tracing stars

love emblem star from Anna Maria Horner's free pattern 16"X16"

 " The moon mouthing its own name,
the stars tracing on the sky's slate all night,
the lake in a trance,
the sudden heavy rain that believes in the laying on of hands,
and the finch in the jack pine.

The wind fumbling at everything's buttons,
the brook working to tie itself into a half-hitch,
the June peaks tipped with snow, a pentimento of winter--
part of the world's incoherent letter, addressed to no one,
therefore useless and beautiful.
And the finch in the jack pine."

-Chris Forhan's Summary and Invocation



{I enjoy the beauty in this poet's language... but I disagree- the world is a letter, a love letter written to me, and to each of us and that is what makes it so breathtakingly beautiful.}

I took this patchwork block and hot glued it around mat board cut to size and have it propped up on my mantle... why do stars make me so happy?

a poem i love

i have been thinking about this poem lately and just pulled it out to read again. it still just hits me like it did the first time.

Kindness

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

Is it just me, or is that just right? I have been "catching the thread" lately and sometimes feel so overwhelmed by the "size of the cloth" the it is hard to breath... i am so grateful for the kindness that ties my shoes and sends me out into the day-- the kindness of my friends, my children, my husband, my God.

my own

it may not exactly be a haiku (don't have time to count syllables....)

crawling baby fights diaper changes,

thinks it is Armageddon.

Bordeaux's butt paste good for hair?

that gives you the general idea of changing table life around here ;-)

happy valentine's day!

more haiku

"great to be mama.

one crucial thing you miss, though:

closed-door pottying."

"hyper-exhaustion

sounds like an oxymoron

unless you are two."

one of my very favorites!--

"when she was my mom

she said no sweets before lunch.

hypocrite grandma."

"so very thankful

mascara, play sand, and ants

are all nontoxic."

and i really love this one--

"organic panic:

air, food, water, clothing, toys;

it is all deadly."

"keep hands to yourself,

try not to breathe at daycare (nursery),

a germy minefield."

--haiku mama

"interest waning;

how do you up the ante

for solo pooping?"

"yay! the perfect time

to strip down naked and scream-

when mommy's on phone."

--haiku mama

little bits

"time to prune back toys:

they grow up walls like ivy,

infiltrate crannies."

"it's been two full days.

shoes are nowhere to be seen.

can you flush sneakers?"

"o, lovely naptime.

you are better than birthdays

with the gifts you bring."

---haiku mama

more of the same

"awake so early,

small boy rises with the sun.

can't snooze a baby."

on the note... of exhaustion:

"note for new mama:

falling asleep during sxx?

it's forgivable."

----Haiku Mama

hope y'all are still enjoying these little funnies... i am!

we are heading down to the basement... these days i make something are by far superior... and i am in need of superior right now! i have 300 5inch squares to cut out for elisha's twin sized quilt... as i am assuming that at some point he will want to sleep in a big boy bed (if you see a spooled -- jenny lind style twin for sale please let me know!) i am 1/3 of the way through w/ the cutting.... then i will have the sewing to do!

i am also wanting to get a darling sweater with owls along the top knit up for anna while it is still the correct season for sweaters (it will be short sleeved -- quicker to knit and easier to wear in a southern early spring) and of course i have about a dozen other projects on my list.

what do y'all do on a rainy day?

haiku

"forty thousand pounds:

how much stuff one baby needs;

afternoon car trip."

"hands clenched, smile subtle-

planning world dominations or dreaming of boobs?"

--- from Haiku Mama

haiku mama

i have this clever little book-- haiku mama(because 17 syllables is all you have time to read)... it is just a funny little gift type book... but i find myself quoting things from it throughout my day. i thought i would schedule some posts with a few verses from the book to entertain y'all when my blogging is infrequent. i imagine that most of the people reading this are deeply entrenched in parenthood and therefore will be as amused as i am... if you are not-- sorry.

especially those first few months i thought of this multiple times a day! ------

"sniffing newborn's head,

a primal urge takes over-

try not to eat him."

laguna song

with all the weddings i have been around the past 6 months- i have been thinking about these verses... i love them:

i add my breath to your breath
that we may be one person.
may our days on earth be long
may we finish our road together.

simple. but lovely.
speaking of simple.... a friend (julie) recommended a great blog www.simplemom.net . i have subscribed(just learned how to do that! on this blog no less) and am really enjoying it!