I see skies of blue, clouds of white

It was about a week or two after 9/11 when I ventured out of my neighborhood after days spent close to home, and I took my child to storytime at a library. I was pregnant with my second child at the time.

In the weeks and months after 9/11, I searched and grasped for ways to make sense of everything. What kind of world was I bringing my babies into? I was disappointed - devastated, actually - that I didn't find instant comfort to my questions. But, I slowly learned to find answers in bits and pieces, often arriving from unexpected places.

The first bit of comfort came from a piece of music the librarian sang in storytime that day in September. She sang What a Wonderful World, and I wasn't the only parent, still tender with emotion, who cried at the lyrics as the children sat around the librarian.

Almost ten years later, I am still grateful for the gift the librarian gave me when she sang that song and restored my sense of wonder.

In my research for homeschooling resources and inspiration, I run across authors and educators who understand the importance of wonder. I don't run across them nearly enough, but I'm inspired every time I do. Charlotte Mason understood the importance of wonder, and her encouragement to notice the world is a big part of what draws me to her methods.

I've learned what I'm sure Charlotte already knew: a sense of wonder is not only a delightful habit on good days, it's a habit to pull you through the dark days. I'm passing that habit along to my children, with my prayers for days that are good and skies that are blue.

I haven't worn out the song by listening to it over and over again on youtube tonight, and I invite you to please listen. 

Photo: I took this photo, and dozens more like it, from the Staten Island Ferry, sometime in the last decade.