in thanks: october 29, 2009

{a special "in thanks" post, dedicated to lovely anchorage, ak}

in thanks for:
* mountains to the east and cook inlet to the west - consistent, yet always new
* a downtown that i completely traverse on my walk to work
* the accessibility of art, music, honest culture
* opportunity galore
* a confluence of many good, open-hearted people
* music buddies, regular jam nights, getting to be a singer
* alaska, "15 minutes away"
* real, fresh fish
* diversity, finally.
* happy moose (and magpies!) on the front lawn

veggies for christmas?

how do i love thee,
my Glacier Valley Farm CSA box?
let me count the ways...
i love that i pick you up at my workplace,
that you contain fresh, locally-grown produce,
that getting you exposes me to foods and cooking
that i would not otherwise encounter.
i love the many incarnations of brussel sprouts we've eaten-
especially that divine brussel sprout and potato soup!
i love thy beets sliced thin,
cooked with AK onions and garlic
with feta cheese and toasted walnuts on top.
and i love, love, love opening you up:
like christmas morning, twice a month!

the smallest ones

these are some of the children with whom i work on a daily basis.
the sketchbook is a shared one that's mostly used outside,
so the condition of the drawings is less than perfect
(rain, other artists' contributions, etc.).
the very last piece is one of me, drawn by 5-yr-old T,
who is the subject of the first portrait here.

(ms. amy, by T)

Ah, not to be cut off,
not through the slightest partition
shut out from the law of the stars.
The inner - what is it?
if not intensified sky,
hurled through with birds and deep
with the words of homecoming.

~Ranier Maria Rilke

the smallest ones

in the last month, i've been sketching portraits of
the kids in our enrichment program
during outside play-time.
it's a precious thing:
to look at them carefully, so close up,
for generous amounts of time--
their dear and rascally selves balancing on my ankles
with eyes gazing into mine.
i like to spend time really looking at these children,
beginning to see the things I wouldn't, otherwise,
and letting them know that they've been seen
(at least for the 5-10 minutes they can bear to sit still-ish).
sweet and smart sarah
inspires me all the way from her pre-school in lesotho;
she wrote three posts full of thoughtful descriptions
of the children she wrangles.
i am feeling moved to copy her--
knowing that my careful attention to these sparkly little beings
can only help me respond better to their needs.
it's like looking at art-- the more you look,
the better acquainted you become,
and the easier it is to love- or, at least, appreciate-
and someday understand.

{i'll try to do a few descriptions this week,
and will scan some of the drawings, too!}

ocean

I am in love with Ocean
lifting her thousands of white hats
in the chop of the storm,
or lying smooth and blue, the
loveliest bed in the world.

In the personal life, there is
always grief more than enough,
a heart load for each of us
on the dusty road. I suppose
there is a reason for this, so I will be
patient, acquiescent. But I will live
nowhere except here, by Ocean, trusting
equally in all blast and welcome
of her sorrowless, salt self.

~Mary Oliver
{Thank you, Annie!}

for clare and nick...

...who are getting married this weekend!
wishing you both a weekend and lifetime
of love, fun and family,
filled with music, laughter, dancing,
growth, good food, truth and kindness.

in thanks: october 12, 2009

in thanks for...
* a productive, efficient, fun Bioneers planning meeting!
* coming home to soup on the stove
* installing our own curtain rods (with a cordless drill)
* new music in the mail!
* not dreading winter
* those amazing bobby pins i got in new zealand 3 years ago
* a good haircut
* getting to have a stage name :o)
* a work community that communicates honestly and kindly
* my nephews.

near point

yesterday,
angela, danielle, sable and i
climbed near point (just north of wolverine).
it was drizzly but warm-ish,
until we got to the top,
where the sharp wind felt like winter.
we took a sweet snack break in the shelter of a spruce-y scrub,
then booked our way back down in time to beat the 7:30 sunset.
beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
so lucky.

high tea at g street

the first of a good many gatherings at g street:
hot tea, galettes with caramelized pears, ak blueberry scones,
crab apple tart, biscuits with angela's blueberry jam, zucchini bread,
delightful people, cute babies, a little singing, poetry and prose read aloud.
huzzah!

eating alaska? deeeeelicious.

this weekend,
we got to see Eating Alaska,
a film by Ellen Frankenstein.
it was presented as part of the
Alaska Center for the Environment's
Alaska Local Food Film Festival,
which is showing all this week at Beartooth Theatrepub.
it's thoughtful and interesting commentary
on "what happens to a vegetarian who moves to the last frontier..."

:o)

might not be available in your neck of the woods, yet,
but the trailer is worth a watch.

Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety--

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light--
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

~Mary Oliver

moooooooose...

...in the neighbor's front yard, yesterday morning :o).
mama and baby, curled up napping.
so sweet!

in thanks: october 2, 2009

in thanks for...
* running feet
* heat
* healthy friends
* elise's return to ak
* a house filled with pretty things
* sunny days, still!
* the library returning to normal (non budget-cuts) hours
* a golden nugget of a day with the 5-year-olds
(while playing house under a little spruce tree:
"You get married when you love somebody a whole lot."
"No, you're married when you hang out with somebody all the time."
"Well, Arden and me hang out all the time and we don't do marriage."
"Oh.")