Favorite places . . .

 I love favorite places.
The world is full of them . . . just waiting to be discovered!
I've had lots of favorite places so far in my life, and I hope to uncover many more before I "shuffle off this mortal coil".
When I was a kid, attending public school in Belleville, NJ, the elementary school I went to was in an old, big, brick building. The left entrance to the building had a stairwell that went up four flights, from basement floor to attic. No one ever went up the attic stairs. Well, the janitor did occasionally to get stuff . . . there was a huge, locked wooden door at the top of the stairway with only God knows what behind it. Once in a great while, a teacher would have a student get a key from the office so they could open the big door and get a ream of paper, or new bottles of glue, or tubs of tissue paper. No kid wanted that assignment. Any number of things that live in children's imaginations could be living behind that door! And the kids who braved attic assignments and lived to tell, were surrounded by wide eyed schoolmates for the tale.
But on the landing across from the door, was an arched window of frosted glass. It went from floor to ceiling, and looked away toward my childhood home.
Sometimes, when I needed to, I would ask to use the rest room, but instead of descending the stairs toward the bathrooms, I would climb those stairs and sit in front of that window and breathe.
And think about being home.
No teachers, no kids, no subjects . . . just me and the window.
It was one of my favorite places.
These days, some of my favorite places include anyplace I can snuggle up with my boys, the warm comfort of my bed, my grandfather's kitchen table . . .
Daniel has discovered a favorite place too.
He loves to get up on the back of the couch, and perch there in front of our big picture window, and look out at the small slice of world in our front yard.
Sometimes, he gets behind the sheers, and we can hear him talking to himself, or singing. Or, he just sits there and watches the cars, trucks and tractors roll by. Usually, if it is a tractor, we hear all about it! He loves those!
I know he feels invisible. Like he is in a place no one else knows about. He cocoons up in the curtains and is transported to a place that is very special to him.
He can sit there for long moments at a time, which, for a two year old, amounts to about 15-20 minutes.
I love to watch him watching the world go by out our front window.
I love that he is finding favorite places.
I love finding more of my own.
What are some of your favorite places?

 

 

Some amazing things my kids have said . . .
This morning, though the sun was shinning brightly and the sky was blue, it was cold . . . burrr, and when Daniel and I left the house for school, he noticed his breath.
He was blowing streams of vapor and then trying to bite it.
"Look mom! I have dragon breath! There's smoke in my mouth!"
He was so excited, I didn't have the heart to go into the scientific explanation, so I heartily agreed!
Josiah responded to an alter call in chapel yesterday about un-limiting God in our lives. Later, he told Joe he wasn't going to respond, but he went up because he heard God's voice telling him to. Joe asked him if God's voice had been soft or booming. Little Jo replied, "Both".
Also, yesterday morning, I was having a cup of coffee (as is my usual custom) and placed it on the table so I could make a much needed trip to the restroom. When I came out of the bathroom, I found more than half of my coffee gone, and this . . .

Daniel strikes again!!