28th
Fourteen years ago today I had the pleasure of meeting the sweet wee one in this photo. M’s birthday comes at a time when I’m reading the book, “The Latehomecomer—A Hmong Family Memoir”, by Kao Kalia Yang. In this book Yang tells of her father describing where babies came from: ” Before babies are born they live in the sky where they race along with the clouds and can see everything—the beauty of the mountains, the courses of streams, and the dirt of the paths that people take down on earth.” Yang descibes her coming down to earth and the day of her birth. I love this imagery and magical way of thinking about babies and their lives before they were born. Even though I don’t share this belief system, a part of me loves to think about M making her way down to be with us and the warm September day she graced us with her spunky presence.
23rd
I (eye) am so glad that my family believes me when they ask what I want for my birthday: gifts that are handmade and from their hearts. My youngest made this sweet I (eye) Love You Momma box. I love the creativity that went into it and I am so thankful for the love. Here’s the rest of it:
Sweet.
12th
Last night I commented on a friend’s blog. She was writing about the pain of being a widow and the cravings she has to be by herself sometimes (away from a pre-K child and one in kindergarten) and yet how she craves having the closeness of a partnership. I thought maybe this situation and commentary might apply to many of you so I’ll share part of it.
“Make a list of the qualities you want in the next partner that will come into your life. Hide it in a journal and refer to it from time to time. It will help you weed out the crazy-makers and it will solidify in your mind the next person you want to share your life with.
Then ask the rest of us to supply you with a list of all the great characteristics we think you have and tuck this into your pocket the next time you have to be in a room with couples. When you feel yourself tense up, reach into your pocket— refer to your list. A few years ago on my birthday a group of friends each listed 10 reason they were glad I was in their life. I posted them in my studio and on a “cloudy day” I refer to them and they give me the boost I need to move on.”
If you feel this commentary/advice was helpful feel free to pass it along.
07th
We attended the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. We look forward to this event every year because there is something so comforting about what you can expect from this event: Families enjoying time with each other, every-kind-of-food-on-a-stick,music, juried art & craft shows, the animal barns complete with the biggest boar and a nursing sow, roosters crowing, proud farm kids showing their prized animals, a cow “mooing” contest, crop art, recycled garbage art, fish ponds, eco-information buildings…all under a clear blue sky. Ah!
Two words that bring such happiness
Sky Ride across the fairgrounds
A pair of people who wished they could have voted for Al
A sweet diner
Beautiful jars of honey
...and jellies
Crop art that made my day
For more detailed photos of some of the political crop art see this link:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/mary-turck/seed-art-michele-bachmann-and-state-fair
Superhero in the midway
This brought back memories....!
Prize Boar
Cow cuddling time
Proud moments
A wall of seed corn bags
Garbage found in MN lakes transformed into a fish sculpture
On our way out we spotted this booth and it made me think about a book I just finished entitled, Middlesex. A tough but good read about people who fit outside the defined norms in our culture. It made me wonder about the people who work there and their lives.
02nd
Summer captured in a jar
Today I went to my friend Marie’s house to learn more about canning tomatoes. The kitchen was full of delicious aromas. It brought back memories of my mom standing in a very humid hot Iowa kitchen with water boiling as she worked hard to preserve food for us. I loved the color of the fruits and vegetables in the jars. We had a root cellar and I loved going in there to look at the shelves of pears,tomatoes, green beans…all lined up and ready to please us some winter day when we needed to taste and remember the warmth and bounty of summer.
Just in case you’re hunkering to do some canning here’s a link to a site I found with basic information:
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_03/tomato_without_liquid.html
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