Lovely World

Happy Now

We had a happy weekend. At home, together. A walk on Saturday was a high point, aside from the fact that I dropped my camera into this frozen brook and (I think) permanently destroyed it. As a final shot, I think this is a nice one. Give children a stick and access to an icy body of water, and they will chop, chop, chop until they are too cold to chop anymore.

Happiness. What is this anyway? The great E.L. Konigsburg (author of, among many other books, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) says that "happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around." I like that image. I've recently subscribed to the magazine yes! It explores building a just and sustainable world. The issue that arrived this week is all about happiness. There is even an article that asks the question: Why is the Dalai Lama always smiling? I love that. And think about it, the Dalai Lama truly is always smiling.

The woods around our house are filled with the evidence of abandoned farming activity. On our Saturday walk we discovered this happy guy someone constructed out of some old fencing. A lovely thing to unexpectedly come upon in the middle of the woods.

I will leave you with this list of ten things that science says will make you happy, lifted directly from one of the yes! magazine articles:

1. Savor everyday moments

2. Avoid comparisons

3. Put money low on the list

4. Have meaningful goals

5. Take initiative at work (basically, be helpful and creative and not a slug)

6. Make friends, treasure family

7. Smile even when you don't feel like it

8. Say thank you like you mean it

9. Get out and exercise

10. Give it away, give it away now

What I'm Liking Now

Here is a smattering of things I'm enjoying right now:

1. Music by Maeve Gilchrist. Who knew the harp could be so hip?

2. Embroidery for kids. This is a very simple, inexpensive craft that both of my kids enjoy. Aside from needing my assistance with the periodic rethreading of embroidery floss, the kids are quiet and independent as they stitch. What Mama doesn't love activities like that? 

3. Apples. I have been eating at least one apple every day. The market is still offering quite a few varieties of local apples. I buy lots of kinds, stow them in the fridge, and surprise myself as I bite into a randomly chosen one - the flavors being so distinct. I like apples with cheese, apples and almond butter, apples cut into salad, and apple tarts.

4. The efforts of Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein. They made the documentary film The Business of Being Born , which explores the current status of birth in the United States. As a midwife, I have been discouraged by the continuing trend towards medicalized birth. Ricki and Abby's film, and the grassroots movement that has grown up around the film, are pressing the medical and lay communities into a frank discussion about birth. The New York Times just ran an article about the increase in homebirths in NYC, likely influenced by the film. I have a lot more to say about this issue, but for now you can check out the above links.

5. Going on walks - with my husband. Before kids, David and I used to walk together almost every day. Now-a-days, my walks are usually solitary or with the kids. I love walking with David. Conversation flows freely as we fall into step with each other. He is also a die-hard bushwhacker (this exciting word simply means to walk through the woods off the trail). We have discovered so many beautiful places together, simply by leaving the well-beaten path.

Sewing Time

I have found myself knitting and sewing quite a bit lately. I am challenging myself to try new projects that I can learn new techniques from. Sewing is quickly becoming a favorite endeavor. I went through a period in my 20s when I sewed a lot. I guess I would have described myself as a quilter. I made quilts for every occasion - weddings, births, birthdays, and just because. I had inherited my grandmother's old Singer sewing machine. It was olive green, metal, and heavy as all get out. It didn't do anything fancy, but it allowed me to make patchwork to my heart's content.

Then, I went to graduate school, began work as a midwife, and had my babies. My creative efforts just about dried up. It was difficult for me to find the time and space to devote to my own pursuits. I look back at that time and wonder if I might have had an easier time of it if I HAD given myself the gift of creative time and space.

Lately, I feel as if I have found my way home. I have a great Bernina sewing machine and I have a room in which I can keep my supplies out and ready for when I have the time to make something. This makes a tremendous difference in the creative process. If I had to drag everything out of the closet each time I wanted to sew, I don't think I would get as much done.

Here is my new skirt. I've worn it twice this past week, thanks to a spell of mild temperatures here in New England. The pattern was made by tracing a skirt that I already owned and liked.

I love, love, love this bag. It is from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing. She calls it the "Charming Handbag," and it has indeed charmed me. I made it from scrap fabric I found in my mother's stash (my mother's stash deserves a blog entry all to itself). I added the inside pocket for my cell phone, as I hate digging around in a bag for a ringing cell phone.

The kids and I picked out fabric for two baby quilts at Tala's fabric shop in North Adams yesterday. A cousin is due shortly with twins. So, you know where to find me this afternoon!

Catching Up On My Knitting

I have had too many (can you have too many?) knitting projects going on at once. I decided that I would finish up a few - clear the decks - so that I can start in on some new patterns I have had my eye on. I made the above fingerless gloves for Miriam, in anticipation of winter in her drafty classroom. The pattern is from Clara Parkes The Knitter's Book of Yarn (which, by the way, is a fabulous book). Below is a scarf I made from some vintage French acrylic yarn I found in my mother's stash. I started it during a trip to NYC on the Amtrak train out of Albany. I have taken that train so many times over the past five months to go to my appointments at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It is the perfect length trip to get a lot of knitting done - often times a whole project. I made up the pattern for this scarf. When I finished it, Miriam put it on and claimed it as her own.

I have been making quite a few birthday hats lately. I made the one below for my 15-year-old nephew Jeremy. It looks a bit big as modeled by Adam, but it is incredibly warm and cozy. I was thinking that it would look very cool if I had had some sort of patch/badge to sew on the front, but I wasn't sure exactly what would be a cool image for a 15-year-old boy. I may look into some web sites for patch/badge ideas.

Miriam has started a knitting class at the public library. It met for the first time yesterday afternoon. We spent the better part of the hour making knitting needles. The tops are made out of Fimo clay (AKA Sculpy). This was a very seductive project, and I can see myself making a few of these at home. Here are the two pairs Miriam and I made:

Here is a bouquet of knitting needles made by the teacher, our faithful children's librarian Mindy. I love those strawberries:

Mother Nature's Colors

Our home is nestled in the valley formed by the Berkshire Hills and Taconic Range. Depending on the weather, the season, or time of day these mountains wear just about every color imaginable. The pink of sunrise, the purple of the end of the day, the white frosting of winter, the autumn fiery reds and oranges, and the fresh bright green of Spring. Today, the mountains were gray, plain and simple. The overcast sky and absence of foliage set the stage for a stark, bleak November landscape. I went to pick up our share of vegetables at Caretaker Farm this morning. We now find the vegetables in the root cellar. I packed up my bag with dirt covered carrots, potatoes, beets, and parsnips. The farmers leave these root vegetables dirty because the dirt extends their life in storage. Once home, I rolled up my sleeves and started scrubbing. Behold, what was once a dusty, dirty, muddy mess was transformed into a pile of jeweled-colored beauties. A satisfying contrast to the gray day. I offer you some color today.

RED

BLUE

GREEN

ORANGE

The Day After

Yesterday I had a sense of anticipation that rivaled the childhood anticipation of my birthday or Christmas. We waited until after 7 PM before turning on CNN/PBS to watch the returns. Miriam and Adam were so excited and interested. They sat up with us for a while watching the electoral map change colors and the numbers scroll along the bottom of the screen. The kids were long in bed when David and I heard the declaration that Barack Obama had won the election. I started weeping: out of joy, out of relief, out of a deep hope for our children's future. I continued to weep randomly throughout the day today. I don't think I was the only one.

Miriam made this flag to wave as she watched the election returns last night. Yes indeed, Obama 2008!

Vote!

As for many people, this election has come to mean so much to me. I have always been interested in presidential politics, and have voted in every election since coming of age. I grew up in a Republican home. My parents met at a Young Republicans' event and supported that party because they felt it supported them best as small business owners.  Yet somehow, they raised children who turned out to be bleeding-heart liberals.  Looking back, I am thankful that politics rarely, if ever, caused conflict in our home.  My dad even once bought me a book by Senator Ted Kennedy when I was in high school! I sometimes wonder who my now-deceased father would have supported this year.  His last vote in a presidential election was cast for Ross Perot.

I anticipate that for the next couple of days I will be filled with both excitement and anxiety.  I remember all too well the 2000 election.  I stayed up late watching the returns, with 4-month-old Miriam on my lap.  At one point I went and woke up David to announce that it looked like Gore had won.  I went to sleep satisfied, only to wake up to weeks of frustration and disappointment.

Tomorrow night I plan to attend an Obama event planned by my lovely drum teachers Lara and Yael. In their own words the event is "a free community drum and dance jam to raise the energy of Unity, Hope, and Change with the intention to manifest Senator Barack Obama and his family's safe passage into the White House."  All are welcome, 11/3/08 from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Ground Floor Gallery of the Historic Beaver Mill in North Adams, MA.  Clicking on the web link above will give you more information.

Tuesday will find me helping out for a few hours at our local polling station. I will check in voters and hand out ballots. Then, the evening will find me where it will find many of you, glued to the T.V. watching the returns.

I love this shirt. I bought it outside Fenway Park after David and I saw a Red Sox game in September.

In the end, it is our RIGHT to vote that TRULY counts. Whatever your political views, whichever candidates you find attractive, GET OUT AND VOTE!

Spooky Halloween

Halloween is a family favorite as holidays go.  The costumes, the darkness that comes early this time of year, the crunchy leaves, the jack-o-lanterns.  Of course the kids (and David) love the candy. I try and be a good sport about all that candy, but Halloween tends to bring out the Healthy Nutrition Monster in me. The kids are terrified of this Monster, and attempt to horde and eat as much candy as quickly as possible as to evade her wrath.

I really liked the kids' costumes this year. Miriam was Serafina Pekkala from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I made the costume and quiver, while David constructed the bow and arrows.

Adam was Stripey Man, his version of a super hero. The costume was created the day I brought him home new pajamas I had bought at the Childrens' Place. Somehow the bright colors inspired this persona. (The new pajamas were a necessity, as his old ones just barely reached below his knees and elbows!)

I hope you all had a spooky Halloween. Don't eat all of that candy at once.