"Maybe I am slightly inhuman. ... All I ever wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house." -Edward Hopper

Remember Me the Box

I forgot the box the way

someone else would forget

the photo that dropped behind

the refrigerator, the sock behind

the dryer. I had the memory

of a migratory bird. I took pride

in what I remembered: names,

birthdays, the size of your inseam.

But I forgot you. I forgot you—

the slowest spring. Opening petal,

then petal. Every so often you would

take something out of the box

and reveal yourself to me:

The plastic frog with the black

eye, the photo of your father

without him in it.

I was good at love, I thought. I could

give you everything at once—

heavy snowfall, mud slide, closed

highway. But I want to love you

the way you love me: slow

and patient, as when we waited

all afternoon for the wood duck

to appear from the thicket of cattails.

I had forgotten the rewards of a slow

spring: the gratitude for summer,

the subtle iridescence of the wood

duck's breast, the sound of waxwings

in the birches, a box with the lid

cracked open. Teach me to love slow.

Remember me the box.

The Peace of the Wild Things, by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

TA DA!

My mom got this chair at her work years ago. I've always hated the fabric. So... I took the chair apart, spray painted, and reupholstered it with some sweet fabric I picked up at a garage sale for a dollar. I like it.

Before:
















After:

what do ya need that for???

it wouldn't be summer without the steller's jays

Summer is here and my first AmeriCorps term is wrapping up. I have finally finished my reflection project which is a quilt which is a reflection of all the wonderful kids and good times I had at Jefferson Elementary this past year. Hello Kitty Halloween, cupcakes, pirates, penguins and seals-- that pretty much sums up my year. (Ahhh, I miss the kids so much already!) This was my first quilt. I think I will make a more aesthetically pleasing one soon.


Other things on the agenda:

straight chillin. after july 15th i am a free bird until school starts up again in september.
what am i going to do? fun things and sad things.

a.) i am volunteering down in skagit at the catholic community services housing authority, helping run a kids program with the lovely tori talkington:

b.) sadly, we are moving out of our lovely house on the top of the hill. sadly, sade is leaving me to go to colorado for grad school and emily is going to australia.... meanwhile, my life will crumple in their absence. so we are moving out of our house.

c.) on a brighter note: i am moving into a new, radical, place with the guy to the left. this is exciting and i am busy garage sale ing and sewing shower curtains and curtains and pot holders for such event.

d.) writing all the stories i've been carrying around in my head and heart this whole year.

e.) researching grad schools and teaching programs, trying to plan the unknown.

f.) and that's all folks. i think. hopefully a trip somewhere? COLORADO????