when i tilt it towards the sunlight, you fall out of view
October 29, 2011 | Filed Under ordinary | Leave a Comment
ernie is stuck in a new york snow storm. so today we went wearing costumes to an outdoor concert of friends and ate terribly amazing patty melts and fries and grits (jude) on the way home. the kids were sweet and funny and it was easy to enjoy being with them, even though i felt like i was at the end of my ability to parent alone. tonight, a train, the one that blurs and bellows alongside main street taylors, blowing past, kids fresh from baths deep under covers, deep under sleep, the dog working long on a bone, my fingers catching up on long-behind mobiles, coffee for the late night, last sunday’s podcast before morning, sunday clothes in little child piles, my hair fitting back in a messy knot (at last!), the heater reluctantly switched on, lamps lit, doors locked, a last load of laundry churning steady.
autumn manifesto
October 27, 2011 | Filed Under lists, ordinary | Leave a Comment
autumn, underway by a month and then some. but it’s never too late to dream big. this also allows time for me to include on the list things i’ve already done so that i can go right ahead and check them off. summer, i should learn from you (i’m sad i never took a spin on that ferris wheel…)
autumn manifesto
i will take a long running leap into a huge pile of leaves
i will refuse anything called a pumpkin latte
i will go camping once
i will go camping twice
i will sit on a beach with my dog while the little ones run in the first wave and beyond
i will have dealings with a turkey
i will go on a long date to a concert
i will not cut my hair
i will run
i will take things to goodwill
i will read ezra pound
i will go to this thing
i will go to this other thing
i will not take it personally, whatever it may be
i will make some new things
i will take henry on a roller skating date
i will climb a golden tree with jude
i will sew for lola
i will go to the farm
i will load film correctly
i will drink hot cider
i will hold a new baby and give no advice
i will tie scarves in many ways
i will be patient with marshmallows in fire
i will spend time and not worry about it
playing horse
October 26, 2011 | Filed Under extraordinary | Leave a Comment
bright blue sky until dark, a glowing gold pomegranate bush in the corner of the forgotten garden, the maple all glory and sunshine. boys in the yard with guns made from sticks and masking tape. lola digs with a stolen spoon, her hair electric white and yellow. there are three things i photograph with my memory’s slow-shuttered eye: the sun caught on warm waves of wind, the children, young and free, graced strong and beautiful, and the leaves underfoot, confetti through a blue sky, a paper rush from branch to grass.
weekending
October 24, 2011 | Filed Under extraordinary, familial, weekending | Leave a Comment
it’s been a long time since i’ve been a-weekending around here. our weekends have been been filled with work or travel or a hazy fog of getting-through-it-ness. but we’re making an effort to change that, even though it may be the teeniest of efforts or close to impossible.
this weekend we went with some friends to hunting island, a south carolina state park on a perfect driftwooded beach. there were porpoises up close, sandpipers whisking fast-footed in the first of the waves, raccoons by night, cheerio-eating deer, cold tents, sunshine, lola in the sea, max meeting the sea, boys bodysurfing, constant campfire, marshmallows, excessive amounts of bacon, kids that get along well together, adult conversations, and a goodly unplugged weekend all around.
this week we’re wading through school projects, making a place for a fire-ring, finishing some paper taxidermy, transplanting rosemary into the house, having a pizza party while ernie is gone to NYC, and, horribly, cleaning kids rooms.
carry your cup in your hand
October 17, 2011 | Filed Under lists, ordinary | Leave a Comment
likeable
monday catch up
paper sculptures
new sleeping bags
camping plans
french press
folks holding doors open as i carry the unwieldy packages
pup naps
homemade mac & cheese
handsome husband i love
wondrous new necklace for new deer mobile
buzz of washing machine
lola glueing pom poms to paper
boys away having school things happen for the day
bags to the thrift
bags from the thrift
dye my hair
paint my fingers
make my bed
make lists
sweet potatoes
secret ice cream
of the wild red leaves
October 16, 2011 | Filed Under extraordinary | Leave a Comment
sun in the last narrow places of sky, trees brushed with orange in edges and ends, long stretches of cold in air, under feet. ‘pull me closer, come closer to me.’ october, the last long song before the dark winter, the winter gray for miles and depths of black oceans that pull me down to drown. october, the one last song, the one the band saves for long after the applause, this today, tonight, in minutes flicking by, in every sweater sleeve, every sock pulled higher, every sigh at the doorstep.
song and a sigh
October 13, 2011 | Filed Under ordinary | 2 Comments
i’m packing up books left and right. it doesn’t sound like it’s that hard, packing, addressing, carting to the post office 125+ books, but it is! i just can’t get over everyone buying these books, THANK YOU. i’m humbled and flattered and really excited about it. i have a few left in stock and these are listed in the shop. after this i have to place another order with my printer, so if you want to get your hands on one before the end of october, i’d suggest you mosey on over and grab one. if you’re local, send me a note and we can arrange for a delivery so that you won’t have to pay for postage. yes!
tonight: coffee, a wakeful lola, crickets, fans, the feeling of early summer breathing in at the windows. the studio is a sea of working debris, some of it mine, some of it the kids. max sits in my chair, taking all of it, snoring, sleeping, opening one eye when i stand up to make sure i’m not eating anything. there is housework galore. since school started i can’t keep up with it. we cleaned all day saturday and in a matter of moments the place was trashed again. i’m blaming it on school, but it could also have something to do with worry over getting orders out and the need to just be doing nothing for a moment.
this weekend we’re considering some fall for greenville and making homemade pizza. i’m starting work on some large paper taxidermy pieces for a local gallery owner. there is talk of making halloween costumes and there will be a trip to the post. church? yes. good coffee? yes. thrifting? please, yes.
places i remember
October 10, 2011 | Filed Under extraordinary, familial | Leave a Comment
and then, a thousand days and nights and four hundred sixty more, and my lola is four. she is strong and pretty and smart as a whip. she is the best girl i know, my daughter, my sister, my sweet.
thank you, God, for lola. may she see your face and know you are real. keep her safe, and even though it’s selfish and too honest, please let me die before she does.
more (and better) celebratory photos here, on ernie’s blog.
white flags
October 5, 2011 | Filed Under ordinary | Leave a Comment
i didn’t mean to drop off of the face of the blogging earth. september was a blur of travel and school things and indie craft parade and keeping up with orders and feed people and cleaning up after people. i don’t like being busy like that, doing, doing, doing, going, going, going. but it’s over now.
ernie spent a couple of weeks in asia working on a documentary project. he came back with a sari and other beautiful textiles for me, a refrigerator full of good henna (very exciting. if i only had a moment to use it!), and some amazingly beautiful photographs. you can see some of them (and i’m sure there are more to come) on his blog.
i took the kids and the pup to my parents’ house in the midwest while he was gone, digging in junk shops and making my mom go to every yard sale listed in the paper, taking max and the kids on walks to collect buckeyes, lounging around on the couch watching dowton abbey (did you watch this? everyone should.), and keeping the boys on task with some schoolwork so that the schoolyear doesn’t disappear before we actually do something. they are both going to a homeschool co-op one day a week which sends homework home and has made me realize that my kids can actually do more work than i’ve ever required them to do. it also gives lola and me a terrificly free day to thrift and clean and be girls together.
this week we’re trying to get back into the routine of everything, shipping books, having books printed, and shipping more books (thanks everyone for the amazing support via design sponge!). we’re planning a little birthday dinner for our unbelievably almost four years of age lola (boston terrier cupcakes, can i do it?), pulling the last of the good from the weed ridden garden, reading a little, making mobiles a little, playing soccer a little and drinking coffee a lot.