small things...

One of my very favorite bloggers and huge source of daily inspiration, Soule Mama, has launched a new project combining three of my most favorite topics:

-mamahood
-craft
-and social justice

Mama to Mama is "A website, gathering place and hopefully source of inspiration and action." The first bit of action is for a Maine-based partnership, Konbit Sante. They are assembling safe birthing kits for the women of Haiti (find some statistics on Haitian health care here.) and all you crafty mamas out there can be a part! The request is for handmade, newborn baby caps. Soule Mama has included a simple pattern in this post to help get you started.

I am constantly amazed that it's the relatively small things we do, that ultimately speak volumes. Mother Theresa is quoted as saying, "What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”


Deadline for submissions is December 10th, 2008.

Happy Halloween!

...and just in case you're looking for a last minute Halloween craft, head over to whip up for this little guy. ;)

Halloween at Common Grounds

We had our annual Halloween block party at Common Grounds a few days ago. One of the reasons we host the event (aside from the fact that it's just fun to hang out together!) is that the neighborhood kids don't go out trick-or-treating. It's not safe to do so in the neighborhood. I love that this silly little carnival creates a space for our kids to engage, for a moment, in childhood. There is something utterly profound in the simplicity of a ring toss game, face painting, and of course the dispersement of treats. It's being smack dab in the middle of love in action. It's watching those stubborn walls that divide class, race, and status be chipped away and destroyed. It's witnessing joy.







Lomax and his goosebumps...


Mr.Kevin quietly observing.


Momma T absorbed in a sweet moment.


Yasmin and sister. They love it when I bring the camera out. They set up mini shoots where I am instructed to take picture after picture, until they finally decide I have taken a worthy shot.





The tot, getting in on the action too!


Joy.


Simple pleasures.

a little slice of heaven

It's hard for me to appreciate the charm of the Louisiana landscape. It just doesn't tend to resonate much with me. True, bayous and cypress trees have their own unique beauty, but I would much rather spend my day getting lost in woods atop some majestic mountain, or digging my toes into cold sand and listening to the waves crash.

Last week, Ms.Q and I, along with a sweet friend and her little one, set out on an adventure to go visit a state park in our area. However, the day we went the park happened to be closed, so we decided (okay, I mostly decided, and my poor friend reluctantly went along with me...) to give the kids their first lesson in trespassing and "ninja stealth". Ms.Q did her best, but she wanted so badly to collect treasures in her little tin pail. Of course each treasure that was dropped into the pail made a "kur-plunk" sound that echoed, loudly, in the otherwise stillness of the woods. We decided after a bit that maybe trespassing wasn't such a great idea after all, as we couldn't fully explore the park. That maybe we should come back on another day and try again.

My parents happened to be arriving in town later that evening, and it didn't take much to talk them into returning with me the next day. This time we were all able to fully engage, and my goodness, what a gem!






The rangers station was loaded with goodies. Some wildlife to observe, a microscope to check out mushrooms and leaves up close, a table full of bones, petrified wood, antlers, snake skin, and all under a sign reading, "Please Touch". It was delightful! And walking through those woods was just what I needed to connect with this place. I wish I had pictures. Of course just as we headed outside, the batteries on my camera died. But I am smitten! I will we back. Weekly. And most likely you'll be seeing quite a bit of this place via the web.

..autumn welcome..

October

AY, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath! When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf,
And suns grow meek, and the meek suns grow brief
And the year smiles as it draws near its death. Wind of the sunny south! oh, still delay
In the gay woods and in the golden air,
Like to a good old age released from care,
Journeying, in long serenity, away.
In such a bright, late quiet, would that I
Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks
And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks,
And music of kind voices ever nigh;
And when my last sand twinkled in the glass,
Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass.

-William Cullen Bryant

my first precious taste of things to come...



bursting bits of gold...



everyday beauty.

Singin' a sweet song...

Music is an intregal part of our day. Feeling down? Then the obvious choice for tunes is Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas. (For some odd reason, no other song warms my heart quite as much as this one. I don't care if it's 102 degrees in the middle of August.) Feeling analytical? Bob Dylan. Feisty? Ani DiFranco. In the mood for a dance party? Well, that could go a few ways. Arcade Fire, Feist, and Dan Zanes seem to be in heavy rotation. I have songs that I must hear while doing specific chores. The tot falls asleep listening to Pooh Corner, nightly.

In the brilliant words of Friedrich Nietzsche, "Without music life would be a mistake." Indeed.

Last December, I treated myself to an album composed by a friend from Washington, Karli Fairbanks. I picked up the package at our mailbox down the road, and the CD immediately went into the car disk changer. It has stayed in slot number three for almost a year now. I listen to it daily. I kid you not! Sometimes I even crave it more then NPR's, Morning Edition. The tot now requests "Tie Me Up", and "Whiskey Flowers" more often then any Elizabeth Mitchell or Raffi song. We are smitten! And also apparently, inspired. Recently, the tot has begun to "write" music. Somewhere she picked up the concept of music notes, and has been doing her own bit of composing, if you will. After she carefully constructs her music sheets, she then sits down at her tiny piano, pounds away at the keys, and sweetly sings her creations (which have managed to coalesce with many of Karli's songs, by the way.)

At times, our mutual love for music powerfully binds us in a place beyond mother and babe, where a small child and an adult can exist for a time as friends, harmonizing and dancing together on this journey through life.

oh crap! what have i gotten myself into this time?

where to begin...

so i show up at the meeting for BOLD, prepared to offer my services for tasks that i'm actually good at. secure sponsors for the event? sure! contact caterers? definitely! order the wine? please! hang up posters around town? piece of cake! what i didn't expect, was to find out that 2/3 of the cast has quit for various reasons and that they were desperate to find replacements. in an obvious moment of insanity, i offered to pick up a role. *gulp* i am now performing. yes my friends, i will be acting out another women's birth story in front of an audience! i will be moaning and cursing! i will be spread eagle (clothed of course!) pretending to give birth! did i mention i'm doing this in front of people??? what on earth was i thinking? i am NOT a thespian. and while i am not shy when it comes to the human body, i can just picture myself nervously giggling through my scenes. lord please help me to maintain my composure! i just need to remember i am doing this for a good reason. i am doing this for the women of louisiana who have limited (and by limited i mean zero) options when it comes to childbirth.

my first practice is today. i've read over the script. i'm not sure which character i'm leaning towards yet. (i have a few options.) when i find out more details i'll fill you in. until then, wish me luck, or broken bones, or whatever it is you're suppose to do in the theater.