Pied[pahyd]adj.,
Decorated or colored in blotches
Glory be to God for dappled things--
. . .
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow, sweet, sour, adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
, "Pied Beauty," 1877.Hopkins (who was a Jesuit priest) was praising nature and certainly not a mud-speckled toddler. But so often I look at my own children with the same wonder -- even when they are all dappled, and look more like "brinded cows" than children.
In case you're interested, "dappled" (similar to pied) means having spots or patches of color. "All things counter, original, spare, strange" refers to things that are different, rare, unusual, and contrary. All fitting descriptions for my children on occasion.
Praise be to God for pied children.
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He looks like he is having the time of his life. I think it is great to let kids play in the dirt sometimes. I need to let mine do that more often.
ReplyDeleteI was nervous about it, but it was probably the best decision I made all week. Such joy!
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