dimmers

my daughter and her family live in a wonderful old house in downtown st. john's, newfoundland. they bought it a year ago and have renovated. most of the overhead light fixtures and sconces are from the original 1914 house but they have put dimmer switches on them. in the middle of the night now, in the long wide hallways, in the bathroom and finn's room where he has his diapers changed, the lights are left on low because of all the night-time traffic. there is a magical delicate glow to the house. i feel my life has been like that these past two weeks since i arrived. the pace slow and soft and delicate. the skies outside are grey with snow. the days and nights blur. eamon and lucy go off to daycare and school and the rest of us slip in and out of bed. rarely out of our flannel p.j's. tomorrow i leave here to go back home. i'll be turning up my dimmer switch...