Sunday 24 February 2013

A divine morning



She is Aphrodite, known as Venus by the Romans.  Famously known for being the goddess of love.  It was a Sunday morning in the British Museum, here to support our eldest daughter in her school topic of 'Ancient Greece'.  We walked around the collection of statues and pottery, she was surprisingly very interested, our five year old daughter was unsurprisingly not, the littl'un was happy as long as there was milk to be had.




The big girls ran off with their Daddy at one point, I sat on some stairs and breast fed the littl'un, in view of lots of museum visitors, a staff member and Aphrodite of course.  The museum visitors seemed not to notice, it's really not that interesting compared to some of the most precious antiquities of the ancient world and I was being very discreet, the (female) staff member gave me a small, acknowledging smile and Aphrodite, well she wasn't overly concerned with me or my baby.  She did nod my way though, and smile, her feminine curves gracefully outlined by her robes.
  "What's your name?" she enquired.
  "We are 'Mother and Child", I said, "only a temporary exhibit".
  "Oh", she casually responded, "they're not as interested in you as they are in me are they?" 
  "No", I admitted, "but sometimes the everyday is no less extraordinary despite its ordinariness; childbirth, breastfeeding, those two girls running around getting under the feet of irritable tourists, these are the special treasures of my world.  I am the goddess of my family, my husband is the hero, and our children are living breathing deities who have blessed us with their presence.  We're all a temporary exhibit", I explained, "just here for a while to experience some of that love you have at your disposal.  By the way, thanks, for all the love, it's really pretty amazing stuff, it just blows me away sometimes," as I glanced down at my baby still feeding, a veritable rosy-cheeked cherub.
"You're welcome", she replied with the subtlest of flicks of her golden hair and a glance at her nails,   
"you flesh and blood goddesses are so lucky, you don't have to stand here and be gawped at for all eternity."
"I know, I get to go home and look after my little ones and drink in their loveliness, I'll be off now Aphrodite, nice chatting to you", I hoisted the littl'un up on to my hip and went to find the others.  My moment in the world of the Ancients and the divine was over, I did get to go home and look after my little ones and drink in their loveliness and I would do it for all eternity.     

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