At Random

Safely Here

Arrived at John C. Campbell after what should have been a two and a half hour trip stretched to almost four due to a serious traffic jam. I was tempted by but, due to time constraints, couldn't stop at the American Museum of the House Cat next to an Antique Mall. Perhaps on the way home. . . .

Have met my class and sent them off with a writing assignment for tomorrow. I want them to introduce their main character from that character's point of view AND from the point of view of someone who doesn't much like them or sees them differently. 

It's a diverse group and I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Who Does Josie Look Like?

Justin, 1978

Folks often ask about (or seem to see) family resemblances in babies. I'm no different -- to me, Josie looks like her father when he was a baby. For all I know, she may look like Claui too but I haven't seen pictures of Claui as a baby.

Ethan, Vicki, and Justin, 1978

Justin sees the resemblance but points out that Josie is prettier . . . 

Claui and Josie

You be the judge . . .

John and Justin, 1978

John and Justin, 1978

I'm off today for  week of teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School. I should have internet access but one year it was down. So don't be worried if I don't post.

As always, I hate to leave home for fear of missing something. My big pink Oriental lily(I think it's a Stargazer) is about to bloom --for the first time since I planted it two or three years ago.

And, of course, Josie. She is changing so fast -- beginning to interact with me and really lock eyes. She had a little spell of looking as if she was trying to talk when I was talking to her and making faces. And she smiles!

A week is so short -- for me it's just a blip in the 3, 862 or so that I've lived so far but for her right now, it's one fifth of her whole life.

I can't wait to see what she does with it! 

Josie

Pretty in Pink - No Spiders, No Mold

photo by Claui

 

What and Where?

An assortment of strange life forms on the ocean floor?

A collection of odd mineral formations in a recently discovered cave?

A collection of growths on the floor of the Senate? Beings that function without hearts, enabling them to cut taxes for the wealthy and drive up the profits of the insurance industry while cutting health care from the most vulnerable?

 Nope, it's just the cream of asparagus soup that's been lost in the back of the refrigerator too long.

Whew! For a minute I thought I spotted Mitch McConnell!

Seriously, if you are opposed to this disaster of a health bill, let your Congress critters know, loud and clear.

(Yes, I hear you -- first a giant spider and now this. I'll get some Josie pics up ASAP.)

Drip Drop

As the Great Wheel Turns . . .

I know I've posted this lovely poem by Mary Oliver before but here at Solstice, it bears repeating . . .

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean --

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down --

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

With your one wild and precious life?