Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Winter nesting

At three years old, Mira has just had her first birthday party. There was so much to wonder at: the cake with its candles, the ritual of being sung to and then blowing them out.
And then of course the presents.
I gave her a set of nesting dolls.
Here she is, wondering what to make of this strange doll with no legs or arms.
But it's not long before all is revealed. One doll nests inside the other, and she pulls them out one by one until she reaches the 'baby' inside and smiles at it with such satisfaction. 'Baby's not working', she declares, which means that the baby, unlike the others, can't be opened up.

Nesting: it's all part of winter. As the family gathers around Mira and witnesses her birthday, it feels that we are nesting within each other. As the icy winds blow outside, and snow spreads over much of the country, nesting inside one another's hearts seems like just the best place to be - and the warmest.

7 comments:

Marilyn & Jeff said...

Such a lovely post Juliet, and Happy Birthday to Mira, she is gorgeous.

Juliet said...

Thank you Marilyn. We are so blessed to have these little ones in our lives, aren't we?

Lynley said...

So much to wonder about and at. We are very blessed to have little ones to remind us of life in all its minutae and its big things.
A Happy Birthday for all. Thanks for sharing Mira's special day with us.

Marja said...

Love your writing. Beautiful and happy birthday to Mira. She is gorgeous. I love the nesting dolls We've got a set as well and call them babushka's My mum brought them from Russia were Babushka is the name for grandmother and in the russian culture she is at the head of the family, so all come underneath her.

Juliet said...

Babushka - what a lovely sounding word. Thanks for letting me know about its meaning Marja. And thanks Lynley for your good wishes too.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift for such a darling little girl. I'm just catching up - in time to send a belated birthday wish to Mira.

Juliet said...

thank you Penny, and nice to have you back.