Song of Songs

I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;

I gather my myrrh with my spice,

I eat my honeycomb with my honey,

I drink my wine with my milk.

Eat, friends, drink,and be drunk with love.

Song of Songs 5:1

Sai uma bica para ti, Pai.

Celebrating my father after 3 years of him being gone. Cafe Expresso is entrenched in the Portuguese culture. He went to the cafe all the time, mostly without us. Going for um cafe, or um garoto, became a ritual for us when we lived in Furadouro in 1976.

Any good Portuguese youth is familiar, if not a consumer, of the bica, no matter where in the world you find them.

I am thinking of you.

Ponder this

The influential artist Robert Rauschenberg died recently, and one of his obituaries carried a quote I find very relevant to being a dad:

“Screwing things up is a virtue,” [Rauschenberg] said when he was 74. “Being correct is never the point. I have an almost fanatically correct assistant, and by the time she re-spells my words and corrects my punctuation, I can’t read what I wrote. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.”

Can you tell I have been thinking about my father? Let's honor mistakes... after all, it's how we learn life's most important lessons.

A daughter's Wish

That fathers of yesteryear had access to this resource. Great things could have been created.

The Cook's Thesaurus

This is a nifty resource for those of us semi-serious cooks.

The Cook's Thesaurus is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools. Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions

Eating Out

At the local Olive Garden.

Pizza with topping of choice.

A new chicken dish.

Babysitting the grandchildren

In this case they are the stuffed animals du jour. I hold them as the young mommas play on the grass.

Young Children and Spirituality

Story re-orders, sifts through experience, and allows others, young children and adults alike, to hear what we think truly matters. We are constituted by the stories we tell ourselves and others. Thus stories serve an ontological purpose. Story connects us with that which lies beyond ourselves and this process makes us ask questions about the meanings of our lives. It is, in fact, a way we can begin to define what we mean when we use the term "spirituality."

- Barbara Kimes Myers

Young Children and Spirituality

Field Trip

To the Heard Museum for Museum Family Day to see the exhibit Life in a Cold Place.

We had lunch at the Arcadia Cafe on site. Lovely place it is.

Eskimos are, in my view, the opposite of the people of Africa, with all their fur and icy environment.

School is out

A year's worth of making sure the youngens make it there on time is over. A year's worth of ensuring homework is done by due day is over. I am grateful my efforts contribute to their success in school. And successful they are.

I found this to be the ultimate visual representation of the end of the school year.

The day's calendar.

On the playground one last time.

Passions

Pens make me happy. My Dad always carried a blue pen in his pocket and to be able to touch it was a privilege. Gel pens top the list and my littlest youngen, like me, cannot go into a office supply store without getting a fix from the pen isle. These are the latest addition the the pen collection. Endorphin heaven.

Thoughts for Sunday

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
- Anne Frank

Only One Earth

Peaches and Fun

Something to do in May if you live in Phoenix.

Peaches

Apricots

The purchase. I swallowed hard when I realized I was bringing home $90 worth of fruit. The kids just wouldn't stop. Will have to share with neighbours

Schnepf Farm is a pretty cool place to go to pick peaches and apricots. It was our first time there and I don't yet know what else is available for picking at other times of the year. I was reminded of my peach tree in Mozambique. At Schnepf farm, we got to taste a few peaches right off the tree.

Teachers

Remembering teachers and their time spend with your children is something I saw my momma do. I so appreciate the opportunity to be a guest and observer in their classrooms. It's beautiful when the teacher parent partnership is solid and warm. Here's to all the teachers I know.

Outdoor School Day

I mother two girls

Simply put, motherhood is lived, not described. :-)

Unspeakable comfort

What unspeakable comfort and strength is ours to know that in the midst of all our mischief, amid our scheming and bad speculations, regardless of our shaping, misshaping or reshaping of life, with all of our activities and failures, God is among us. God is not a graven image of our own longings and shortcomings. Rather God, through Christ, is among us as friend, advocate, savior, and above all as our living Lord, to correct, to forgive, to comfort, to love, and to heal.
- John A. Stroman

The Thunder from the Mountain

Cleaning

I am not a minimalist like some people I know. I am very much possessive of some material things, possibly because I pretty much lost everything after leaving Mozambique in 1975. But I do enjoy looking around a clean house, or making space in drawers or closets.

Here are some ideas.

Happiness is ...

A box of chalk.

End Hunger

I've never lived in full blown hunger, but I have experienced slim pickings as a result of war and political unrest. Can you help end hunger? Visit Bread for the World and find out.