Right Now

Right Now

The assignment:  take a look around you and ~ real fast without thinking too much or trying too hard ~ take photos of what you love Right Now.  I came up with four photos (before the battery died in my camera).  And I added something just cuz:  describe each of the four photos with four words.

Orange: slices of sunshine.

Anjali is a blur.

Papi, strum those chords!

Kitty rumbles the purr.

This exercise was inspired by My Favorite Blogger.

Baby, It's (really!) Cold Outside!

For the past week or so, it has rained hard every day and every night; they blame it on El Nino, that little trickster!  It seems that each day there has been a sunny, or at least dry, window in the afternoon.  So we have run out the door to take advantage of it!  And, amazingly, each day when we have had our fill or our time window is closed, about ten minutes after coming back to the fire, it starts raining!  What timing!

But yesterday, that sunny window never showed.  It was wet all day.  Not only rainy and windy ~ yesterday was cold!  We had a regular winter day here in Berkeley.  The only place to be was right beside the fire.  But the cupboards were picked-over and bare, and the Farmers' Market called.  Or, rather ~ emailed.  Eduardo, the baker-owner of Morell's Bread, emailed all of his regular customers:

I just wanted to remind you that the Ecology Center runs the Berkeley Farmers' Markets rain or shine, cold or warm!

I'm gathering up warm clothes and rain gear and getting ready to brave the storm as are my other fellow vendors.  So come on out to North Berkeley and be a part of what makes our little world here so darned special!

Be well and be safe.

Love - Eduardo 

Well, if we considered being sissies and skipping the market, we weren't about to after that letter!  So I trekked to the market (all 5 blocks!  up hill both ways!) and did my best to buy at least something from each of the skeleton crew of vendors who were out there with pink noses and numb fingers.  Oh, darn!  I had to buy a croissant in order to support that one vendor!  ; )  And, indeed, I was one of a sparse crowd of shoppers that afternoon.  The conversation was warm even if the weather was not, since the vendors had nothing but time.

As the weather is rarely that wintry here, it was an adventure.  And exhilarating!  I was all the better for going, and all the warmer when I got back home to the fire and glass of wine waiting for me.  That night the bratwurst and roasted butternut squash, as delicious as they would have been anyway, were extra tasty because I made the journey to procure them (just think how much slimmer ~ and probably a lot more grateful ~ we'd all be if we had to hunt-and-gather our every meal!).

  

Oh, so cold!  (I really have been in Berkeley too long.  ; )

Celebrationing

Well, I thought I had a little series starting there about Celebration, but some photos that I kept asking a friend for (until I felt like I was bullying her!) haven't surfaced, and life keeps happening!  For now I can send you to Anjali's blog for the version that the grandparents get:   Christmas Celebrations , and Dillon Beach with Friends, but there is much more Celebration yet to include!  Like my thank you cards, the sharing will just be a little late..

It's been storming a lot here the past few days. The other night as I drifted to sleep, the wind shook treelimbs and rattled windows. I dreamt that the front door got blown suddenly open.

I imagined it was my creative mind that was being shoved dramatically open to as-yet-unheard-of possibilities.

          I smiled.

Wow.  I opened my inbox one more time before I headed up to bed for the night.  I found an advertisement from The Do Lab down in LA for their big Valentine's Day production, Lucent L'amour.  I half-attentively scrolled down, and stopped as I rested my eyes on a featured painting by Luis Sanchez.  It's a painting of me.  Or, maybe I should say, a painting I modeled for ~ when I performed with Lucent Dossier.  This was actually the last time I appeared with them.  I really was just passing through town and happened to be able to coordinate it with a photo shoot for the painter.

Here's the painting.

And here are some photos from that photo shoot, almost four years ago (a photo of me posing for what would become a painting is in the top left hand of this first multi-pic grouping, by Roger Fojas).

Considering my beginning work with The Artist's Way, and its focus on synchronicity, this visit to my inbox is curious.

Last night I wrote a reactionary blog filled with wistfullness and longing.  But this morning in the light of day, I sit drinking tea by the fire as it rains hard outside.  The rain sploshes in puddles on the sidewalk as the blustery wind rattles the windows and clangs the windchimes.  My daughter clops around the hardwood in shoes too big, and hums.  I do not wish for another time or a different set of circumstances.  And I'm happy with the small forward-moving progress I feel toward a more creative life for myself Right Now.  

So I will leave that blog unposted at the moment, and remain simply intrigued .. and curious.  I do believe in synchronistic happenstance.  And I'm just waiting ~ for this little vision-glimpse into my past to whisper its wisdom.  

(by the way ~ i did my makeup for this shoot, and i like it a lot. :-)

Celebration ~ Christmas Eve

Sealion worked a twelve hour shift on Christmas day, so we had a feast the night before.  I braised a brisket, made smashed sweet potatoes (with lots of cream and butter), and spelt molasses rolls.  Austin made a wilted spinach salad with bacon. We taste tested the peanut butter cookies to make sure the Christmas Spirit would like them ~ I put a little dish of them on the mantle, and ~ sure enough ~ Santa sampled the cookies and left a sweet card addressed to Anjali.    

family dinner by the fire

Might I add that I passionately dislike the new blogger format, which very often angers me far more often than the old one did.  Oh, does it ever. 

Celebration

(or, as is the case so much of the time: Gratitude for Friends)

Much excuse to celebrate and many celebrations this Wintertime season! As my birthday falls just days after the new year, I have always viewed that smear from the 24th of December (or how about Thanksgiving?!) through at least the 10th of January as one long reason to eat drink and be merry. : ) (oh, geez. blogger is doing this again ~ not connecting words, but instead just trailing the letters of a word onto the next line...) I am thankful for the company and the festivities to warm up the season and keep filling up the cup of cheer. Merriment, friends, hugs, and deliciousness all around. As that beloved roommie would say, "Hooray!" 
For a few posts to come, I will share with you some of the festivity.

Happy Update on Hollis

I have been keeping up with Hollis by reading the blog entries that her mom posts.   She continues recovery in Tennessee, her home state, where she and her mom (her daily companion) can be near family.  And today I checked in to learn that Holli (her given name) is talking more and more, and singing!  Brain  recovery is slow.  It's all about baby baby steps.  So big obvious steps like this feel miraculous, indeed.  Yay!

Crafty for Christmas

Anjali received one gift from her Papi and me for Christmas ~ this mommy-made doll.  I used a kit for the basics and then added some Tiffie style.  She has a soft body stuffed with wool, and the yellow shirt continues on down the legs, and then there are little feet that are made like the hands.  The polka dot and green hat fabrics are the same as on Anjali's Party Dress.  Right now she is simply outfitted in a polka dot "sarong", but she hopes to have a dress and pants soon.  

We just so happened to open one gift from my mom (Nanna) for Anjali on Christmas Eve, and it just so happened to be this Nanna-made stocking ~ very handy for Santa! 

Crafty

Here's another birthday dress that finally made its debut in December.  It was actually too long for the still-crawling Anjali.  A comfy day-dress, now that walking is very much in full swing.  It was made using the same dress-as-pattern that the other one used ~ with buttons in the back, of all "repurposed" (as "they" now say) fabrics.

The best representation of this can be found on the Anjali and the Ball of Yarn footage.

Crafty

This is a dress I started and almost finished for Anjali's birthday in late October.  Good thing I designed it to be too big so that by the time I got around to finishing it, it still has a few wearings in it!  I used another dress as a pattern.  The top half, and green trim are from second hand shirts (one was worn by her Papi years ago), and the polka dot is (tada!) new very soft corduroy fabric.

It immediately gained the title "Anjali's Party Dress" and made appearances at two different festive occasions.

the citrus-onion salad dressing she ate by the spoonful

added quite a lot of character to the front.  ; )

I'm sure you've already heard and read much along these lines, but just in case you haven't, here's what MoveOn.org has to say about the catastrophic tragedy in Haiti:

Dear MoveOn member,

The news coming out of Haiti is almost too terrible to imagine.

Three million people have been affected by Tuesday's earthquake, and the Red Cross estimates as many as 50,000 may be dead. Survivors are digging through the rubble with their hands in a desperate attempt to rescue those who are trapped.

With water and medical supplies in short supply, and the Haitian government paralyzed, international aid efforts in the next few days will be critical to prevent more human suffering.

These three charities, and many others, are providing care. If you can contribute to help fund their emergency efforts, please do.

• Doctors Without Borders: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86019&id=18575-6917002-7NL4aYx&t=1

• Oxfam America: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85998&id=18575-6917002-7NL4aYx&t=2 
  

• Yéle Haiti: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86026&id=18575-6917002-7NL4aYx&t=3
  

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Adam, Amy, Anna, Annie, Carrie, Christopher, Daniel, Danielle, Eli, Emily, Gail, Ian, Ilya, Ilyse, Joan, Jodeen, Kat, Keauna, Laura, Lenore, Marika, Matt, Matthew, Melanie, Michael, Nita, Peter, Scott, Stephen, Steven, Susannah, Tim, and Wes

hmmm..

i had all these plans to blog it up as soon as i got the chance.  but my mind and heart are filled with sadness and incomprehension at the loss experienced by a couple of friends.  i don't know what to say, and there's no way to comfort them, but i just wanted to send a care out to the universe.

my heart sings a note that adds to their song of grief and love.  

Soundtrack to a Birth Day

A song that I had never heard by quite possibly my favorite singer.  What a birthday gift!

It's been lilting through my head for days.

Feeling Good (amazing!!! listen all the way to the end.) by Nina Simone

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

(refrain:)x2
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

(refrain)

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel 

(refrain)

New Year Ruminations

Feeling ponder-full on the first day of the new year.
The last year was all about surviving and finding joy in motherhood (and I had the fortunate situation that afforded that singular focus).  As the year came to a close, I felt the stirrings of change inside me as I realized my view is pulling back to include more than just my baby.  I feel the need to make some changes and set some goals.  With that, for the first time in a long while I felt the wind of synchronicity breathe into my life.  I eagerly lifted my sail:  I'm excited to be embarking on an Artist's Way course with a group, facilitated by a friend.  The first time I worked through the book, I did it on my own ~ back in Lexington the year leading up to my big move Out West (among so many Huge Life Changes). It worked with shocking power in my life.  I sensed that undertaking it with a group might be even more intense and positive.  Now seems like the perfect time.  I have also registered for a mini-marathon in mid March ~ the Shamrock'n Half ~ the same one I ran a couple years ago [or has it been three by now!!?].  For a while I have thought that a mini would be a great way to commemorate my self after Anjali's one year birthday.  Making plans to run that same race feels good.
While I'm on the subject of goals, I would like to celebrate one of the only kind-of goals I set for myself in the past year:  writing eight blog entries every month.  I wanted to do this for myself ~ to show up and be visible in a year where I could have plowed under and not come up for air.   I wanted extension more than (or at least equal to) contraction.  Some months have been slimmer and some more full, but over the course of the year, I managed to post an average of eight-plus entries per month.
So with this I propose a toast.
To the year passing for which I feel good about my efforts.  And to the year ahead in which I hope to put one foot in front of the other to reach potentialities now merely visioned.    

Cheers!  



photo:  close-up of items at our Solstice-BlueMoon-NewYear's Shrine.

and Happy New Year!

I feel so blessed with beauty, love, and loved-ones in my life.

2009 was lived day-by-day.  May 2010 be equally present-filled.