how it is in April

This is how today looked. The water was glistening green, the sky almost clear, and the air was mild. I hung out  washing, cleaned up in the kitchen, and sat talking to Isobella about Anzac Day.

How much can an eight year old really understand war? How much horror can an eight year old take? We read "In Flanders Fields" and read a bit about the Anzacs and their fateful landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25 1915. We looked at pictures, talked about the first and second world wars. We talked about who went to war in our families, and when. We talked about the Anzac Day ceremony Isobella was part of back when she used to do scouts. We tried to play a recording of the last post but the internet was too slow. I was glad. There is nothing more haunting than that.

I put on my favourite version of our national anthem, with all the verses, and thought of all of us who were thinking of death a little more today. And I found a prayer welling up within me, that our contemplation of death would lead us to think about life, our life. The one we have been given to live. And I hoped and prayed for all of us that a determination to live would grab us by the scruff of the neck and wouldn't let go. A determination to live the one life we have to the full.

Some days this week I've hardly been able to see past the mess in the kitchen. The piles of dishes on the bench, baking trays waiting dirty on top of the stove. It's not because I'm refusing to use the dishwasher, I have been using it when I need to. But even with the dishwasher the piles have taken days to dwindle. There is so much going on around here, and hardly any of it is me writing that novel.

But would I swap my life for anyone else's? Not at all. And would I wish I could live less of a life than this? Not for a minute. The dishes and the washing waiting to be folded and the blocks all over the table and the puzzles on the floor, they are all signs of life. A full life.

Mum is getting married a month from tomorrow. That is another story in itself, and such a good one, just you wait. But for now all I can say about that is that life is surprisingly wonderful, often when we least expect it. I've stepped up to all necessary wedding planning responsibilities, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love planning a good party, and this will be a very good one.