Why muddy footed mama?

I have always sought solace in nature.  When I lose ground, I head out and the natural world restores me.  I walk through the woods near my home and, stepping under the trees' canopy, I leave my head, and my senses are opened. I become present to my surroundings and I am gifted again with clarity.  I am a child of the earth.  I delight in letting the soles of my feet kiss the earth and for this reason, between the months of April and September here in New England, you will see my feet and more often than not, they are muddy.  I garden in flip flops, I walk bare footed through the yard, and the evidence of my interdependant relationship with the earth is stained upon my bare feet.

Just as the earth soothes me, I watch in delight as my children not only see and appreciate my connection to the earth, but they are forging their own relationships as well.  I see their little bodies delight in the freedom of digging and playing in the mud that is our spring garden.  I see them learn patience as they traverse a new trail and their feet learn a new terrain, and I see them surrender as they lay down and let themselves grow heavy, trusting completely that the earth is there beneath them, holding them.  I am always their mama, but when we head outside, we are also all children and we are all nutured by the same mama.  The earth heals me, slows me, reminds me to breath and enjoy the beauty before me.  I named this blog muddy footed mama, because the earth is where I find my ground.  On this journey of motherhood, when I find myself most lost, I remember that I too am a child, and I go to the place I feel most nurtured.

Where do you go to be nurtured?

                                                     a muddy-footed mama's boy