The Rhythm of Family

Family/parenting book, 256 pages. Published in 2011. The authors encourage creativity and nature exploration as a family through the seasons.

August, Papa - We Belong Here

"Never have I been more moved by the wonder of nature than when paddling with my son across this ancient lake, carved over millions of years by glaciers and rains such as this. He turns to make eye contact for the first time since we shoved off.

"This was a good idea", I say.

Smiling he turns back around."

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Book Recap

Blake-Soule and Soule share with us their deep family connections and meaningful memories, month-by-month through the rhythm of the seasons. It is this awareness of the changes in nature which instills a sense of togetherness and makes their family stronger. There are new activities, crafts and recipes for each month, including among other ideas:

• May: A Book of Flowers
• July: Sweet Dreams Camp Pillow and Case
• November: Everyday Oat Bread

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A Log Cabin

We raised our Daughters in a log cabin. 

The Boss's parents bought a farm way back before and built a Pan Abode home. Pan Abode was a company which milled logs according to your design, then shipped them to you -- it's a bit like a real-life Lincoln Log house.  The Boss not only grew up in this home, but also helped build it with his whole family when he was 8 and 9-years-old.

The farm was sold to a developer and we bought the house just before Daughter #2's birth.

The Boss really did grow up in the country surrounded by farmland -- my first visit to his home revealed baby pygmy goats in the bathroom. Although our Daughters grew up in the 'burbs, the house was still surrounded by mighty fir, pine and cherry trees. We rarely saw Halloween Trick-or-Treaters and the local police didn't know the house existed --  when a 4-year-old (naming no names) was discouraged from playing with the phone and the police followed up later in the evening with a safety check for an interrupted 911 call, they said it took so long to find the house because they didn't know it was there. We didn't know she had made a 911 call!

As I think about it, the seclusion offered a connection to nature we might not have experienced in a more traditional home. Cherry blossoms blanketing the long driveway in the spring, rope swings and archery targets throughout the summer, enjoying autumn blackberries harvested from the vines which escaped the yearly purge, hosting an annual winter caroling party with everyone invited back to the house for cocoa -- creating our family memories was intimately tied to the seasons and the environment surrounding our home.

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Recommendation

The Rhythm of Family Life is a gentle, memoir-like parenting book with absolutely no advice -- it's really all about sharing with the reader the wonders, creativity, and family joys derived from a purposeful awareness of nature and the changing seasons.

If you are curious about how to enter into a more reflective relationship with nature or want inspiring ideas for creating family memories connected to nature, then I highly recommend this book!

One of the best parenting memoirs around!

Nonna            

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Check for it at your local library or ask about it at your bookstore.