when along came Falkor Scout!
Thursday, May 27, 2021
baby story
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
at tension
tighten this twinge of distraction
arms are a bow, fingers quarrel
I think you may hit or miss now
I think you may miss... this love
fling open my arms and this exit
whisper confidence(s) like a seashell
maybe send postcards, wish us well?
Sunday, May 23, 2021
easy like Sunday afternoon
(I needed this interlude today--I made an impulsive grocery trip to get some ingredients for Big A's Boss Day dinner and OMG all the unmasked people.)
Over on Scroll, a shortlist of seven philosophers who can help us build back a better post-pandemic world.
Saturday, May 22, 2021
passing/passage
So this was me for the rest of the evening as I started and finished a novel--Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half--in one long gulp. I read the parts about passing breathlessly--racial passing + gender/trans passing. And it began to feel like being an immigrant is also somewhat like passing--in the sense that you leave an old self behind, propelled as much by necessity and accident as by some form of selfishness/self-centeredness.
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
context
accomplishing joy
surfacing tree brown
I come back to my body
through the sacred,
absurd landscape
of patience
[Pic: Scout and Huck hanging out with me in puppy pose.]
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
perspective
He was famous/semi-famous, and I expect the case was media fodder in the UK for a while. I feel awful that I've sometimes used his early English music ensembles in classes... I will not do this again.
(Pic is of our only east-facing window; I wish we had more. The tradescantia and pothos cuttings I pinched off and stuck into candleholders have rooted and are taking off. Funny how that works.)
Monday, May 17, 2021
focus
Lots of stuff going on--including working in my office, office visits at various doctors etc., but a walk with JG and a porch hang with KB and... hours of jabber and banter are the points I want to remember from today.
(Spot the bunny in the picture!)
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
lift your lantern up
Anyway--his camping lantern had fallen to the floor, so I asked if he could "lift your [his] lantern up" and a look of total befuddlement came over his face. Turns out, he thought it was an axiom he hadn't heard before in the vein of that hymn "This Little Light of Mine"--I'm going to let it shine, etc. 😂😂
And then this little love of mine took care of some yard work unprompted. 🥰🥰
Monday, May 10, 2021
mmmmm morels
Nothing quite like the first year we were here, or even the rainy spring of 2019... Still so much better than last year's poor showing, when I appear to have found just two.
Everything was worse last year.
Sunday, May 09, 2021
"maybe-you're-just-like-my-mother" day
Saturday, May 08, 2021
This is only a test
A. clap his hands in delight and pronounce it charming (no chance of this)
B. shake his head with a rueful smile and ask me to move them soon (probably)
C-F. any response less loving/indulgent than B.
(Dear Diary, he got a B.)
Monday, May 03, 2021
promise
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
"animals strike curious poses"
I was sitting in Nu's window seat--they have one of the best views in the house--when these guys came to find me. It reminded me of that time they busted me in At's room.
Sunday, April 25, 2021
A Study in Scarlet
Big A spring-cleaned our study, scrubbed the tiled floor, and moved rugs around this weekend. The resulting palette is kind of all kinds of red especially around my reading chair, adorably added to here by Huckie carrying a red dinner napkin around...
I sent this pic to family chat with the caption "A Study in Scarlet," and was miffed no one got the nerdy reference.
Monday, April 19, 2021
please distract me
I found some late hellebores and early daisies by the pond to distract me... Then work with students took up the rest of the day.
My social media is heartbreaking right now, with Indian friends looking for leads on plasma, drugs, ventilators, hospital beds...
My sister and I were wondering if our parents should get tested--I was worried about further exposure, but apparently there are teams that do home visits.
Late (very late) last night, a bookclub friend posted that their little one had broken their arm and that they were headed to the E.R. Big A was working in the ED, so I checked with him and gave them his work cell. This morning when I thanked Big A, I told him that when he's away, working nights, taking care of populations usually under-cared for, I feel I'm doing something good for the world too (although all I'm actually doing is wandering around insomniac and doomscrolling).
Sunday, April 18, 2021
sweet/hurt
My sweet Nu made me a matching rainbow kandi bracelet and taught me how to trade it proper P.L.U.R.-style.
Definitely the highlight of my weekend.
I'm worried about Covid spikes in MI and even more worried about the tsunami of numbers coming out of India. Extremely worried for my parents who got their second vaccine shot last week, and are experiencing some persistent and alarming discomfort / symptoms.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
just sayin'
None of us really do--but I did buy some Bitchin' Sauce because the name made me chuckle (and it's tasty!). Now the sauce is all gone and Nu has a new earring.
And it's definitely making a statement.
And reminded me of a long ago moment.
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Breath Song
I can barely make sense as it swells
like lichen or love, the secrets it tells
Drawn between its vague borders
[Picture from my perch where I was reading in the afternoon sun; wearing a faded, stained--but still favorited--summer blouse; marveling how the cherry blossoms are here practically overnight.]
Friday, April 09, 2021
Plants (they're also what's for dinner)
A vat of spring-y green soup for dinner--used up most of the fennel, celery, bok choy, cilantro, and curly kale + cannellini beans, a dash of parm, and lemon zest. It was ok, I'm not likely to recreate this again--my choices were dictated by what was in the veggie box and needed to be consumed.
In classes I sometimes like to ask when the last time people learned something and changed their mind was. For me, it was yesterday when CJ posted this Dr. Sarah Taber Twitter thread from a couple of years ago. The Imperfect Foods and Misfits Market boxes have felt like extra work lately; learning how I'm not really "saving" anything gave me permission to cut the cord there. At the height of the pandemic--MI is doing so badly, so I guess I mean at the height of the pandemic panic--it was a comfort to have these delivered, so I say goodbye with gratitude.
the kids are better than alright
I love how the the student protests on Columbia University's west lawn have grown despite the 100 arrests yesterday. I'm so moved b...
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Friends and old neighbors shutting it down in honor of John Crawford. _
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At had us pose for this pic up at Aunt R's place on Lake Huron so he could put it up in his dorm. "Don't tur...
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I have the feeling that I’m going to succumb to the season and put out a list of resolutions soon. Just wanted to establish this heads up th...