from emily dickinson

I'm nobody, who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us.
Don't tell--they'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody.
How public--like a frog--
To tell your name the livelong June
To an admiring bog.

from "Dicey's Song" by Cynthia Voigt

"Gram," Dicey said, her voice so loud Gram's eyes popped open. "But you knew how to do everything."
"I knew how to do nothing," Gram told her. "I just did everything. There's a difference. You should know that."

Miracle Earthquake

I experienced my first earthquake yesterday. It was scary, powerful and awe-inducing.
And so many good things resulted from it:

• Many, many lovely friends and family members called! It was so fun to talk with my nearest and dearest.
• Nobody got hurt. Everybody along the East Coast seems to be uninjured.
• The damage to property was very minor.
• My husband, who was supposed to work late, got to come home on time.
• My family had a lovely evening at home.

When I was feeling panicked as I went to bed last night, I recalled these facts and was humbled at the goodness of God.

there must be a name for this

My Girl is at the age when it seems she should start preschool. I say "it seems" because people keep asking me where and when she is going to start school.

Well, she's not. For about a million different reasons she's staying home with me.

However, that doesn't mean that we won't be doing preschool at home. And I guess that mean I'm homeschooling... (Does this mean that any parent who has ever taught their child anything at home homeschools? Or is it only homeschooling once education becomes mandated by the state?) I'm not sure.
  
Our preschool plans can be summed up thus: read, create art, explore the world, play, build, run, jump, read, read, go to museums, have fun. It's not much of a departure from what we do already.

But I decided to gather some books and other resources to make this fun and fantastic and a bit more methodical. Also, I am not a childhood education specialist, so I'm happy to get help from those who are...in the form of books.

Here are the books I'm using:

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander
We've been using this book for almost a year. And while the reviews complain about the design and layout, I say "get over it." The content is excellent. The activities are enjoyable. And My Girl gets plenty of fun learning using this book as a guide.

Honey for a Child's Heart  by Gladys Hunt
I bought this book because I've been buried in piles of reading lists. Every blog I read has a list of recommended books to read. There are list at the library. There are reading lists within books. There are lists at the dentist's office. Reading lists at the grocery store. And there is no way that I can read ALL those books. Nor should I. I want quality books. And from what I've seen of this book, the author does a good job finding the best. This book helps me from getting reading list whiplash.

Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert
A lovely book. The ideas are simple. I don't feel pressured to do every suggested activity. I pick and choose what questions and activities seem the most appealing and fun for My Girl. So far, this is a big hit. My Girl is all about reading books multiple times. I make sure to do the books that she really loves. I think this is the key to success when using this book.

Teach Me to Do it Myself by Maja Pitamic
This is a Montessori book that tells you exactly how to do Montessori. I've read many  Montessori theory books. This one puts it into practice. Another hit. I especially like how the author addresses introducing letters and numbers.

Science Play by Jill Frankel Hauser
A simple way to explore the world with sections on water, air, weather, plants, soil, sounds, movement and more. We've only done one experiment, but we like it so far. The instructions are simple, the required materials are usually on hand and the lessons are short.

First Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl
I was hesitant to get this beginning art book, but decided to go for it - as opposed to purchasing the next level art book. There were so many activities in this book that we hadn't done yet and it was easy to see ways to make the activities more sophisticated as My Girl grows. And honestly, I don't want to rush her. I want her to take it nice and slow and make her jumps in understanding in her own time. So, the beginning book was the place to start.

Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl
We just got this today. And honestly, it seems that it's a bit advanced for my 2.5-year-old but I kind of suspected that when I ordered it. But, I got it anyway because I really loved the ideas about organizing space and creative centers. And I know that we'll do the fun ideas in the future.

now

We are...

• enjoying some cooler temperatures (78-82 degrees, anybody?) and some much needed, though sporadic, rain
• painting with acrylic paints on canvas for the first time and LOVING the results
• reading stacks of books: mostly Newbery winners from 1978 to the present (my favorite so far is "The View from Saturday" by E.L. Konisburg - it is a remarkable, inspiring creation and I am not sure why people aren't constantly raving about it)
• loving our farmer's market: we had Damson (I think?) plums and fresh figs with our lunch on Saturday...and the gratitude I feel, a woman with a black thumb, knows no bounds for these lovely, hard-working gardeners and farmers who provide these tasty treats for me
• dreaming of Halloween costumes for My Girl...actually, I've started sewing it, but am still in the dreaming stage for the wings of her costume
• loving the crepe myrtle that is blooming everywhere
• rejoicing in a quiet, book-filled weekend
• looking forward to a visit from a Tucson friend, a steel drum concert and sharing a strawberry-peach pie this weekend
• procrastinating about my workout!
• wondering how it is already mid-August

What are you up to?

i think you may like this as much as i did

This post from Orangette's blog is brilliant. (8.03.11)
She said is just right.
So if you write and...well, that's all you need to do to be able to relate to this post.
Just read it.
And the link she includes of Elizabeth Gilbert speaking at TED is worth following.

i am not even sure i should share this, but i'm going to anyway

I am exhausted by the behavior of the economy.

(Anybody else? Can I see a show of hands?)

The moodiness and fickleness of the whole thing is making me feel sad and scared.

I record everything we purchase.
I stick to the budget.
I use what we have.
I use coupons.
We don't eat out.
We share.
We borrow.
We simplify.
We only buy what is on the list.
We go to the library.

I do all those things that a good little recessionista is supposed to do.

And sometimes I allow myself to breathe a little. I allow myself to consider registering for a class to improve my writing. I allow myself to make a list of the books I would buy if someone gave my $100 and demanded that I spend it ONLY on books. I think about finally getting a nice haircut.

And then the stock market throws a tantrum...

Sigh.

And I am left feeling like a fool for even considering that silly class.

And I am angry that other people's stupid financial choices influence my life so much.

And I am scared.

And when I get scared I start making small, fearful, hopeless choices.
And making choices from a place of fear is NEVER a good thing.

I do not know what to do with these feelings.

from The Complete Tale of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.

happy list

1. a bouquet of purple cone flowers on my kitchen table
2. sending off my manuscript
3. fresh, hot coffee
4. reserving a handful of great books from the library
5. August!
6. a well-rested girl - finally
7. making major progress on my scrapbooks
8. deciding NOT to do a Week in the Life
9. my new clothesline
10. clean sheets

art gallery

Looking at these photos makes me think I need a better way of displaying my girl's creations. Suggestions?

the gallery

on the right, notice the three sheets of handmade paper



watercolor creations



art camp

This week, we did art camp at Belmont. And it was lovely. We made sun prints and handmade paper - which was so much fun. And, of course, all I want to do now is make sun prints and handmade paper. So far, I am refraining.

But, truly, what was the most pleasant part about this two-day adventure was the fabulous people. Parents, instructors, children, grandparents - the mix of personalities and ages was lovely and the result was a really mellow and kind-hearted art camp. A true delight.

I am grateful we got to be a part of this.

sun prints drying

a bit of paper-making instruction



all ears

This takes care of #2.

pony penning

Friends, I've been to Pony Penning Days. The event may sound familiar if you're a fan of Marguerite Henry's "Misty of Chincoteague."

I told myself and others that I was going because I really wanted my daughter to see the wild ponies. And that's true. But if you want something closer to the honest-to-goodness, authentic, turn the lights off and I'll tell you the truth, it's this: I've wanted to go watch the wild ponies swim and parade and do everything that I'd read in that book since I was a kid. A little, powerless kid.

The feeling, the thrill, the internal (and external) smile that the whole day was - even though it was a boiling 100 degrees outside - that is something that doesn't happen very often, I'm afraid.

I felt fulfilled.

Happy.

As I peered through the binoculars at the ponies plunging through the water and as they came so near as they paraded by, it felt right. Like, here's this piece that you didn't even know was missing and ta-da! it fits. And more importantly, it's really important that you have this piece.



watching the pony parade



ponies relaxing at the corral on the carnival grounds

 My pictures are less than fabulous. If you want to see fabulous photographs, check this out.

This takes care of #14.

right now

• preparing to participate in A Week in the Life
• rewriting a manuscript now that I've got my editor's brilliant comments and ideas in hand
• drooling over the prints at Quercus Design. I discovered this woman's work during my visit to Maine. The postcards stopped me in my tracks and danced around my mind for weeks. OK, her collections are still dancing in my head. And I like it.
• crossing off #21 on The List
• making notepads by stapling stacks of my scrap paper together
• loving the produce at the farmer's market: fingerling potatoes, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, artichokes, cherry tomatoes.
• reading these books: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (again), One Man's Meat by E.B. White, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, Water Paper Paint by Heather Smith Jones (her last name cracks me up, I assume Smith is her maiden name and when she got married she added Jones, you  know to spice things up)
• yearning for a nap
• rejoicing for this cloudy day
• using our toddler crayons (line a muffin pan with parchment paper, fill with broken crayons that have been peeled, heat in an oven heated to 250 degrees until sort of melted, this took about 30 minutes for us) these  crayons are brilliant: I no longer have to deal with crayons snapping in my hands as I color, I just put one of these beasts in my hand and go crazy on the paper. SO SATISFYING!
• listening to some Dan Zanes

words to ponder

This was written by Erma Bombeck near the end of her life...

"If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace. I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth. I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed. I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life. I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband. I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle. When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ... But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back."

doing the heavy lifting

"You are not going to find the meaning of life hidden under a rock written by someone else. You'll find it by giving meaning to life from inside yourself." ~ Dr. Robert Firestone

gem

I stumbled upon this blog a month ago and have to share it with you.

So far, it's inspired me to write a family mission statement (along with the help of the family), put together a Home Management Notebook and to start seeing myself as a professional mom.

I hope it's helpful and inspirational to you as well.

flump

We have been: driving! hiking! exploring! seeing! thinking! eating new food! getting overloaded (with ideas)! trying to process those ideas! drinking coffee! reading! doing laundry! sorting! making! creating! reading! vacuuming! hustling! reading! hustling! fixing! preparing! going! going! going!

And I need some deep breathing and a quiet moment.

And then I'll be back, really.

happy list

1. sea glass
2. long walks
3. 70-degree weather
4. family reading time
5. mason jars
6. blank notebooks
7. the perfect shade of blue on a t-shirt
8. hand-me-down clothes
9. animal crackers
10. perfect timing

right now

We are:
digging us some Edith Piaf
reading Stuart Little by E.B. White out loud
creating collages
dreaming of beachcombing
working on a new manuscript
creating our own summer reading program because the one here is PATHETIC
trying to figure out how I will physically return the 82 (no joke!) books I have checked out from the library
making some yummy mesquite chocolate chip cookies

klein bag

My latest addiction:

I've never been a purse girl. Yet, I have been struggling with how to store my wallet, keys, pencil and pen, moleskine, sunglasses, bandana and lip gloss.

And then I discovered these Klein hardware storage bags.

All my stuff fits in there, with just enough room to spare. I throw it in the passenger seat of my car and go, it fits into my grocery basket perfectly, I can toss it in my girl's stroller and we're off. It's just right. It's not too precious, so I can wash it in the washing machine. A practical, yet funky solution to keep my stuff together.

from an undated LIFE interview with Hugh Laurie

LIFE: Your father, who won an Olympic gold medal in rowing for England, also coached you in the sport. Share a bit of his oarsman wisdom.
LAURIE: My father didn't deliberately coin aphorisms. He was far too modest a man to think that anyone would be writing down his profundities. I do remember him saying some very good things like "Any idiot can win." That's always stayed with [me]. What he meant was "Winning doesn't actually teach you anything." You win. End of story. But the losing and how you deal with and and what you take from it - that's the interesting bit...
The whole thing about rowing is that you're facing the wrong way. If you fall behind, you can' see who's winning. That starts to mess with your head: how you keep in contact until you push for the finish line. [My father and I] were discussing there very strategic pushes and he said, "Well, you could do all that, but I remember when I rowed, we'd just have one push. You put everything into that one push, and if it it doesn't work, well, we all lose some races." The funny thing about that was, he never did lose any races. He won everything. But I thought that was a wonderful way of looking at life: You have one big push. Put everything you've got into it. If it doesn't work, well, we all lose some races. If you're trying to hold back, if you don't commit, you're never going to get results."

happy list

1. sending & receiving packages in the mail
2. freshly painted toenails
3. thunderstorms
4. lists
5. a new red tricycle
6. just-sharpened pencils
7. ordering books on the internet
8. mason jars
9. summer pajamas
10. watching my girl sleep

summer reading

In honor of the kick-off of our local summer reading program (yippeee!), here are two links about preventing the "summer slide" from the International Reading Association and Reading is Fundamental.  Happy summer reading!

everything

I am loving everything this woman is creating. Everything. She is making me wish I had an extra $500 lying around while also making me reconsider everything I have ever thought about quilting. Enjoy!

peonies by Mary Oliver

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open ---
pools of lace,
white and pink ---
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweep sap,
taking it away

to their dark underground cities ---
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again ---
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?
Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

right now

we just bought Qwirkle and have been playing it every night. every day, my girl plays with it, too, in her own way: matching shapes, sorting colors, counting, etc.

reading The Social Animal by David Brooks and pretty much having my mind blown

relishing the fact that I had the courage to call a major Time Out for the whole family on Tuesday: sometimes it's necessary

looking forward to a bonfire on Friday...and a long weekend

processing all the goodness of a weekend in D.C. filled with art and friendship: I got to reconnect with a friend from college and it was filled with meandering conversations and recognition

wondering what The Hubby and I should do to mark 10 years. (I have a great gift for him, but I'm not sure what I want and he is not a mind reader and I am impossible to shop for so I feel like I should just tell him what I want, but I'm not sure that what I want is worthy of a 10th Anniversary. ahem.)

preparing for a nice, long hike this weekend in Shenandoah National Forest

falling in love with Charley Harper's artwork...

what are you doing right now?

from Jim Rohn

"You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with."

30 day challenge

I am at the beginning of a 30-Day-Challenge to get up early. OK, so early is relative. For this challenge I decided to spend the first 15 days waking at 6:30 a.m. with the plan to bump it up to 6 a.m. after that.

I had been doing really fantastic waking up early in March and the first half of April, but I fell off the wagon in late April. Well, I'm back on it.

I'm posting this so that I have some way of being held accountable.

good things right now

• the birth of my friend's twin babies with most excellent names: Samuel and Juniper. seriously, aren't those names perfect?
• a run of rainy days (exactly what I need right now)
• a new soup recipe to try: from my girl's favorite book at the moment, "Soup Day" by Melissa Iwai
• another query crafted and sent to an editor
• this camera - I had no idea there was an instant film camera on the market! - I've missed my polaroid film so much - I may just have to get this
• friends who are so kind. kind in ways that I don't deserve or warrant. a group of them are going to cut down our dead tree. another is coming to watch my girl while I make a phone call. (there is no way to pay people back, really, is there? no gift is enough. just a return gesture, a strengthening of the friendship bond, a promise to be there when they need us. right? I'm humbled and grateful.)
• plans to make this have begun. (warning: very slow link, but worth the view)
• dreams of making a new quilt, OK quilts, have begun dancing in my head with inspiration from Rothko and a pile of bandanas
• the resumption of our daily family walks has been such a delight - hello longer days
• summer pajamas!

What good things are happening for you?

#28

In junior high, I lived in Nashville: the South. As a result, we spent what felt like months studying the Civil War. I memorized battle dates (and then promptly forgot them), built dioramas, wrote special reports, learned about the great generals.

And yet, I never really understood what the Civil War was all about. Was I too young to understand the complexity of the reasons for the war? Yes. Was I too immature to even begin to fathom what it would be like to fight against your own brother? Yes. Was I too spoiled to begin to guess how exhausting it would be to march hundreds of miles? Yes. Was I too ignorant to guess at what our nation would be like today had the Union been demolished? Yes.

But, I'm an adult now. With a husband I love. A daughter I would die for. A country I love. And I am living in the belt buckle of the Civil War.

Last weekend, we went to Gettysburg National Military Park. Standing atop Little Round Top, I teared up. I felt an enormous sadness. A sadness for all the men: husbands, brothers, fathers, friends killed.

The week before our trip I read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. And for the first time I felt such empathy for both sides, I understood the different perspectives and I had such a strong respect for the soldiers who fought. (This is a lovely, very easy to read book. I was hesitant to start it because I've never been "into" the Civil War and thought all those reenactors were geeks. No more.)

We are now watching the movie "Gods and Generals" which is about the Battles of Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville. There are more books to read, more battlefields to visit and more movies to watch. But I can finally say, friends, that I am beginning to appreciate the sacrifices that all those men (and women) made for us.

Oh yes, back to the subject. Gettysburg was phenomenal. We spent the day, could have spent the week. I wasn't too sure what we would find; it is a battlefield after all. How interesting could it be? Well, very. We followed the CD audio tour and enjoyed every moment.

your newest addiction

Friends, prepare to take a journey down the rabbit's hole. Really: don't go to this web site if you, say, have to pick up your child in 15 minutes, or you need to pay close attention to something on the stove or you plan on going to bed within the next hour. Don't click on this link if any of those circumstances apply to you.

Wait until you have a couple hours (at least) available, a mug of coffee on hand and your favorite pen with a stack of paper and no one around to distract you.

The Paris Review has made its interview collection available online.*

I've read volume no. 1 and 4 with no luck locating no. 2 and 3. So this feels like, well, it feels like thank you Paris Review.

This is your chance to get into the heads of your favorite writers. Don't miss out.*Based on my limited picking around on the site it seems that the archives are open, free and completely available. Only the most recent interviews are cut off mid-interview with a request for a subscription if you want to read more.

happy mother's day

Have you seen this? "A Mother's Prayer for Her Child" by Tina Fey. The woman can write.

Enjoy.

#17

Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius. My girl and I toured the Pope-Leighey House two weeks ago and I was bowled over by his ingenuity. What an innovative man!

According to the pamphlet I received at the site (the house is protected under the National Trust for Historic Preservation), "The Pope-Leighley House tells the story of Frank Lloyd Wright's innovative designs for modestly-sized and affordable single-family 'Usonian' houses and how two families adapted this dwelling to fit their mid-20th century lifestyles."

Here is a link to its floor plan. It measures in at 1200 square feet.

Here are the details, innovations that impressed me most:

• custom-made furniture, much of it made from plywood, so that the pieces would fit the exact dimensions of where they were to be place.
• an emphasis on the horizontal. See the pictures of the brickwork and screws (below) to see what I mean. Also note the faux stain glass windows. Stain glass would have been very expensive, too expensive for the purposes of this house, but he used wood cut-outs to create a similar look all while emphasizing the horizontal line.
• radiant floor heating. According to our tour guide, FLW invented this.
• absence of clutter.
• using a variety of ceiling heights and ample windows to create the illusion of a spacious house. There is really no way to describe the way that FLW is able to manipulate a person's feelings via architecture. Go to the FLW house closest to you and you'll experience it for yourself. He is a master at it.
• common-sense: positioning kitchen cabinet doors so that when opened they were lit by the windows.
• drawers that tipped out instead of pulled out.
• an outdoor herb garden that was accessible from the kitchen. FLW tried to blur, erase the boundaries between indoors and outdoors as much as possible.
• to this end, he didn't want the owners of the house to hang curtains. The owners won this battle, but when I toured there were no curtains hanging and I could see why curtains would diminish the connection with outside. However, privacy is lovely and if I lived in that house, there would be curtains. Sorry, Frank!



the entrance



an example of how obsessed FLW was with the horizontal line and details:
the vertical mortar is tinted to match the bricks so it disappears,
the horizontal mortar color is lighter and thus stands out

all the screws are aligned horizontally aligned -
I'm sure that didn't drive the construction crew crazy!

view from the rear courtyard

view of the screened-in porch

Here's a fascinating interview with its first owner, Loren Pope.

#8

To cap off completing #8 on The List, "learn some basic French words and phrases", let me share my 10 favorite French words (I've included the pronunciation when I could find it):
1. book - le livre - (luh LEE-vrah)
2. tree - l'arbre - (l' AR-brah)
3. postcard - le carte postale
4. horse - le cheval - (luh sh-VALL)
5. egg - les oeufs - (lay uff)
6. flowers - les fleurs - (lay flur)
7. library card - le carte de lecteur
8. apple - la pomme - (lah pumm)
9. sun - la soleil - (lah sol-ay)
10. mountain - la montagne - (lah mon-tyne)

Learning these words, OK I ended up learning hundreds of French words, was so much fun and such a good reminder that I love learning foreign language. In high school and college I studied Latin. I remember immersing myself in it and reveling in discovering more and more about it.

I relied on a great DK French-English visual dictionary as well as a stack of children's books to find these French words. It was a great starting point.

This brief dip into the French pool has me thinking that I need to study another language in more depth. I'm keeping my eye on Rosetta Stone and the Concordia Language Villages courses. Who knows what may happen? Of course, I have to decide between French and Swedish. Which language would you choose to study?

trader joe's love

Let me introduce you to the best shampoo and conditioner ever. By "best" I mean a S&C combination that is affordable, contains no lauryl sulfates, makes my hair look great and smells delicious: Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle.

I am also loving their Trader Johann's Virtuoso Lip Balm which boasts olive oil, jojoba oil and vitamin E as its top three ingredients. A nice alternative to the lip balms that are packed with nasty chemicals.

#4

I purchased this book after reading an article about a successful (published!) author saying that reading it was the equivalent of completing an MFA program. The book was expensive; right now it's listed at $44.81. I bought it anyway. I figured that was a bargain when I considered how much it would cost to actually enroll in and complete an MFA program.

Of course, it took me a year to read it. But, read it I did. And I learned a lot from it.

What I took away from it:
1. If I ever teach Rhetoric at the college level again, this will be my text.
2. I read this book a chapter at a time. I definitely recommend this approach. I enjoy studying grammar, but many of the proper grammatical terms escape me. (They probably always will.) So taking small bites of this book helped increase my comprehension.
3. I will probably never read this book cover-to-cover again, though I will refer to it often.
4. I learned more than I expected to. The authors really revealed a lot of methods that were previously unnamed to me, to change the rhythm and focus and emphasis of a sentence. They revealed and explained some useful tricks of the writing trade.
5. This is a must-read for writers.
6. This means I can cross #4 off The List!

from "The Gastronomical Me" by M.F.K. Fisher

"It was a wonderful window, one of the best I can  remember, and what I saw and thought and felt as I stood in it with my hands on the food for us those months will always be a good part of me."

13 good things right now

1. We are experiencing serious potty training success. Actually, we have been for about a month, but I didn't want to say anything until it seemed like it was going to stick. Friends, it's sticking. I felt high and happy after the first few days of successful potty training because there were days, weeks when I thought I would be sending my child to college in diapers. It appears this will not be the case. I feel about 20 pounds lighter.

2. I have a new niece! Emmalyn Grace was born yesterday and she is healthy and happy. Also, my neighbor had a baby girl, too: Sophie Quinn. Love.

3. Our neighborhood flowerbeds are teeming with poppies, bleeding hearts, irises and all sorts of beautiful eye candy. (This is where I should insert a photo, I know. Friends, I'm working on it.)

4. A stack of delicious CDs from the library: John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, Gustav Mahler's symphony No. 6, Stravinsky's le sacre du printemps, Debussy's preludes, lovely things for our ears.

5. 64 oz. Ball jars from the local hardware store. I had only been able to find them online and the shipping was atrocious. My pantry is organized. For now.

6. A new reading lamp for my girl. Also found at the local hardware store. I'm pretty sure it's actually a brooder lamp, but I've also seen them used in my art class and on construction sites. They come with a handy clip so they can go almost anywhere. $9.50!

7. A gift of a potted purple hyacinth.

8. The right book in my hands at the right time. Specifically, "The Art of Eating" by M.F.K. Fisher. More specifically, the section called "The Gastronomical Me."

9. Plans for trips to Gettysburg and Maine are progressing nicely.

10. Ideas for two new articles.

11. It's smoothie season!

12. I've figured out a way to MacGuyver my yogurt machine so that I can make larger quantities of yogurt instead of making a new batch every three days. Now, I only make it once a week.

13. It's Friday!

#23

Another one done.

I have been swimming in Shakespeare and loving it. My original goal was to "read six works of Shakespeare (with annotations)" and I did just that, with a little tweak.

At the outset of this project I consulted my high-school-English-teacher friend and told her my plan. She helped me put together a best-of/most-referred-to-in-other-literature list of works. And then, importantly, she reminded me that Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels. This little tip gave me permission to watch the video of the Shakespeare play without feeling like I was cheating.

I quickly fell into a routine: I'd check out the text from the library to review it, read the synopsis on Wikipedia and then watch a video of the play. I've followed this method with the following plays:
1. Romeo & Juliet
2. Hamlet
3. Twelfth Night
4. Much Ado About Nothing
5. A Midsummer's Night Dream
6. The Merchant of Venice.

Of course, I'd like to explore more of Shakespeare's works, namely "The Taming of the Shrew," "Othello," "Macbeth" and "As You like It." However, I will be taking a bit of a break as it seems that many of these works are running together in my mind. Ahem.

Any other Shakespeare recommendations must-sees/must-reads?

zoom!

Driving. Zooming to a friend's house. Late. Late. Late. Very slow minivan ahead of me. Irritated because it's my own putzy fault that we're late. Grey day. Drizzly.

I slow my car to meet the curve of the river, which is what is shaping the road. My eyes flit to the river. It's rocky here, lots of rapids, dips, pools, plunges.

A heron is poised on almost every boulder I can see. Fishing.

I pull the car over. Let the minivan putter in peace. Take a deep breath.

My daughter and I sit watching the 20 herons fishing for their brunch. For seconds, minutes, hours. I don't know how long.

Right on time.

4. by mary oliver

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

j.d. salinger

I am reading this right now:

What are you reading?

#29

We made it to the National Zoo last week. #29 is done.

Several events pushed this activity to the top of the list:
1. the weather has been perfect
2. we wanted to go before it was crawling with kids on spring break
3. and oh yes, there was the possibility that the zoo would have been closed indefinitely had the senate/congress/president not passed the budget

I can be a bit cynical about zoos, but at heart, I love them. I cherish the opportunity to see a panda bear sitting back on its haunches eating bamboo, the Walter-Matthau-like elephants and their knobbiness, the roar of lions (they roared while we were there!), the disconcerting proportions of silverback gorillas, and so much more.

Books are great, pictures of animals are helpful, but seeing an animal move, eat, breathe is revealing.

blueberry-rhubarb muffins

Friends, I've been in the kitchen.

I decided to make blueberry muffins last week and while rummaging in the freezer for the berries, I had to move a bag of frozen rhubarb. Eureka!

So, I made blueberry-rhubarb muffins instead and The Hubby is very happy about this development. He calls these the best muffins ever. And I am totally in love with rhubarb again. A lovely vegetable that I've been neglecting for years. Guess I need to make up for lost time: I've been doubling this batch and sharing with the neighbors.

This recipe is inspired by one I found in an old Williams-Sonoma cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 c. whole wheat flour
2/3 c. turbinado sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter
2 eggs
2 c. frozen blueberries
1 c. frozen rhubarb

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter standard muffin tins. (Be generous with the butter, especially when it comes to the creases, or you'll regret it when it's time to remove the baked muffins.)

In a medium bowl, stir and toss together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk together the milk, butter and eggs until smooth. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Add the blueberries and rhubarb and stir just until evenly incorporated.

Spoon into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.* Let cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove.

Makes about 16 standard muffins.

*A few years back I decided to cave and buy an oven thermometer, at the recommendation of some cookbook author. And it has made such a difference in my baking and cooking experiences. Oven temperatures - no matter their age - are surprisingly temperamental. My oven in Arizona is 15 degrees off the mark. My oven in Virginia is 50 degrees (!!!) off the mark. I can only imagine the disasters I'd be creating (and ruining) if I couldn't tell the true temperature of my oven. Go buy an oven thermometer: it's worth the money. 

library love

I just stumbled over this great story at NPR and wanted to share. The Library Card As A Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket to Geek Paradise. Hope you enjoy it.

Also, Happy National Library Week!

We are going to bring our favorite librarian a bouquet of flowers, check out a wagon full of books and rejoin the Friends of the Library Association.

How are you going to celebrate?

eggs & hydrangeas & ivy

A happy little surprise. Yes, that's what I'd call this.

One of The Hubby's friends raises chickens and geese on his acreage and generously shares them with all who are interested.

We provide all the compost we can along with $2 and, in return, we receive a dozen eggs. Or in this case, the equivalent of a dozen eggs. That huge egg is a goose egg. I'd count that as two eggs, wouldn't you? Each week we receive a different offering. My favorite are the blue ones, which are sadly absent from this photo.

In related news: after doing an intense backyard flower bed scour, I discovered that we have (according to a knowledgeable neighbor) a soon-to-be-blue hydrangea living by the back gate. Hydrangeas need a bit of an acidic boost to turn blue, so we are saving eggshells and coffee grounds to add to its soil.

There is something pleasing and cyclical when I realize that my blue eggshells may help "blue" my hydrangea.

Also, I am covered head to toe in poison ivy blisters as a result of my overly ambitious gardening activities. I have been to Urgent Care twice and am doped up on steroids and pain medications. I look like a leper.

I miss the (poison-ivy-free) desert.

cancelled

Because of the budget wrangling and general madness that has descended upon Washington D.C., my eagerly awaited Smithsonian-sponsored photography workshop (that was scheduled for April 10) has been cancelled.

All is well, though. Just signing up for the class gave me the incentive to read my entire camera manual. And just yesterday I reserved a stack of photography books from the library so I can dig in, regardless of bipartisan politics.

5 more people I'd like to meet

1. Beatrix Potter
2. Amelia Earhart
3. Keri Smith
4. Nikki McClure
5. Harper Lee

How about you? Whom would you most like to meet?

by maya angelou

"Every human being has paid the earth to grow up. Most people don't grow up. It's too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older. That's the truth of it. They honor their credit cards, they find parking spaces, they marry, they have the nerve to have children, but they don't grow up. Not really. They get older. But to grow up costs the earth. It means you take responsibility for the time you take up, for the space you occupy. It's serious business. And you find what it costs us to love and to lose, to dare and to fail. And maybe even more, to succeed. What it costs, in truth. Not superficial costs - anybody can have that - I mean in truth."

#24

It surprises me how happy I get each time I accomplish something on my List.

No joke, it makes me glow with happiness. There have been moments when I looked at my List and wondered what I was thinking to put together something so ambitious. (And when I say "ambitious" I am, of course, referring to my little world. I know that I am not even close to winning a Nobel Prize or playing in the Final Four or doing anything truly, globally ambitious.)

The reality is, the truth is, I LOVE lists. They are my great motivator.

Anyway, over the weekend I got to cross another one off the List. I bought that University of Iowa alumni license plate frame, installed it and then washed my car by hand.

Good.

blossom bliss

amidst a grove of cherry trees

jefferson memorial across the tidal basin

no crowds!

On Monday, the entire family ventured into Washington D.C. to partake in the Cherry Blossom Festival. We were hoping to avoid the crowds by not going on a weekend, so when I awoke on Monday and discovered that it was COLD (in the 30s) I knew we were golden. There were very few people to contend with on this blustery, Monday morning. We bundled up and enjoyed our adventure.

The trees were lovely. Beyond magical.

As I strolled amidst the cherry boughs, it made me happy to think about the throngs of people - in the midst of our technologically overloaded culture - who still make the time, set the intention, to go and enjoy a bunch of trees.

Happy.

#6

Another one down!

I have submitted my quilt essay to five different publications.

Now, I wait.

#20

Finally.

Finally.

Finally.

Should I say it again? No? OK.

Well, I can finally cross #20 off The List. It doesn't seem like such a remarkable accomplishment, reading a camera manual, I know. But, it is one of those things that has been on my to-do list for 4 years. 4 YEARS. And today I finally finished reading that manual and crossed that beast off my List.

The relief is sweet.

beauty matters

I was just reading as article in the Boston Globe that discusses Cornell professor Brian Wansinks' work in trying to improve school food. In part it reads:

"But it turns out that students are susceptible to the same marketing strategies that grocery stores have been using for years. Several experiments have shown that children will be more likely to eat items if they see them early in the lunch line and find them attractive and convenient to pick up. Putting fruit in a good-looking bowl works. So does putting a salad bar in a prominent place. Calling your carrots “X-ray vision carrots” can double sales."

I am struck by the idea that putting fruit in good-looking bowls increases a students' chances of actually selecting that fruit and then eating it. The irony is delicious.

As we cut, cut, cut school budgets across the the country, art and music are usually the first to go. But this simple example shows that these "frivolous" concepts of beauty really do matter. They aren't just a nice little add-on, a bonus.

If an apple doesn't look appealing, a child won't take it, won't eat it. Does it get any more fundamental than that?

Read more about this subject here.

love after love by derek walcott

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

there may be some nudity

Since I started my drawing class, I've been all about drawing small shelters: airstreams, tipis, little cabins, tents. It's what I've been attracted to lately. And this practice of drawing shelters has been very satisfying.

Then, I missed last week's class because I was so sick. I'm better now: I'm functioning at about 80%. I can get through the day, keep up with the basic tasks, but I am regularly blowing my nose into my hanky and a certain sharpness is definitely missing.

Anyway, I went to this week's class totally unaware of what was in store. We started with a 5-minute demonstration about figure drawing and then because our model was late the class members took turns "modeling" and generally just being really goofy while the others were busy catching that person's body gesture.

I was having a lovely time, so lovely that my instructor made a comment to me that she could tell I was really enjoying myself. I did not see this emotion coming and frankly I was so enthralled with drawing that I was too close to my own experience to be able to say, "I love this! I am having so much fun!" But, I was.

And then our model arrived. And somewhere between me blowing my nose and getting a new piece of paper ready and finding a new chunk of charcoal, a naked (oops, I mean nude) woman was all of a sudden sitting about 10 feet away from me.

For some reason I hadn't made the connection between model and nude. And there were about three minutes of my brain repeating, "that woman is naked, that woman is naked, that woman is naked."

And then we started drawing and I forgot that she was nude. She was just what I was drawing. And I tell you, it was a lovely experience: to see a body without judging, to see a body as a thing to render. I was a little disturbed at how quickly I objectified her: she was an object that I was drawing. But, objectifying seems so negative and harsh and judgmental. I did not feel that way toward this woman. I guess I'm at a loss for words.

I was enamored, awed and wowed by her total body confidence. To stand, sit, twist while nude in front of a room full of people is courageous in this culture of "you are never thin enough." And this woman was not an anorexic twit. She was round, full-bodied and lovely.

And at this moment I am feeling so grateful for my own body, with all its flaws and shortcomings, puckers and rolls. I am feeling less judgment and more kindness toward myself and others. Our bodies our beautiful, whatever their shape, whatever their size. Amen.

off the wagon!

Two months ago I decided to give up coffee because...

Wait. Why does anyone ever give up coffee? Oh, yes. I gave up coffee because the caffeine was getting me really wired and goofy. I had a sinus infection at the time and was sticking to drinking herbal tea until things settled down. And I just realized that now would be a good time to stop drinking coffee. So I did. It was no big deal.

Let me be clear. I was not weaning myself off drinking a gallon a day. I was weaning myself off of about 8 oz. per day - give or take 2 oz. No big deal.

A few weeks ago I started getting up really early (too early) to write and have some "me" time and I started drinking coffee again. I missed my coffee so I started drinking it again. There is something very nice about selecting my mug for the day, holding that warm goodness in my hands, smelling the coffee aroma and just enjoying the ritual.

So some new friends come over and I offer them coffee or tea. Everybody wants tea except one lady who sidles up to me and says, "I'm going to be bad and have the coffee. I had given it up..."

I turned to her and said, "I gave it up, too. And when I started drinking it again I wondered why I had ever stopped. Drinking coffee was like strapping a rocket booster on my butt! I actually got things done."

Of course, now I have another sinus infection. But, I don't blame that on coffee. I blame it on Virginia. I'm pretty sure that I'm allergic to this place: three sinus infections in five months. Yuck.

a moveable feast ~ by ernest hemingway

"You got very hungry when you did not eat enough in Paris because all the bakery shops had such good things in the windows and people ate outside at tables on the sidewalks so that you saw and smelled the food. When you had given up journalism and were writing nothing that anyone in America would buy, explaining at home that you were lunching out with someone, the best place to go was the Luxembourg gardens where you saw and smelled nothing to eat all the way from the Place de l'Observatoire to the rue de Vaugirard. There you could always go into the Luxembourg museum and all the paintings were sharpened and clearer and more beautiful if you were belly-empty, hollow-hungry. I learned to understand Cezanne much better and to see truly how he made landscapes when I was hungry. I used to wonder if he were hungry too when he painted; but I thought possibly it was only that he had forgotten to eat. It was one of those unsound but illuminating thoughts you have when you have been sleepless or hungry. Later I though Cezanne was probably hungry in a different way."

a delicate thread

I just reconnected with a friend from graduate school. It's been 8 years (gulp!) since we'd last seen each other. We had not spoken on the phone during that time. We did send an occasional e-mail, Christmas card or hand-written note.

Between the two of us there have been many, many moves, i.e. changes in contact information. We've been busy with husbands, jobs, local friends, family obligations, children.

The thread that has held us together has been very delicate at times.

Miraculously, gloriously, it didn't break.

On Saturday, I heard my friend's voice for the first time in 8 years. I saw her beautiful face. And it was as if no time had passed. The connection was fierce, remembered, very present. And so strong.

Talking with her was like giving my fire more fuel and oxygen.

I share this not to brag. (woo hoo people like me!) I am sharing because I realize that we came so close, so scarily close, to letting this friendship fall by the wayside. I sort of gasp when I think of that happening.

The connections we share with people vary: close, distant, obligatory. But when you have a connection that is very powerful, well, you just can't buy that. It is either present or it is not. And we all know it doesn't happen every day.

I can count on one hand the people with whom I share this kind of connection.

So my challenge to you is to call, write, e-mail, hunt down, contact that person with whom you've lost contact. Make a plan. Reconnect. Life is too short, too crazy, too busy, not to keep those whom are the most important to you in your life. Not to bring that person who connects to your soul back into your life.

You won't regret it.