Preparing

Bean and I spent the day outdoors under wintry skies. Alternately stacking wood and lying supine, our faces soaking up sunlight as it shone through torn clouds. Bean loves to lie like this, head to head with me, watching the clouds pass. The trees at the edge of the meadow made a crown of […]

Joy

I talked tonight with a writer who was also my advisor throughout college. We haven’t talked in five years, and when I emailed her, I didn’t know what to expect. But there, suddenly on the phone was her soft southern drawl, her kindness, her wisdom traveling over the wires to me, and afterwards I just […]

milestone

Bean has mastered the fine art of the temper tantrum. Exhibit A:

What else should I be gearing up for? And also, any tips on fun games, toys, or activities, etc. that Bean would be into now? We’re feeling like we’ve used up our repertoire of late.

Grinning

I won a door prize today at the school book fair. And I never win things. Just another good thing that’s come my way recently, as though a corner has been finally turned…and then I realized, all the good stuff started to happen just after the democrats were voted in. A coincidence? I’ll take it. […]

Good vibes

My sister is here, from across the country, and she’s brought a good vibe with her. Aside from being a saint—making exquisite food, plying me with yummy wine, and bathing my kid, she’s also given me some space to unfurl a little. To talk, to feel safe, to unscramble. She’s perceptive and determined and encouraging, […]

Sunday Doing List

* Had my first-ever Aveda facial today. 1 hour of pure relaxation with yummy aromatherapy and massage. Ooh la la!
* Loving having my sister in town. So much fun to spend time with someone you like as much as a friend, but love more, because you’re related.
* Wrote the words: REMEMBER, IT’S NOT […]

Two kinds of prayers

Praying
It doesnt have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and dont try
to make them elaborate, this isnt
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
__Mary Oliver

Nothing, but this

It is late afternoon when I get home. The sun is setting like a vermilion stain across the horizon. We go out into the field, all three of us, walking in the folded grass. Today the air is unusually warm and soft, like early fall.
We lie in the field looking up at the […]

Wringing a dry sponge, and therefore some photos

This NaBloPoMo thing is kicking my bootie. It was a totally uneventful day, and I’m still sickish so I don’t have a whole lot of energy, and certainly have no ardent desire to write carefully crafted sentences. So instead I thought I’d take you on a random picture tour of yore (in other words, […]

Self portrait: standing at the back door

I stand at the back door watching the rain. The air smells of water and sweet dying grass. The oak leaves still cling to the trees like bits of rust, and the wind stirs them wildly.
I’ve spent the past three days doing nothing. I keep bringing my mind back to now again and […]