Whatever the Weather

What do you think about during a meal?

2012-02-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have a philosophy about meal times. While eating, I generally think about the food I am eating. In other words, I'm not making out a to-do list, debating politics or solving major crises. I am observant of the colors on my plate - greens, deep crimson, brilliant orange - and considering the nutrients they will deliver to my body. I am experiencing gratefulness, that in an often difficult world, I have nourishing food available to feed myself and my family.

I try to uphold this philosophy when eating alone or with other people. I avoid those stress inducing conversations, and try to talk about the food we are eating; which ingredients are local, which are organic. I talk about what we might grow in the garden this year, or some shared activities, like a hike on a favorite trail, that we might be involved in.

It seems that my body will be more receptive to the nutrients and vitality of my sustenance, if I take it in with appreciation and good energy, rather than ingesting bitter topics and negativity along with my meal. I may be way off base scientifically, but it works for me. What do YOU think about during a meal?

Someday...

2012-01-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

I have a $10 garage sale desk that I hope to repaint this winter to use in my "someday classroom." I think a personalized, hand painted desk and a chair with a seat covered in a happy fabric will be much cozier than the standard issue institutional desk and chair. While searching the internet for ideas for painting my desk, I stumbled across a free book download. Apparently, the author is a substitute teacher who is also an artist. He sketches the desks of the teacher he fills in for, and this book is a compilation of those drawings.

You may find it here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/howardsalmon

At first, to me, the black and white sketches seemed vague or nondescript. But as I looked closer, I saw distinguishing details such as sticky notes around one teacher's computer screen, a sketch on a pad on the art teacher's desk, and what I believe was a cow-print mug awaiting another teacher's morning brew. I loved the little details and insights into the character of the individual who "belongs to" each desk.

Tuesday Tales - Spelling Mississippi

2012-01-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

My nine year old son is "touring" the southeastern United States for Social Studies in third grade this year. I had the opportunity to present the first lesson of this unit as I substituted for his teacher last week. It's funny how so simple a thing as learning to spell Mississippi can transport me to childhood.

My mind takes creative license with the past so that all of the memories of a particular person, place, or time are rolled together into an beautiful collage - edges muted, corners softly turned. So it is, in the Tennessee summers of my childhood, that I learned to spell Mississippi from my paternal grandmother on the front porch of a cabin, while simultaneously shucking corn and snapping beans. "M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I, hump back-hump back-I," Mamaw voiced the rhyme she had learned in her own Alabama childhood, as we enjoyed the easy breeze that characterizes the "down home" vacations of my memory. I`m pretty sure we took turns twisting the handle on the old ice cream maker, right after dinner, as we chewed sassafras leaves like chewing gum, and my Papaw called me Pumpkin Head (as he called my siblings and cousins too.) In my memory anyway, it all runs together that way.

I'm sure those third grade students last week believed I was thinking of how to spell the other states in the southeast region as we proceeded, but in my mind, I was on a front porch many miles south of our northern classroom... and many years ago.

Photo by Aisling, March 2010

Monday Meditation - Connection

2012-01-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

“Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.”

~ Chief Seattle

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you a time and place to think deeply.

Photo by Aisling, August 2011

Saturday Snapshot

2012-01-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

I see tiny flakes of snow drifting as the daylight fades, falling slowly, a veil dropping.

I hear my youngest son's fingers on the keyboard, his soft chatter, and the sounds of my older children playing a game in another room.

I smell the spicy lure of vegetarian chili and a sweet creamy corn and quinoa soup meandering down the hallway from the kitchen.

I taste the warm grassy freshness of yerba mate, which I am sipping from a favorite sturdy mug.

I feel blessed, content in the haven of my small cozy home.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you contentment.

Ripple Effect

2012-01-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

My breath comes in with a crisp cool inhalation.
and I let it go out into the world

carrying some of my body’s warmth.
I am hoping my warm exhalation

can be the catalyst for something good,
however small.

I walk about, so small in the grand scheme of things,
breathing in the sharp coolness of the world
and breathing out warm love and good energy.

It is undetectable,

infinitesimal...
this tiny ripple in reality
that I create with my breath,
but what if...
what if we all went around
exhaling love and good energy?

Aisling, 1/6/2012

photo by Aisling, November 2011

Meditation

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

Beginning with Miracles

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am beginning the year with miracles... the quiet miracles wrapped sweetly inside the children's novel Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. In the first pages, we are reminded that we have "all outdoors." I spent much of my childhood there and continue to love the body and soul meditation of walking in nature... in listening and connecting with the beautiful earth.

As a blizzard continues its second day of windy white demonstration outside my windows, I shall enjoy nature through the pages of this story, which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed in other seasons.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace... and the curled-up comfort of a favorite book.

Wander...

2011-06-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

"And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away
from wherever you are, to look for your soul? "

"Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

While the soul, after all, is only a window,

and the opening of the window no more difficult
than the wakening from a little sleep. "

These lines are excerpted from Mary Oliver's poem "Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?" The photo is from a recent field trip with my eight year old son's class.

Wordless Wednedsay - The Fourth Swan

2011-05-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

5/8/2011

Pollinators

2011-05-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

“Farming feeds
the world, and
we must remember
that pollinators
are a critical
link in our food
systems.”

-- Paul Growald,
Co-Founder, Pollinator partnership

Check out this worthwhile project here. I downloaded and began to read the planting guide for my region today. I am beginning gardens in a little rental home. Though I wont be able to take the gardens with me when my lease is up, I can leave a little beauty behind for the next tenants, and for the pollinators as well!

May

2011-05-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

May flowers bloom at your feet...

May blue skies cheer you...

May you walk in peace

And if you need to, may you start anew.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you joy.

(all images are from Mother's Day: around my home and from a hike with 3 of my children.)

Mother Earth

2011-05-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

The poetry of Mary Oliver sings of the beauty of our mother earth so perfectly, so I chose this poem to post on Mother's Day.

Morning Poem

Every morning

the world

is created.

Under the orange

sticks of the sun

the heaped

ashes of the night

turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches ---

and the ponds appear

like black cloth

on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.

If it is your nature

to be happy

you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination

alighting everywhere.

And if your spirit

carries within it

the thorn

that is heavier than lead ---

if it's all you can do

to keep on trudging ---

there is still

somewhere deep within you

a beast shouting that the earth

is exactly what it wanted ---

each pond with its blazing lilies

is a prayer heard and answered

lavishly,

every morning,

whether or not

you have ever dared to be happy,

whether or not

you have ever dared to pray.

from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver

© Mary Oliver

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace.

Falling

2011-04-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

As I sat, elbow-deep in end of semester projects and case-studies and professional development portfolios, snow fell outside. Not gentle April reminders of winter, but a rather fierce gusty blizzard. Gray shadows fell through my windows, as I sat at the computer. I watched night fall over the continent of Africa, on the World Sunlight Map, and marveled at how small the world has become during the years of my life.

Though I am up against deadlines, I found time to slowly brew sweet Turkish coffee in my tidy little kitchen, and to mix up some chocolate almond cookies. I listened to some favorite Indie bands and enjoyed the sanctuary of home, as nature roared her contrary song outside my windows.

Thank you to my friends, old and new, who have checked in on my here during my quiet spell. I am hoping to post more frequently... just a few days left in this seemingly endless semester!

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you joy.

Winter Walk

2011-03-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

On the last day of winter, two of my children and I

took a long ramble through quiet woods and down to the waterside.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace.

Quiet...

2011-03-14T07:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry to have been so quiet. We lost a good friend to a long-term illness this weekend. He was only 51. So, taking a little time for reflection and mourning.

Sunday Snapshot

2011-03-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

I see morning sun, glittering on a fresh blanket of snow

I hear the tinny mechanical music of my eleven year old son's hand held video game. The rest of the house is quiet; the other children still dreaming.

I smell and taste hazelnut coffee.

The sun is dazzling. The sky clear and blue. All the world looks fresh this morning, and I feel renewed on this first Sunday in March.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you joy!

Just a little note...

2011-02-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

No Sunday Sonnet this morning. I am considering all that I have to do over the next few days, and have realized that I can't possibly write all the papers, prepare all the lessons, do all the financial/legal paperwork, make it to all the classes. I will have to edit my to-do list, but everything on it is an obligation or a committment, and how do you eliminate those in good conscience? Hmmm...

Instead of my sonnet, I am writing a lesson introducing poetry to first grade students. I'm excited about it. What a fun exploration it will be... I think I'm just going to ignore the length of my list and take one thing at a time.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you time to dream.

Tuesday - Days that Shine

2011-02-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

Some days shimmer.

Other days shine.

This morning on my way to assistant teach, the orchards on the roadsides were flecked with glitter. The bare branches, diamond bright with frost and icicles, glistened in the sun. Who says waiting for spring has to be dull?

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace.

Inspiration - Urban Homesteading

2011-02-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is just a nod to the folks who are extremely dedicated to the Urban Homestead movement. I do live on a village lot this year, compared to my previous 15 in the country. It will be an interesting gardening year, especially because I am renting a cottage which goes on the market in the spring. If it sells, I will have a couple of months to pack up and move. I am planning to garden primarily in containers for this reason.

My favorite Urban Homesteading blog is Little Homestead in the City. What they accomplish on their city lot is inspiring - not just to gardeners, I believe, but really to anyone who eats and cares about our natural resources. I really love to look at their photos! So much bounty and beauty in such a small space. What a beautiful way to nurture!

So just a little mention, to coordinate with the facebook Urban Homesteaders Day of Action.

Sunday Sonnet - Ready

2011-02-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

Awake in the soft hours of the morning

I walk barefoot across the cool wood floor

I slow down the thoughts so busy forming

And listen to the stillness in my core

I stand at the window looking aloft

The air is silken gray and pearly white

The clouds hover low and full, winter soft.

I breathe in the morning, drink in the light.

My reverie dissipates like lake-mist

As practical considerations rise

Not ready to tackle the to-do list

But ready for children with sleepy eyes

We will fill this day more than weather

We’ll tell stories, sing, and laugh together.

Saturday Snapshot - Riches

2011-02-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

I see the pale winter sky through a bare window.

I hear the beautiful music of guitarist Ottmar Liebert, a song called "Letting Go." This late in the morning, the children are still sleeping, enjoying the second morning of a very brief mid-winter break from school.

I smell the indulgence of a third cup of steaming black coffee. I taste the intense flavor of a dark cherry, still slightly frozen and still bursting with mid-summer freshness.

It is so tempting sometimes to focus on what is bleak and difficult, especially in these gray winter days. And yet, as I sit here in my quiet house, I feel rich beyond measure.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you an abundance of beauty and love in your days.

Meditation: Whirling Dervishes

2011-02-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

If these gentle souls can find mediation in spinning, I might be able to find meditation and ease in the frantic busyness of my week days!

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace.

Slow-Motion Sunday - Wholehearted

2011-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

I began to write another sonnet for my "Little Songs for Sunday" series early this morning when the house was very quiet and still. As I wrote, my eight year old son came padding into the room. A constant stream of chatter ensued! It wasn't long before he trotted back to the bedroom and woke his eleven-year-old brother, who is starting to understand the fine art of sleeping in on the weekend. My writing time evaporated and I gave myself over, wholeheartedly, to spending a day with my sons in preparation for Valentine's Day.

We made chocolate-kiss roses instead of Valentine's Cards. I am not thrilled to be contributing to the sugar feast that will occur with the school holiday parties, but this was a cute idea that both of my sons were interested in trying. To offset the sugary treat for tomorrow, I did my grocery shopping today primarily in the produce section (as I usually do.) We are all set for some light pasta dishes and some delicious salads this week. I'm looking forward to a huge salad of greens and herbs, with strawberries and pecans!

I'm writing out "Olivia" themed Valentine's cards for the students in my first grade classroom. I love the picture book (and maybe tv show?) character Olivia. Do you know of her? She is a lively, intrepid character who lives every moment to the fullest. I aspire to be like her!

Signing off now to read another chapter or two of Kathryn Lasky's Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf to my 8 year old son. This book is set in the world from the Guardians of Ga'Hoole but focuses on the life of one little outcast wolf (one paw is slightly splayed causing his removal from the pack at birth.) My son is completely absorbed in the story, and is constantly asking me to read more. This is a book he could read to himself, but he would struggle with some of the vocabulary. Because he just wants to get lost in the story rather than work his way through it, we are sharing it. I am loving every moment of having his little head on my shoulder... his energetic body still and relaxed... as we get lost in a far away place together.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you peace and moments of joy.

Saturday Snapshot - Mellow

2011-02-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

I see morning light, easing in through the vertical blinds.

I hear the quiet. No one home but my eight year old son and I. He is sleeping. The refrigerator is humming softly behind me. I have not yet chosen music for my mood. At 8 am, do I even have a mood?

I smell lavender scented dish soap in a sink full of warm bubbly water, waiting for me to get busy. I taste the warmth of morning coffee, brewed as the winter sun rose, pale and silvery, on the eastern edge of town.

I feel mellow as I ease into this day.

Sunday Sonnet - Quiet

2011-02-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Quiet, a sonnet by Aisling

The quiet of the house envelopes me

Enfolds me in the shadows and the light

The whistle of the kettle sings sweetly

One last cup of comfort to toast the night.

My candles flicker softly on the hearth

My thoughts flicker more softly to the past

I pull my memories close against my heart

Relive them, let them go, and watch them pass.

But when I rise to tuck me into bed

The echoes of those memories rise again

They sing of yesterday within my head

I listen to the lullaby of then

The quiet is a comfort and a prize

It soothes my fall, then inspires me to rise.

(The first in a series of "little songs" for Sunday.)

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you comfort and joyful memories.

Saturday Snapshot - Joyful Noise

2011-02-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

I see the clutter of days spent at home with energetic children...boots by the door, books on the hearth, a plastic toy on the kitchen counter.

I hear the joyful noise of two small boys playing "Zombie Pillow Fight."

I smell brownies fresh from the oven, and taste the rich dark flavor of evening coffee, brewed as the sun slipped down into the bay.

I feel blessed.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you blessings and joy!

A Monday Monday

2011-01-31T10:36:00.000-08:00

Is the difficulty of Monday mornings universal? I keep telling myself that I need to devise something wonderful for Mondays. For example, wouldn't Mondays be better if they held the best evening meal of the week? Or that Monday afternoons included a stop at a favorite cafe for a delicious healthy snack? Or if Mondays meant a cup of tea with a dear friend? For me, this semester, Mondays mean assistant teaching in the morning and classes in the afternoon (today is an exception) so I haven't built something extra special into my Mondays... Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE my hours at the school, but it still involves getting up TOO EARLY on a Monday morning!

On this particular Monday, the last in January, one little girl in school was struggling with the absence of her parents. Her sadness was leaking out her blue eyes and trickling down her sweet face. I asked if it was a school problem, a friend problem, or a home problem, and she told me that her parents had gone on a trip without her. She was really missing them. The teacher whispered to me that her parents are coming home today, so when I got a chance, I asked the girl if she wanted a hug and told her I heard that her Mom and Dad would be home today.

"Isn't that great news," I asked her. She nodded, still crying.

As we read in a small group in the hall, she leaned against me, sagging with the heavy weight of WAITING for something good to happen. But, she got interested in the booklet we were reading, all about different books by Eric Carle and about the creatures he writes about and illustrates so colorfully. Pretty soon, she was chatting and involved. When I passed her on my way out of the building, she gave me a quick hug and a smile. I asked if she was doing better and she said yes, with a generous smile.

I like how she handled her emotions. When things are too tough, and you are waiting for things to get better, get fully engaged in what is going on around you!

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you comfort and joy.

Slow-Motion Sunday

2011-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

"I wish that life should not be cheap, but sacred.

I wish the days to be as centuries, loaded, fragrant."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sun was brilliant today and the skies were blue and bright. Despite that, it was very very cold and I kept my outdoor activities to a minimum. I stayed in, except for a quick jaunt to the market for fresh produce and locally baked bread. Often our bread is VERY local, because I enjoy making it myself! I love to open my refrigerator and see the shelves well-stocked with lush greens... baby arugula, and romaine lettuce, and a fragrant bunch of cilantro... crisp bright carrots... blood oranges and intensely green locally grown Granny Smith apples. Yum!

Wherever you are, whatever the weather,
I wish you warmth and full and fragrant days!

Saturday Snapshot - Light

2011-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

I see the soft light filtering through the blinds, as afternoon eases into evening.

I hear Golden Days by the Damnwells. "Baby please don't rush...Keep the tempo slow and blue...Let me hear the words you say... Let's go and get tangled in chains of golden days..."

I smell a tiny white lilac and lavender candle, as it flickers on the counter next to me.

I taste Spearmint chewing gum, and feel refreshed and uplifted, as I contemplate my plans for the remainder of the day.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you good energy.

Wordless Wednesday - Icicles

2011-01-26T10:06:00.001-08:00

Saturday Snapshot - Song

2011-01-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

I see my eight year old son making a sandwich of three throw-pillows from the love seat, as his song of childhood flows in a constant stream of chatter from his lips.

I hear Regina Spektor singing and playing her piano, and if her music was color it would glow, vibrant and shimmering, through this softly lit room.

I smell rosemary and thyme from the Mediterranean Vegetable Soup with dumplings that I made for dinner.

I taste Tulsi Sweet Rose Tea from Organic India and feel its comforting warmth while outside an arctic wind sings wildly. I think I'll stay inside tonight; I'm pretty comfortable where I am.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you comfort and song.

Just a note: All the photos on this blog, thus far, have been from my little inexpensive cell phone. I am without a camera at present, but like to give you at least a little glimpse of my corner of the world with each post. This was taken today, in the late afternoon in the village.

Fun

2011-01-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Saturday Snapshot - Drifting

2011-01-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

"Seeing, hearing and feeling are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle."

~ Walt Whitman

I see blowing and drifting snow moving in vertical sheets across the frozen surface of the lake.

I hear Linkin Park playing on Grooveshark, drifting through the otherwise quiet house.

I smell Indian incense, called Vishwa Shanti, drifting in fragrant, curlicues of smoke through the kitchen.

I taste Organic White Tea with vanilla and feel it warming me from the inside out.

I am sort of drifting through the day... a little cleaning, a little homework, a little guitar playing, a little reading. I have a small gathering to attend this evening, and afterward I will probably drift off to sleep listening to the wind that is forecast to blow all through the night.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you contentment.