The Quietness of Mornings ....

...... was something Mommy had forgotten about over the past couple of months. Ever since the summer break from school began, there was no need for the nutty siblings to rush out of bed in the mornings. They could sleep in as late as they wished to, without worrying about the alarm clock ringing out a loud and shrill “Good Morning”. The very same held true for the adults in the household as well.

Mommy had, over the past couple of months, temporarily given up on her role of the walking talking alarm clock. Mommy used to be the “back up” alarm clock for Macademia and Pecan – in the event of their teddy bear alarm clock failing in its duty to wake the siblings up.

Invariably, the teddy bear would fail. While it would successfully wake up half the apartment block (yes, it is that loud !), the nutty siblings would continue to snooze in veritable peace, bundled far away in their own la-la land.

Over the past couple of months, the adults in the household too had slipped into the habit of waking up much later than they normally would have – when school was on.

Today morning was different.

Mommy was out of bed at the crack of dawn – well – not quite. Mommy was up and around by 5.30 am. All was quiet and the entire house was still. Even Timmy the Turtle was fast asleep, its limbs all stretched out in the bathtub. It barely bothered opening one of its eyes and gave what Mommy gathered was a rather disgusted look. “Who in God’s name wakes up at such unearthly hours ?” was what the look seemed to say. It was a look that spoke volumes, actually. And just as Mommy was about to say “sorry for having disturbed your slumber, Timmy”, Timmy yawned and just settled back to sleep – just like that !!

Mommy opened the windows and looked at the roads and realized, much to her surprise, that there was barely any traffic at this time of the morning. No sounds of vehicles or blaring of the horns, no pots and pans clanging anywhere in the near or distant vicinity – nothing. Nothing but a softness, a calmness that pervades the senses and settles itself in.

An abundant peace seemed to manifest itself, a quietude, a stillness – a distinct sense of tranquility. Almost out of habit, Mommy’s hands reached for her IPod which then went on to its dock and seconds later – the soft tones of the Mahishasura Mardhini Stotram filled the air.

Yes – there is indeed something magical about early mornings. That sense of peace, of oneness with oneself and ones thoughts, the calm and the quiet of nature too – as the barely softest of sun rays begin to peep through the fluffy white of the clouds, the serenity that abounds …. is a feeling that is refreshing beyond compare. All is silent, except for the soft, muted chirping and twittering of birds – heralding the beginning of yet another day.

As Emme Woodhull-Bache once said

"I love the sweet smell of dawn -
our unique daily opportunity to smell time,
to smell opportunity -
each morning being, a new beginning."

Macademia and Pecan were up and about too – by 6.30 am – all excited about the prospect of a whole new year at school. Mommy leaves you with a picture of Macademia and Pecan, all set and ready for their first day of a fresh academic year at school.

The summer holidays .....

....... had been rather busy with the nutty family starting their househunting. Things got progressively insane as the nutty family prepared to move into another apartment (oh yes ! we actually found one !!) . Once the move was done and over with, the senior members of the nutty family a.k.a Daddy and Mommy – pretty much teetered on the brink of insanity – while they worked at making home look like home and not a cave !!

A new apartment found, moving done and over with and as we are almost settled in - the summer holidays too have come to an end.

Well – almost. Just another day to go. Schools re-open on the 20th of August.

Much to Mommy’s chagrin, she has been feeling a bit low about this actually. Exactly how confused can one get ??? Through the summer holidays, Mommy was pretty much ready to jump at the accusation that Macademia and Pecan were absolutely driving her up the wall. And now that schools are all set to open, Mommy realizes that she would kind of miss having Macademia and Pecan around – all day.

Well, all good things come to an end and so is the case with the summer holidays too.

Macademia starts her last year of Primary School and the next academic year will see her stepping into Secondary school. Mommy wonders how exactly time zipped past at the speed of light – she still remembers the little toddler who loved to chew on shoes and the little child who used to quite literally “roll” into kindergarten everyday – insisting that her butterfly clip was the only one she would wear to school.

Pecan steps into his second year of Primary School with good memories of the first year. The first year of Primary School which saw him come out of his shell, grow in confidence and get more assertive. Come the next academic year, Pecan will start going off on overnight camps too.

So here’s to a brand new school year and here’s wishing both the nutty siblings another great school year to come.

To the both of you, as you head back to school, here's a quote that says it all ….

May this coming school year bring you happiness galore
And may you enjoy it – right to the very core !!!