Saturday, August 18, 2007

With Loving Tenderness


Hunca Munca Holds Her Baby

We watched the Beatrix Potter movie, "Miss Potter," while we were in Oregon. I enjoyed it. I have romantic notions about the English countryside and particularly the Lake District, all fostered by reading English novels, watching Masterpiece Theater and Merchant-Ivory films. I have not been there, yet.

Near a town called Sawry, you can visit Beatrix Potter's home, Hill Top, where she wrote and illustrated many of her charming stories, like "The Tale of Two Bad Mice."

Earlier this week I spent a little time talking with someone about the Lake District, and making plans, about the places he's been... I asked for suggestions about traveling in England and shared my secret wish to discreetly, gracefully, visit those gentle, timeless places and for a brief moment quietly blend in. I held his hand while I spoke.

Yesterday another friend brought me Hunca Munca and her baby. She had been in the Lake District, and so kindly thought of me and brought me this sweet remembrance of her family's visit to Hill Top.

I wish that we could all know the tenderness that Beatrix Potter conveyed in her little paintings. She managed to capture endearing and true moments, human emotions, good and bad. Her mice and bunnies, all of her animal friends, bore the thoughts and emotions that we feel and know. This little figure, Hunca Munca, reminds me of another secret wish that I shared...

I wish that everyone born feels welcomed and can be held by a familiar person, a loving person, and I wish that we have the same when we die... that someone loving can hold us.

6 comments:

kimberly sherrod said...

i am trying it again

kimberly sherrod said...

Oh, good! It let me post a comment. I just wanted to tell you to be strong. Everything happens for a reason. I know those words don't seem to be very meaningful, but they are true and I believe in them. Even when you never quite figure out the reason, it is still happening because it was meant to be that way. We are grilling some burgers for lunch- we just got back from the movie- I will write you an email later- I just wanted to stop by and say hello if it let me. Comments aren't personal really- like it doesn't matter if your posts are good or not, it matters if the person reading it has time and/or something to relate. that's all. I know I'll never be a posy, but that's OK, I am just me.

Natalie said...

Thank you Kim.

Marisa said...

I agree, her work is awesome, and I have seen some adorable quilts that have redwork with Potter themes. I have always wanted to do something like this.

Sabine said...

The thing I like about Beatrix Potter is the fact that her stories are not dated at all. I think it is wonderful that even our children (the nintendo generation) like her books.
I loved her books when I was little, and I am quite sure that future generations will like them as well!
I only traveled trough the Lake District 20 years ago on my way to Scotland, but it has the most stunning landscapes.
You have to visit it once in your life!
Only problem: the British Pound is very expensive for us Belgians at the moment...

Tarie said...

I haven't watched Miss Potter yet, but I want to - I love Beatrix Potter's work! That figurine is wonderful. :o)