"Not Cool, Robert Frost!" It has been all the rage on the internet, at Ted Talks, on the Late Night Circuit - all over the place. If you have not yet seen The Pep Talk, by Kid President, please, go see it now. I will wait. My kids and I have watched this so many … Continue reading Monkeys Flinging Poop, Friends Visiting and other Poetic Adventures
Thoughtful
The Original Wild Women, Girl’s Night Out, Social Hour
Tonight I am longing for a Quilting Circle. All day long, it's been in the back of my mind, the question from a friend wondering if she had given the impression that she didn't want to meet with me. No. She hadn't. I had just suggested that perhaps we do a Google Hangout to chat … Continue reading The Original Wild Women, Girl’s Night Out, Social Hour
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Where there are no Oxen, the Stalls are Clean
This was the phrase floating through my head all morning as I cleaned my house. I cleaned everything. My house has not been this spotless in a long time. I cleaned with joy. I cleaned with a spring in my step. Bean helped me with the more fun parts, like the duster dealie-ma-thingie. The other … Continue reading Where there are no Oxen, the Stalls are Clean
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Parenting and The Doorway to the Mysteries of Life
This article is based on a prompt from a blog I enjoy called the Tao Te Ching Daily - which gives beautiful, peaceful, soothing, inviting, mindful advice about living. The Tao, as I understand it, is a philosophy of thought, read and enjoyed by C.S. Lewis among a multitude of others. On her blog, writer Amy … Continue reading Parenting and The Doorway to the Mysteries of Life
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Dwell in the Glory Days
Sometimes it hits me, how beautiful life is right now. My husband and I watched the Season Finale, the Epic Finale, of The Office tonight. We have watched this show our entire married life. When the Writer's Strike interrupted production, we went back to old DVDs of previous seasons, and even checked out the … Continue reading Dwell in the Glory Days
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Here’s to Gardening Imperfections, and Joy in General Messiness!
The Corn is in the ground and so are the Broccoli plants. Let's see. Yesterday we got in the tomatoes, onions, carrots, kale, jalapeno, lemon cucumbers, and watermelons. Even with knee-pads and gloves for gardening, my knees are aching, and my hands are caked with dirt and soil amendments. Bean played in what will eventually be … Continue reading Here’s to Gardening Imperfections, and Joy in General Messiness!
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Such a Golden, Ruffled Dreamworld; Such a Blue, Blue Sea!
It was a Poet-Philosopher's Dream - to watch Life of Pi tonight with my family. To watch the beautiful interpretation of delving into oneself to learn about the great unknowns, the enormous out there, the big questions, the tiger, the vegetarian, the sea and the sky and the storm and the quiet. Oh, such a … Continue reading Such a Golden, Ruffled Dreamworld; Such a Blue, Blue Sea!
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— Submarine, Pogo Stick —
Words and phrases fascinate me. A stunning turn of phrase can take my breath away. I am a bit of a mystic and philosophy and poetry move me. The first author I completely fell for was Madeline L'Engle, in her book, "The Small Rain." Her way with words was an other-worldly experience for me. It … Continue reading — Submarine, Pogo Stick —
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“Your Life is an Occasion: Rise to It!”
Suddenly, I'm not tired anymore. My last day at my job was a week and a half ago and I've been sick, and voiceless ever since my first day home. That was not the entrance into this new life of working from home that I was expecting. But it was a transition period. I needed … Continue reading “Your Life is an Occasion: Rise to It!”
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Sitting and Staring, and Starry Starry Night
For starters, this was supposed to be finished yesterday, when it was still Vincent Van Gogh's birthday. It is a whole lot of thoughts mulling around about being an artist, and what it means to feed that. The other morning, on my first morning of not getting ready for work in an office, I found … Continue reading Sitting and Staring, and Starry Starry Night
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Bird’s Eye View, Crop Circles and What Aliens Must Think of Us
Whatever you may believe about the formations of crop circles, whether they are made by pranksters or by some other means; to put any time into studying them, proves they are not easy to dismiss as silliness. In the book, Sacred Geometry, by Stephen Skinner, the author shares that most crop circles are based … Continue reading Bird’s Eye View, Crop Circles and What Aliens Must Think of Us
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The Gravitational Pull of Home and Hearth and Ideas
This may or may not circle around to making any sense. It is the middle of the night, I am finally not exhausted, and I am feeling philosophical. Ben said an interesting thing yesterday about buses being so heavy that he worried about the earth's ability to stay in orbit during certain times of the day … Continue reading The Gravitational Pull of Home and Hearth and Ideas
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Pot. Kettle. Black.
Yesterday, I tuned into the radio just in time to hear the announcer say the title of the previous song, "Pot. Kettle. Black," and it stuck with me the rest of the day. The old saying wound itself through my thoughts all afternoon. The point it kept making in my head was that there is … Continue reading Pot. Kettle. Black.
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Practice, Routine, Habit, Skill, Discovery, Invention
The other day, I quoted something about the literati during the time between the two world wars. My dad commented that the revolutionaries used to be educated, and that it didn't seem like that anymore. My first response was that we have more free time than ever before, and yet, we see that (primarily, as … Continue reading Practice, Routine, Habit, Skill, Discovery, Invention
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Dinosaurs and Dragons in the Garden
Of all the garden books I have, this one has become my favorite. More than anything, it is a poetic journey into the soil and into the very heart of how things grow. Most of my other books have lots of pictures, and how-to elements. This one speaks to my soul, and my heart. I … Continue reading Dinosaurs and Dragons in the Garden
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Coffee with Einstein
It has been a while since I have written strictly for the fun of it, just to let my mind wander and circle around something ephemeral, and then dance with the next thought that popped into my head; spinning around in the swirl of ideas and wonders. This morning, though, I woke up early to … Continue reading Coffee with Einstein
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Young Artists Making Revolution Irresistible
We are not staging a revolution. But I read an article by Lisa Russell today on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists, which had originally been posted on HuffingtonPost.com, and it struck a chord. We have talked at our dinner table about how the problems of the world will be solved by … Continue reading Young Artists Making Revolution Irresistible
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Nearing the Outer Reaches of any Semblance of the Known World
Nearing the very edge of space, the outer reaches of our galaxy, is NASA's Voyager 1 - coming close to the Magnetic Highway, the point at which the direction of the push of the wind from the strength of our sun finally fades, and the wind from the stars pushes back. In a radio interview, … Continue reading Nearing the Outer Reaches of any Semblance of the Known World
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Rumpus Room – A Joyful Mind at Play
Imagination has always been strong in me, and daydreaming got me in a lot of trouble as a young person, so I thought it was something I should avoid. If I caught myself doing it, an inner voice would tell me I ought to be thinking of something specific. Think how stressed my mind has … Continue reading Rumpus Room – A Joyful Mind at Play
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In the Corners and Cobwebs of Every Civilization…Were the Poets and Artists
Thanks to my son's take home Scholastic News magazine, I learned that November is National American Heritage Month. For Language and Literature night tonight, I pulled a free printable from TeacherVision to learn about Picture Language used to communicate between tribes. Both the boys tried their hands at telling a story with just the main points, … Continue reading In the Corners and Cobwebs of Every Civilization…Were the Poets and Artists
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Grateful that my Kids Comprehend Gratitude
This year, more than anything else, and of course, there is so much to be thankful for always. But this year, it is the fact that my children understand the concept of gratitude. That my little Bean, at five, wants to write thank-you cards to anyone who does something nice for him. He dictated … Continue reading Grateful that my Kids Comprehend Gratitude
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“Love is 20 things, but it isn’t 19”
Excerpt from the NPR interview with Tom Stoppard, Screenwriter for the Adaptation of Anna Karenina: On what he thinks love is "Love is — OK, it's 20 things, but it isn't 19. And I think that love reaches for something which is very, very deep in us and is very easily obscured, and is also very … Continue reading “Love is 20 things, but it isn’t 19”
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Freedom and Luxury and Self-Discipline
Before we watched the debates Monday night, we got to have a discussion at dinner about Self-Control. We were talking about how if we are able to control ourselves, no one needs to jump in and control us for us. This came, of course, after some rough-housing between the boys, and my husband having to … Continue reading Freedom and Luxury and Self-Discipline
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That and the Whack of the Bat
The poem I read this morning from the little City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology, edited by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, was The Origin of Baseball, by Kenneth Patchen. It didn’t have much to do with baseball, really, more about everything else in the world. The main character of the poem was frustrated by the stress of life, … Continue reading That and the Whack of the Bat
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Even if I do say so Myself
I said something brilliant yesterday, even if I do say so myself. Sometimes that happens. When I write, sometimes I say something that later I look at and wonder that those words in that combination came out of my mind. And I think, "Well - that was genius!" I look at that last sentence and … Continue reading Even if I do say so Myself