in love

i have recently fallen in love with the art of andy goldsworthy. if you have netflix, watch this. (not instantly; the picture’s bad.) if you don’t have netflix, get it!

(i do think it’s interesting that i finally watched it on my third exposure to his work.  first was at mentor graphics, the amazing reggio emilia preschool i worked at in portland, second was this, & then yesterday at my new family’s house (that i nanny for) i picked up a beautiful book of photos of his work with an intro by the artist.  i read it cover to cover in awe, then went home & watched the documentary.)

Read Full Post »

what i’m working on

kadra & i have talked quite a bit (through the years) about how to handle Christmas.  in our talkings & in seeing what other friends of our have done, here’s some ideas for new ways to “do” Christmas.  one, which i am trying this year (maybe not going 100% though) is a handmade Christmas.  this idea is pretty big around the crafting blogosphere; the idea’s certainly not new.  another way is to give Christmas experiences that you do together as a family/with friends.  like:  everyone pitches in & you go to the symphony together.   i went tubing with my friend emily & her siblings up in park city.  this was a more expensive tubing endeavor than i would have undertaken on my own, (why pay $15 for tubing when you can find the nearest hill & go for free!?? here’s why:  tow lines!  that, & manicured runs.  SO fun!) but since it was a Christmas Experience, everyone chipped in what they could & the rest was a gift.  and the memories that result are so dear.  my last idea of a different way to do Christmas is like a sub-for-santa…  but there must be a better way to do it.  i just like the idea of having a year where you truly give your Christmas to people who need “things” a lot more than you do.  not reluctantly do it in addition to, getting the least expensive things as quickly as possible, but really having it be giving your Christmas.

so, that said, back to the original post…  (:P)

i’m working on crocheting & knitting a bunch of hats for my sister’s family.  i’m currently crocheting my sister’s hat, which will be a felted cloche.  it’s so funny because it’s HUGE!  i’m almost done with the crocheting part, & i’m toying with the idea of altering the pattern so the little “brim” part is only in the front.  i have a fairly good idea of how i’d do this…  but dare i?  and i am so excited to felt it!!!  i’ve never felted before, but loooooove the idea of it.  crossing my fingers…

i am also totally intrigued by needle felting.  that’s a someday dream.  but just look at this!!  (i really want to get the kit to make this for my niece…  but she’ll be getting a darling handmade hat instead!)

Read Full Post »

dreams

kaarina started us out on the theme of dreams. i’ve lived several imaginary lives in moments here and there… and haven’t thought of them as being a part of me before, however fleeting those dreams may be. but it’s true that they are. albeit in my head, they stay with me as solid as my bones.

now that i hear them gathering around me i’ll spit this out like a list or a free verse poem:

i moved to washington

with my truck and my dog

buzzed my hair

and lived like a dandelion gone to seed with my guitar

and my voice in the wind

then

once with little left to lose

i grew my hair long and tangled

bought a motorcyle

and crossed the country a thousand times

alone

younger

i moved into an oval silver trailer

at the mouth of sandy red foothills

stayed warm in wool socks and sweaters

bundled with my best friend

and our books

younger still

my love galloped down my suburban street

i ran to meet him in bare feet

scooped into the saddle and his arms

we rode away

through the colored sky all the way to oregon

and i named him joseph

they’re fading away and now my inner history feels more real. my bones have a voice.

Read Full Post »

bali

i think dreams are important pieces of who we are. when no one knows what secret dreams we harbor inside ourselves, they become stagnant. sharing these gives them more power to not just become reality, but shape who we are, even if they never happen. i’ve always believed the proverb (13:12) “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”

do some of your dreams need a good airing?

circa 2001 i was new in portland still, & feeling a bit awash. i’m not sure if i was back in school again or not. i do remember feeling like i wasn’t sure what the heck i was doing with my life. this feeling was both depressing & liberating. i felt like i could do anything i wanted. i started reading books on bali. i heard it was really cheap to live there. i thought about it constantly. i imagined living in a one-room grass hut on the beach, eating nothing but rice & fish, shaving my head, & living in a bikini & sarong. i think i was planning on getting dreads before i shaved my head.

there.  see?  that’s part of me!  i’m the kind of person who dreams of escaping to bali!

Read Full Post »

birthing a new blog

we needed a space to come together.  a safe space.  nurturing.  fertile ground for growing dreams & ideas into blossoming fruition.  a womb of sorts.  a space to discover & rediscover ourselves & our creativity.  a place where even our near-forgotten dreams can have a witness.  not safe in the city, not quite in the thick of the wild wood, but in the borders of discovery.

we want to create more & consume less.  we want to live more deliberately & breathe more meaningfully.

what else?  what do you want?

Read Full Post »