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New Year? Already?
I hear there was some holiday in the last couple of weeks. We were up to our ears in kids lying around the house, board games, and trees covered in sparkling lights, so apparently I missed a flurry of posts. Ha ha, right. Seriously? I have gotten to the point that I resent the way…
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In Which The User of The Magical Power Grid Meets the Gnomes
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke …except when it isn’t. Me This morning a tree fell on the power lines down the road from my house. It was raining, and dark, and generally unpleasant outside. But within an hour of my awaking, power was restored, and all was good. Flicker,…
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Anybody Want a Letter?
I was listening to a radio bit on Christmas cards, and then when I asked somebody for a recipe, he said he would mail it to me… so I gave him my address. And then I thought, “Letters! Those pieces of mail that don’t include a request for money. What a novel idea!” And then…
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2011 Can’t Miss Posts from the Natural Parents Network Volunteers
I am proud and honored to be volunteer with the Natural Parents Network (NPN), a community of natural-minded parents and parents-to-be where you will be informed, empowered, and inspired. When you visit the NPN’s website you can find articles and posts about Activism, Balance, Consistent Care, Ecological Responsibility, Family Safety, Feeding With Love, Gentle Discipline,…
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About That Beer…
Remember when I told you that I got lost on the way to a major national monument, and took 45 minutes to go the last kilometer on foot, and that I wouldn’t tell you the story without beer? I totally lied, because I looked at the pictures again. Seriously, how could I resist this: “It’s…
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Your Guru Won’t be Making Dinner for the Kids
“Nobody is coming to live my life for me. It is the one thing that is mine entirely.” I crawled into bed the other night after reading a wonderful book about a young, female rabbi. She has such faith. I yearn for such faith. And then sometimes, she has such doubt. I know about such…
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Luxuriate in November
It is… November November, I believe, is the cruellest month. I usually spend it curled up under blankets, hiding from the world, dragging myself from place to place when I must. There was one notable month of my life in which my sister had to drag me out of bed every morning to go to…
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We Are the Story Keepers
We are the story keepers. When I talk about story, I refer to the lines of meaning, the patterns of the universe that are perpetuated by the telling and retelling. As the conscious manifestations of the local area, we are the intentional tellers of stories. But we get it backwards, because we forget that we…
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“Position Yourself,” He Said
(This blog has a glossary. Or it will, someday.) When I was in grad school the second time, I signed up for a course taught by a radical queer theorist/anthropologist. Because that’s what all physics teachers need, you know? My very first assignment in this course was to summarize the readings (three full length academic…
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Things I Don’t Know
I cannot teach you to be rich. I cannot make you thin, or famous, or more popular with girls. I don’t know the date of the end of the world, or what happens after you die, or six ways to make sure that your next dinner party is a complete success. I can’t help you…
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What I Thought About While Cutting Firewood
Yesterday, I was out limbing fallen trees so that we can cut them up with the chainsaw without killing ourselves. It is good not to freeze to death. It is also good not to have logs fall on you while preventing freezing to death. What I was thinking about was this: When we first moved…
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Rolling With It
Yesterday, I passed a test, I think. First, I managed to lock myself out of the library at which I am the sole employee. Specifically, I left the key in my car, which my husband borrowed and then failed to return at the expected time. When I went to get the spare key, the keeper…