in new light

through groggy eyes and dog-smeared window glass,
i look out to the garden,
eastern sun pushing through leaves,
highlighting green veins,
catching on strands of silk left behind by nighttime foragers,
igniting red ruffles,
and casting a golden rime over everything,

how many times have i looked?
how many times have i seen something new, something different?
how many times have i missed it,
taken it for granted,
assumed it the same?
as the sun gets caught in the tops of the oaks,
and the light filtered blue,
i look again,
to see what i can see

happy birthday, fred friedland!

hope your ground squirrel harvest went well because i planted you a garden today.

and zane helped me...

happy birthday, fred. 

meeting more family

yesterday staal and i drove to his brother and sister-in-law's place in the foothills near o'neals.  the landscape is a lot like catheys valley except that there are a few more trees and the rock outcroppings are granite instead of slate.  it was the first time i'd met them---they were quite welcoming and we had a nice day visiting.

not long after we arrived staal's brother had enlisted his help in putting together the new barbecue.  it was a lot of fun watching them work---they're a lot alike (definitely brothers) and both very handy.  mike has a business designing and building antennas.

below:  brothers, mike ("mick") and "freddie", wrestle the grill while sister-in-law, myrna (recovering from a hip replacement), her brother, frank (who stopped by with his wife), and whiskey the cat look on.

 

with only a minimal amount of swearing (not at eachother) they got the thing put together...

  

while we were there i got to meet peter, the peacock, who was a bit put off by zane's presence.  

zane was a bit curious about peter but much more interested in running around and keeping the squirrels in check.

the picture doesn't even come close to showing his magnificent plumage

i also got to meet cousin, barby (pictured below), who happened to be in the neighborhood on her way back home to seattle.  she's a gardener and a lively personality---enjoyed meeting her.

wish i'd gotten more pictures but i was enjoying the visit and almost forgot i even had my camera.  

they're a lovely bunch of people and i'm happy i got to spend the day with them.  thank you all and a speedy recovery to myrna.

back in the garden

last weekend staal and i went to isleton to pack up the last of his things and prepare the house for it's new owner.  nick and gabe and aischa and her family came to help.  staal signed the last of the real estate papers monday morning and escrow closed on wednesday.   
having never lived there i didn't know isleton well but it was always a pleasant place to visit--the house had the echoes of love in it and everywhere were the signs of staal's labor in remodeling the place to make a comfortable home for his family.  the joys and hardships staal and his family experienced while living there were part of what will shape them all as they continue their journeys and i'm happy to be a part of this new chapter.

so here's to isleton, thank you, and farwell.

with isleton cleared out and sold we'll be able to settle in a bit more and focus on getting things done around the homestead.  for me that means more time grubbing in the garden.  

the weather is warming up and everything is growing like crazy.

snow peas

harvesting snow peas

lettuces

cocozelle zucchini

runner beans

yukon gold potatoes

sun chokes

red express cabbage

trailing nasturium

curing the onion harvest

so nice to be back in the garden.

mother's day

this day is about gifts, but not the material kind, not the kind wrapped in fancy paper and ribbons---those are symbols of the gift. for each of us it all stems from one gift---in my case, one given now thirty-five years ago. 
that day, mama, you became a mother for the first time. and two years later you were a mother again and i was a sister to your son. you gave me life and cared for me as i grew and still care for me now. i hope that day was a gift for you as well. i hope i have given to you since then as you have given to me. 
i love you, mama, and happy mother's day.

back of photo reads:  in the hospital caleb-12 hrs old

i watch

i lie in bed,
beneath the window,
warm, morning sunlight streaming over me,
i watch,
with head tipped back,
dark birds circling silently,
high in blue sky,
i watch,
with eyes closed,
the silence within me,
perfect and nameless