after-math

I've discovered that I don't mind cleaning up after house guests leave. Before they arrive there can some haste to get things in order, but I usually can clean up in leisure. There's a mountain of laundry piled near the laundry room (so much it won't fit inside the little room) that is begging for attention, but little by little I'll get it done. It is nice to see order return to the house. A sort of good feeling to get organized and back to a regular schedule, as much fun as it was to have people here. As I clean up and put away, I remember the good times. Just as when I prepare, I anticipate what will be. It's all a wonderful process, this thing called hospitality. 

The house does get painfully quiet when little ones (and older ones) leave. Echoes fill the rooms--of giggles, running up and down the stairs, shouts of glee. I stumble upon an occasional toy piece left unnoticed in the big "pick up the toys sessions."  Soon we'll be accustomed again to the quiet, but until that time there seems to be a feeling of something (ones) missing ...