tiny moments (and everything in between)
My daughter’s soccer season begins. For the first game, there are clouds, a few drizzles, a rainbow. As I sit on the hard, metal bleachers, raindrops casting irregular shapes on my jeans, I am reminded of how long these games sometimes seem, am reminded of how short childhood really is. Come autumn, I won’t be … Continue reading change
Lately, there have been days calling only for a sweater and days calling for coat and hat and gloves. Back and forth we go, back and forth. I’d like to say I’m Zen about it, that I’m unfazed by the pinging and indecision of Mother Nature, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. I’d happily take … Continue reading above all
We hike along the Potomac River, my son and I bringing his sister back to the hike we did some weeks ago, the view wild and wintry. The water seems extra green on this day and reminds me of the green of Lake Austin, except here there are rapids and cliffs, and instead of gazing at … Continue reading view
These darker days are days that feel light to me, a quality versus some quantity. There are car rides to see Christmas lights and walks after dinner, a blanket of sky dotted with stars and a moon fading to new. Poetry and seasonal essays, tea and twinkle lights. Darkness that is light, a quality richer than any quantity. … Continue reading infusions
She tells me she has a Norman Rockwell picture in her mind. A picture of family gathered round, everything and everyone cozy, food abundant and delicious, a picture that is perfect. The picture is not her own (it’s Norman Rockwell’s) (it’s one you might see on social media). I tell her our Thanksgiving wasn’t Norman Rockwell either. It was … Continue reading all in
I find a scrap piece of paper in my desk drawer with this quote scribbled on it: All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world. (E.B. White) I read it and my heart explodes… no, not explodes… rather, expands, opens very very wide, fluffs its feathers … Continue reading simple
We have visitors. My sister, my brother-in-law, my nephew, which sounds very my-ish, though how else to say? They do not belong to me, are not mine-mine, though they are mine in heart speak, if there is such a thing, and I think that there is. It’s a quick visit, one dinner, one sleep, one breakfast. It’s good to see … Continue reading lingering
The first cherry tomatoes are ready for plucking, eating, admiring and so I pluck, I eat, I admire. There is one tomato that remains in the admiring phase, rests on the kitchen windowsill. I look at it multiple times a day while standing at the sink to wash dishes or hands. I don’t know what it is about … Continue reading museum
The first of the cosmos have come up, self-seeding from last year, and the year before, and…. Along with the zinnias, this summer’s haphazard garden is shaping up. I walk to the shed to get the lawn mower, notice a tomato plant. Another dear plant has self-seeded and, for a moment, my heart skips a beat, reverence rooting … Continue reading reverence
I see my friend after several weeks’ time. She makes coffee, I bring olive oil cake swirled with blueberry jam, we sit on her porch. It’s a perfect summer morning, a perfect way to begin the week. The rest of the week is good too, though busy. My writing project is challenging my brain in new ways and … Continue reading a string of good
Michelle GD 