clothes when her Daddy suggested a dip in the river.  She, of course, thought this was a great idea.  After I had cleaned up I walked out to find Tes sitting naked in the river, delighted. 

Tonight was the kind of evening that just glows.  That perfect kind of light that makes everything softer.  The river sparkled, the grass was golden and Tessie looked like a water sprite, magical as could be.

She was having so much fun that I had to go get Christian, who was inside watching a movie.  As soon as I asked if he wanted to go to the river he was grinning from ear to ear.  I stripped him down and handed him off to Nick.  Christian wasn’t nearly as excited about a full submersion as his sister but he had fun dangling his toes in and getting a quick dip every now and again. 

As the soft light faded I noticed that Tessie’s lips were starting to get a bit blue and so suggested we go dry off and have dinner.  This went over like a lead balloon but we finally managed the team effort of getting the kids dried of and dressed.  We ate dinner outside under the trees and the magic lasted a little longer. 

As all good things do, the moment ended and tears were again shed as we prepared for bedtime.  I clung to the image of my happy children in the river as I wrestled a red faced, crying Christian into his pajamas and had to send Tes to bed with no books for not listening.  Once they were in bed I wandered back outside in the fading evening light and looked at the river again and felt so blessed that I live in such an amazing place, where my little water sprites can take a dip anytime, and the presence of magic isn’t hard to believe in.  I could still picture my bare babes splashing in the creek and, to me, nothing is more beautiful.