The house is finally empty. It is yet another beautiful spring morning and I am alone in sweet silence. The Easter holiday was wonderful beyond what we might have hoped for. Everyday was filled with sunshine, laughter, and great food. Now that everyone has gone home and Lord Mycol has left for school, the house has a serenity lined with sadness. Or is it a sadness lined with serenity? So I sit down in my airy, light-filled office to write about the past weeks. Easing back in my desk chair to think, I spy something odd.
No, it is not that little man peering out from behind the rolled map on the left. Although he does look odd.
Last year I asked Yim to help me paint the sun-room a new color and make it my home office. In a marathon effort, we got to work. Less than half way into the job I was hemming and hawing about the color I’d chosen. I announced that it would do for the winter, but that I would likely paint it back to white come next summer. (Psst…. that means now!) Abandoning austerity, we left one brick unpainted. When Yim wasn’t looking, I added our names for an added touch of fun.
It now appears that someone else wanted to have a little fun of their own. This “pencil work” bears the distinct slant of my brother’s hand.
And it gives me the sense that even after they have gone, my family is still here with me, making the laughter last a bit longer still.
the Duchess of Amboy 