I keep looking

for the secret.

_

Cleverly Disguised

Not sure why I took this picture

he's so lovely/ we gave him that tee/

I love him

_

Education is Important

Many kinds of learners; only one Alma!

_

This is Not a Cat

Just Huckie!

I did something right

Big A took a picture 

of freezer-foraged dinner

(veggie burger/english muffin/fried egg)

_

O Momentous Day

Off to see 

the wonderful

Homecoming

_

When a Banker Says...

that they work with families 

on Detroit's Eastside,

they deserve their own 

thank-you copy.

_

In other news:

NuNu: Mama did it all by herself!

Nothing is Impossible

@The Broad

_

Looking up

NuNu helped clear a bed for the veggie garden :)

Seeing Us off the Property, Deer

There are at least three...

_

The First Year

Living somewhere new 

is full of garden surprises.

(Rhododendron by the Front Door)

_

TFW

you just erupt 

_

Picnic Smiles

(First pick-nick this year)

Regal

Highland Festival parade

Spring Spirit

This picture makes me smile because it's so green and lovely and all the kids are outside; it makes me chuckle because A is pretending that little NuNu is heavier than the-newly-18 At; it makes me laugh out because while Huck is all excitement and tail aflutter, Scout is crouching in the background just trying to poop.

_

Spring Term and the Loving is Easy

Scout came to class today

there was so much love

(from and for)

this baby.

_

Hamilton, Sir.

At didn't want to miss prom

so just those of us who're 

not going to college 

_

It's Kind of Silly, Really

How 

I end up 

loving every class.

Potter Park Zoo 

and then

I made them lunch

_

Cherry Blossoms/Sakura

At used to sing a song he'd learned at school 

to Nu while she was in my belly

I like to think she perked up at the song 

when he sang it to her in the outside world

Plot Twist: When A and I attended the concert 

where the song was sung...

It sounded *nothing* like what 

we heard at home :D 

_

Mmm... May Morels

From the SE corner of the garden.

_

What the 18-year-old Wanted for his Birthday

Sari/Not Sorry

At work

'cos I read this

and it made me mad.

_

Between Us and Ta-Nehisi Coates

S's Visit (Part 2)

There couldn't be an apter picture of these two who 

bring so much light and excitement 

everywhere they go 

Broad Art Museum

Laser Display

S's Visit (Part 1)

Surrounded by love

_

_

Woke up like this

Came home to news that 

he'd gotten into his first choice

(with a bunch of scholarships)

last night.

SO much celebrating

until we went to see 

Logan and then cried 

all night.

_

Five Years Ago in Yellow Springs...

Best graffito ever.

(Facebook reminded me.)

-

Sometimes, Love

is a chat with an old student 

who baked a loaf of green bread

for St. Pat's day and drove here 

from 45 minutes away

_

Daughter to Mama

"I made a new poem," she says.
"Let's hear it then," I say, half-listening as I start pulling dinner prep together.

"You can take the NuNu out of the Mama

                             But

You can't take the Mama out of the NuNu"

Reader, I melted.

(Turns out she actually said MoMA because she's really into making art; but I heard what I heard.)

_

Houseplants Are Dirty

With no warning or precedent

the corn plant that had been 

growing taller for five years

sprouts tuberose flowers.

I feel so sad, I said to the teenager

that it's trying so hard to propagate.

He said: I can't believe you'd care 

so much about some horny plant.

_

NuNu has Haiku

Dog Dog Dog Dog Dog
Dog Dog Dog Dog Dog Dog Dog 
Dog Dog Dog Dog-Poop

For the best effect, each "dog" should be in different tones of delight, love, and play (until the surprise ending, of course).

_

Reading Buddy

All weekend long

we caught reading time 

together in the loft

(And yes, it was 

really so bright

she had to wear a hat.)

_

Belated

 International Women's Day/

Day Without Women

Selfie

(I was tossing my head 

to keep the hair out of my face.

Meanwhile, in Lansing...

trees were falling all over our house)

Wind-ed

:/

It was a beautiful day,

but crazy windy.

On the highway

the car slid around 

from lane to lane.

Then we came home 

to this. Scary. There's 

a branch coming

through the ceiling

of NuNu's room.

_

Kids Who Love Their Dad

_

The Magic

of being able to take pictures of the sky

as your teenager drives home

_

#MLGA

Over dinner, I vented a bit about a person who shall remain unnamed who told me that literature courses should teach "just the greats" i.e. Eurocentric canons.

Quoth the teenager: You mean their slogan is "Make Literature Great Again?"

Whoa. My favorite.

_

Boozy Poppies

What you might do when
the kids are at school
and you and your work
friends are on break.

Just before I drank from the Solo cup
that held the paint-water
instead of from the Solo cup
that held the pinot.

_

The Most Beautiful Thing in Las Vegas

is leaving it.

Really.

_

Conference Sadness

            I ordered the Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding only because



 I missed everyone so much and it reminded me of eating it with the fam in New Orleans.



But it didn't help.

_

TFW when you get dressed in the dark and in a hurry

Not sure whose pants these are

but I couldn't go to work in them

so I shopped for work pants 

at the grocery store today

_

When Sibs Cooperate

They can find a smile stick : )

_

Things I'm Oddly Proud About

I haven't pinned/liked/emulated any decor-porn with those mounted animal heads. Not even if they were obviously fake or were TOY stuffed animals. Just. No.

(Or as Baby Nu used to say: No! Very, very, NO!)

_

When Mom's making dinner but you want treats

_

Friendship as a butterfly

I did not expect a big crowd 

for my feminist-y Bollywood 

faculty forum presentation

Since so many fellow feminists 

were headed to Grand Rapids

on a bus, for a board meeting

but Nu was there 

(reading, grinning, asking Qs)

and lovely K made me a post-it butterfly 

in case I was stuck for luck.

_

_

A Reminder

Together @ Sister Solidarity March, Lansing

I thought At's poster was a bit... leaky, 

but he got so many compliments on it.

Not to be too sappy about it,

but I love my students.

_

Made it through today

I don't teach today, thankfully. K held a wake/media boycott of sorts at the bookstore and came bearing postcards for our senators. I showed up there, but was still shellshocked from the inauguration. I believe in deus ex machina.  Then I went back to my office and read held a book.

After dinner (Chipotle # Resistance Party), left Nu with Big A after dinner and went to go see Split with At... Who had seen it with friends earlier today (At is a huge Shyamalan fanboy). Not that reality isn't scary enough.

We tried to get into the 9:20 show, but it was sold out (!) and so we sat through LaLaLa-the mediocre high school musical movie--before we went to the 11:55 showing. And *then* went food shopping at 2:00 a.m. and marinated and prepped until about 4:00 a.m.

Exhaustion will get me through whatever day it is right now.

_

NuNu is ready for the revolution

-

Consumed

The children have left me
with this changed body
that holds onto their shapes
as though they're still inside

And the gulp of lovepride
worrylove happybrightfear
and other odd couplings
on the lip of my heart


___________________________________
Yesterday, lingering after dinner, smirky and teasing (and full of love), At and Nu told me that even if I was in a nursing home on Thanksgiving, they'd make sure to visit me (and feed me mashed potatoes).