On This Miraculous Planet, On Real Food, On Union with all that is
Over the years, solar panels have been installed on every square inch of roof. There is nothing better than plugging in one of the cars and knowing that all of the energy generated goes straight to the ballet commute.
Then it snows.
Covering the panels.
The weather settles into below freezing for many days. Many days.
Snug under their blanket of snow, the panels teased and mocked me.
Read More“And so now each fall I begin my class in a garden, where they have the best teachers I know, three beautiful sisters. For a whole September afternoon they sit with the Three Sisters… One of my students in an artist, and the more she looks the more excited she becomes. “Look at the composition,” she says. “It’s just like our art teacher described…”
Read MoreThree years ago we harvested honey from our resident honeybees. I was still very fragile from my stint in the hospital and cheered from the sidelines and took pictures.
Capitalizing on our lessons learned we set ourselves up to harvest the combs in the garage - away from curious buzzing stingers. Doing the honey harvest within the confined space gifted us a concentration of the million faceted smell complexity. Each frame would add its own layer of pollen rich perfume. It was a bouquet resplendent in flower complexity and sweetness.
Read MoreIn her book, Wait It Gets Worse, my sister wrote about the two of us splitting wood in 2013. We had borrowed a splitter from a friend and took turns maneuvering logs beneath the pressurized blade. We now own a splitting machine. Funny how these things work after you do the math of renting for a few years.
Wanting a clean slate of the most time consuming fall chore before school started - we split wood while the smalls were away. In years past we had waited for October - but getting it done now feels like a gift of kite flying in that month instead of chore twitching.
First thing in the morning before it gets too hot and then again at the end of the day before the mosquitoes take over.
It is so satisfying.
Read More“Enjoy this time my beloveds, because baby chickens are only cute for the first 10 days or so - and we are assuming these girls were born yesterday, but it may have been the day before that.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Positive. I am positive. Tell you what, I will take pictures of them every day you hold them so we can keep track of how quickly they grow.”
So we did.
Read MoreThis past autumn was very dry. Super super super dry.
Per years past we planted seedlings in the greenhouse in October. We coddled the new plants for a few days. Then the holidays rolled around and we ignored them.
From years past we knew that nothing happened during the dark times of December and January. Instead we looked at the snowdrifts against the greenhouse and snuggled by the fire.
We trusted the ground moisture would seep into the baby roots and feed the growing plants - claytonia, spinach, bok choy. We knew this to be a safer choice for water than potentially freezing the cells of the plants with too much water from a can.
Read MoreI was once in the audience for a panel of diary farmers. ”It used to take 6 weeks to harvest hay and bring it into the barn. Now with machinery, it can be done in a day and a half. The funny thing is, it is not as though I am sitting twiddling my thumbs for the extra five and a half weeks that I used to take haying.”
I was thinking about this recently when mowing around bits of fern pushing forth in the grass. I will come back later with the grass shears and unveil the rest of them.
Read MoreBranches groan under soft tender flesh and hard pits
Can this be our life?
To wander rows, looking for a deeper color
Pick a peach warm from the tree
Read MoreBefore we slept here, I marked you with tape,
keeping you save from slash of the saw
to honor your grandeur and years of life
- many oaks became eight.
Read MoreEarlier this month there was a missive from Bean’s school. As the Hudson Valley deals with the deluge of spongy moth caterpillar, small dark caterpillars that can cause skin irritations… students will be kept off blacktops and playgrounds to limit the chances of exposure.
I was flummoxed. Spongy moth caterpillars?* Falling from the sky? Two days later in the soccer fields I continually picked off 1/2 inch long black wiggles from skin, clothing, bag, water bottle, chair, other people’s shirts, etc. They are falling from a clear sky and I am at least 300 yards from the tree line. What in the world?!
And both children broke out in itchy hives wherever one lingered too long on bare skin.
Read More“Momma, are you ready for FULL ATTACK?!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I am going to go in there and BE VICIOUS!”
“Okay, Dragon, go in there and be vicious - let’s see what happens.”
In November, we planted winter greens in the greenhouse. Hesitant to glean too much, we were very judicious in our harvesting. Suddenly March brought a few days in the 70s and the greenhouse went into overdrive. A good lesson from Mother Nature - gorge while you can.
Read MoreDragon, you have been dealing with palate expanding to encourage your tiny baby teeth to leave. As a result, there is an entire list of dos and don’ts of food allowances on the fridge. Sometimes your mouth is too sore to even contemplate the oh so finely shaved carrots and apples. You, all on your own, nailed the solution: Fire Fishing with Apples. (Ahem, the official name of course.)
“Momma, what I want to do is to roast an apple in the woodstove to make it soft.”
“Oh, dearest, not inside the house. It is warm enough that we could make a bonfire outside and you could do it there?”
A pause, a contemplative look, a shrug. “Sure.”
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My life vision is to love, be curious, identify my Cranky Monster, and be brave enough to speak from and for The Good.
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