This may be goodbye

I mean, surely by now you have stopped checking this here site. Gracious me. And, because I like to check things off of my list instead of having things hanging over my head (Hello, Thomas Merton...) I feel like this blog has reached its conclusion. I simply don't have the time to dedicate to such an endeavor anymore. Don't get me wrong, this is a sad day for me. But, I feel le blog has done its work on me, and I am forever grateful. Instead of it being perched out there, dangling, I'd rather close it up and move on forward.

So, in the spirit of its gifts, I would like to simply say, please love each other truly.

Fare thee well.

Truly.

Ok- so my new favorite albums are 1) the soundtrack from Juno- super fun and sweet, and 2)Raising Sand by- ok, ready? Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. OH MY GOODNESS. It is the most beautiful thing- from the haunting 'Killing the Blues' to the hilarious 'Fortune Teller', I am completely entranced and in love. I feel like I have heard all of the songs before, and at the same time, they all feel completely new. Mmmm.... I am also having a little Duran Duran fetish, but that is my own problem. Get the first two- directly.

My love letter to the universe continues...

Well, hello there. Somehow, somewhere, I started moving, and haven't really sat down since. It is all good, just less still than it used to be- which is funny because I actually tried to start meditating every day. That turned into a creative excercise on how exactly I define meditation. Thus, I spent a lot of time trying to excuse my lack of time to just be. Ironic, yes? Just when I need peace the most, I try to wiggle out of it. Lame, I know- especially because Thomas Merton's presence weighs heavy in that corner- not chiding, just very much there.

It is a strange sensation- I have that exuberance usually reserved for summertime, very project oriented with very little attention span for anything quiet. I am going to attempt the balance- certainly there is goodness in that. Mine is a moving meditation- a becoming in action, a walk. I am ok with that- becoming by doing. As I have discovered, being and doing are not mutually exclusive.

In any case, If I am not here, you can probably find me here.

They call this the 'Unsung Season'

and I am not sure why...

Winter Jasmine on the snow day

(photo by Seth Nichols)


Winter Honeysuckle, brought inside to bloom...

New and welcome happenings

So, some friends of mine at the garden have started (really, just started) a blog for the food obsessed. Check it out- let us know what you think!

Oh, me.

They, the lovely admin of the University of Richmond, say that I HAVE to participate in the graduation ceremony this spring. I have tried to get out of it because I have absolutely NO interest in graduation, or any other ceremonies for that matter. For one thing- BORING. For another, I do not do well participating in such things. Super klutz extraordinaire. At Sallie and Matt's wedding, my shoe broke, and I had to limp, hunchback style, down the aisle. My hat was knocked off at my college graduation while the president attempted to put the sash around my neck. Oh, and right before that ceremony the elastic in my underwear broke. Ahem. Also, (yes, there's more) I tripped on my way to my confirmation into the Episcopal church when I was like 13. My shoe fell off and sat right on the steps while I knelt in front of the bishop.

Ok- well, at least I will not know anyone at this graduation. Why are they doing this to me? Maybe I can plead my freak flag. We'll see.

Woo- Hoo!

Ok, so- it is done. I have a Master's degree. In Liberal Arts. I traded 250 of pages that I wrote while trying so hard not to tear out all of my hair for one great, big, declarative piece of paper. And yes, it was fun. So, what to do now?

Sweet Al compiled this list for me:

What about being a homesteader in Alaska? I guess that's all done.

What about growing tea? I like tea.

What about being a Caribbean dictator? I watched a giant PBS program about Castro last night. He really had style points, that's for sure.

What about coming up here and making sure I sleep more? There's always room for that.


Style points aside, I am considering: a) buying a farm (unless buying the farm is a polite way of saying 'that chickie has gone mad' and no one has told me)

b) starting a baseball (or whiffle ball) team called the 'Unemployables.' Seriously. The back of my uniform shall read 'Master of Liberal Arts'. I know some of you would join... Wise Woman, Artist, Consultant, Reluctant Lawyer... Farm Hand.

c) making a movie with Ingrid who has a video camera. Whadd'ya say, Ing?

That's all I got. Well, you know- today, anyway.

Oh Happy Day

Ok, seriously. I don't know how I would get any work done without this blog. I either do some rambling here or I wind up baking. And, lest you think I do a lot of rambling, know that I do a heck of a lot of baking. I find these both of activities essential to greasing the wheels, like I have to get a certain amount of puttering done in order to get down and dirty with this paper. It is the last paper, and I just realized that I had not been able to tell anyone what I was studying, really, until the work was all done. Oh, and that is just like me, too- I dive in head first with everything- puzzles, recipes, house buying, dog acquiring... And, it works out when I can tell it in the past tense, but when someone asks what I am doing in the present it always sounds so flaky. I might need a press agent to give me sound bites to keep up appearances. You know, in general. Hee.

Anyway, good news- Michael Pollan wrote a new book, In Defense of Food and you can listen to the NPR interview here. Sigh. Plus, Joel Salatin (of The Omnivore's Dilemma and fantastic egg fame) wrote a book called Everything I want to Do is Illegal. There is not a better title than that anywhere.

Ok, ok. Back to work. I'll leave you with some real wisdom regarding the modern idea of nature.

"For many of us, nature is a last bastion of certainty; wilderness, as something beyond the reach of history and accident is one of the last in our fast dwindling supply of metaphysical absolutes, those comforting transcendental values by which we have traditionally taken out measure and set our sights. To take away predictable, divinely ordered nature is to pull up one of our last remaining anchors. We are liable to float away on the trackless sea of our own subjectivity" (Pollan Second Nature 184).

The power of words

You know I believe in them. Thus, I so wish we had been able to further explore the conversation we started as you guys were leaving on New Year's Day about what it feels like to send your thoughts out to the ether and not become attached to them once they land. After all, it is not just the words that go, it is part of you as well. It is impossible just to hold them out, you must be prepared to give them away. It is a big deal, and that vulnerability involves trust and openness to change. Doing so is a huge risk, but really, how else are you supposed to become greater than you are small? Oh, but the power of those words. We all know how uncontrolled it feels to give your heart, to let it flutter away under its own volition.

Consider this wall, one of my favorite parts of the Lewis Ginter holiday extravaganza. We put out a bunch of colored post it notes and asked people to write down their hopes for the world. We wound up with a gorgeous assortment of desires. A lot of love and peace. A strange amount of requests for pie. Mostly though, I was struck by how many people were so personal about their requests, and how willing they were to make them publicly. People named names. They asked for love and for forgiveness. People asked for health and care. They thanked the universe for what they had been given. They asked for the magic and in doing so, acknowledged that magic. It was really lovely.



I was also surprised at the sheer number of people who were willing to stop, write and publicly request their hearts desire.



So to all who are so brave, I hope much good comes of your courage.