I always seem to forget how pleasant mornings can be. Clear sky, the sun creeping slowly down the south side of the house and around the garage. Birdsong and crow conversations. The occasional neighbor, with and without dog. The train dinging it’s way down MLK. It’s peaceful in a way that the afternoons are not. I generally like all the kids running through our neighborhood, and I’m grateful to live in a place where they can get out and play. But sometimes it’s nice to have the quiet. Hopefully, Caitlyn will forgive me for not having enough gardening tasks for …
Frosting, sprinkles, political engagement – what’s not to love? Caitlyn and I joined some friends at Cupcake Royale yesterday for MomsRising‘s Project Cupcake. The project: decorate 155 cupcakes for delivery to state legislators in Olympia to remind them that although the kids can’t vote, that’s no reason for the state government to try to fill the $2.7 billion budget shortfall by cutting the programs kids need. Caitlyn probably decorated close to ten with sprinkles and extra frosting in piping bags; I think I only did two, maybe three. All told, 181 cupcakes went to Olympia today. And Caitlyn managed all …
We’re been having basic civics discussions lately, mostly in context of public vs. private schools. This mostly has involved who pays and how, or How to Explain Taxes to a Preschooler. So, today, Caitlyn asked me, “Is government real?” “Should I find some pictures of the people who work in government for you?” “Yes. Because I’m not sure I believe you.” Which seems to me to sum up quite a bit, actually. The visual, easy-to-understand connections between the Taxes I Pay and What Government Does For Me seem to have broken down or disappeared (although I sometimes wonder if they …
I’m a horrible person because I don’t remember who made this doll for me. I think it was my grandmother, Mom’s mom, but it might have been my great grandmother. It might have been Mom. I don’t remember. I’ve been told several times and the information just doesn’t stick. I do remember playing with this doll a lot. I liked to braid and rebraid her hair. She’s stained on one hand, probably from being taken outside too much, or being held by my own grubby hand. Disturbingly, I never named her. She has always been The Ragdoll. She’s Caitlyn’s now. …
There’s been a flurry (accidental weather pun) of hype about the Olympics getting started yesterday in Vancouver. The news has been full of worried reports about our unusually warm January and the measures the hosts are going to to keep the snow on the mountains long enough for the Games to happen. We don’t watch TV, broadcast or cable, and we’re really not sports fans, so it’s mostly been a thing happened Out There. And so, it took me a moment to recognize the subject of this project at Craft’s blog. Then, after I realized this was an Olympic Something …
We stopped by the p-patch on the way home from school this afternoon and discovered that the garlic planted last fall is doing swimmingly. I used some maple leaves in the fall as a mulch, and the garlic now is growing through the leaves. Not just pushing the leaves aside and growing up between them, although there’s plenty of that going on. No, this is garlic greens literally poking holes through the maple leaves and then pushing through and up, so the maple leaf is actually suspended several inches off the ground. I’m sorry I didn’t have a camera with …