23.8.09
22.8.09
she will sniff the way to boston!
the only thing that changed about this image during the trip was the scenery behind the dog. she did this for about 95% of our journey to charlotte. we'll see if she repeats the performance en route to boston.
mile post 3, I-86, idaho
this is where jeepie bit the dust (and i almost did too) on a dark and icy night in the middle of idaho, december 2004. phew, glad i made it back!
if the atlas says so...it must be true
it's an old atlas...i wonder if this festival still exists...
cat in a barrel
we sure know how to have fun! last night in town, hanging out and pawning my stuff of on folks.
finally, photo blogging!
uma is so cute, I had to post this pic from our dinner at lovely hula hands.
day 3: dog is my co-pilot (she sat on my previous co-pilot, we re-arranged).
miles: lots
gas mileage: magically improved from days 1 & 2.
states: Utah and almost all of colorado.
thoughts: colorado is really wide. I think Colorado and I still have a challenged relationaship.
music: shuffle, npr, quiet.
things: delicious farmers' market peaches and nectarines. big mountains and big clouds. a dog with a runny nose. sending the first postcards. did I mention colorado is big? driving on winding, steep roads is exhausting. people who drive in Colorado drive fast...and like to tailgate.
destination: best western, stratton, co (almost Kansas, but it was too dark and fierce was panting a lot!). there is a tv here, and hence I am up past bedtime. turns out both human and dog feel safer while camping.
weirdness: as I was grabbing my goods out of the car at the motel, a young/college age girl stopped me and said, "um, I'm really forgetful...can you tell me what year it is?" her tone was so genuine...I'm still figuring out what to think of it.
miles: lots
gas mileage: magically improved from days 1 & 2.
states: Utah and almost all of colorado.
thoughts: colorado is really wide. I think Colorado and I still have a challenged relationaship.
music: shuffle, npr, quiet.
things: delicious farmers' market peaches and nectarines. big mountains and big clouds. a dog with a runny nose. sending the first postcards. did I mention colorado is big? driving on winding, steep roads is exhausting. people who drive in Colorado drive fast...and like to tailgate.
destination: best western, stratton, co (almost Kansas, but it was too dark and fierce was panting a lot!). there is a tv here, and hence I am up past bedtime. turns out both human and dog feel safer while camping.
weirdness: as I was grabbing my goods out of the car at the motel, a young/college age girl stopped me and said, "um, I'm really forgetful...can you tell me what year it is?" her tone was so genuine...I'm still figuring out what to think of it.
21.8.09
day 2: saraswati is my co-pilot.
places: eastern oregon, idaho, utah.
camping: wasatch mountain state park. stars and crickets.
eats: sauerkraut, chocolate, cheese, crackers, salami.
tunes: somewhere different now, watershed, patty, lucinda & the girls. shuffle. quiet.
sights: potatoes, jeepie's accident site of '04, dry brown hills, blue skies, fancy house developments built right up to the edge of park land.
hobbies: playing the harmie at state parks at night. laughing at the dog.
places: eastern oregon, idaho, utah.
camping: wasatch mountain state park. stars and crickets.
eats: sauerkraut, chocolate, cheese, crackers, salami.
tunes: somewhere different now, watershed, patty, lucinda & the girls. shuffle. quiet.
sights: potatoes, jeepie's accident site of '04, dry brown hills, blue skies, fancy house developments built right up to the edge of park land.
hobbies: playing the harmie at state parks at night. laughing at the dog.
19.8.09
18.8.09
8.8.09
vanessa's furniture
hi 77 hampstead housemates. here is a quick review of my furniture since i couldn't figure out how to put pictures on the google doc. cheers!
the vintage sectional sofa
the full shot, with dog
coffee table
chair and ottoman (comfiest chair ever)
small kitchen table (it has wings that fold down and make it a rectangle)
butcher block/craft table
dog sofa (a refinished sofa, but it has foam instead of seats)
the dog chair (i cleaned it. it's the dogs favorite chair and it's an ugly chair. maybe it can go on one of the porches?)
dog supply cabinet from recycled wood (screw mounts into wall)
the vintage sectional sofa
the full shot, with dog
coffee table
chair and ottoman (comfiest chair ever)
small kitchen table (it has wings that fold down and make it a rectangle)
butcher block/craft table
dog sofa (a refinished sofa, but it has foam instead of seats)
the dog chair (i cleaned it. it's the dogs favorite chair and it's an ugly chair. maybe it can go on one of the porches?)
dog supply cabinet from recycled wood (screw mounts into wall)
24.7.09
special delivery!
wow. the harmonium arrived.
of course, it arrived just as i plunked down to work on all of my loan and tuition and school-entering paperwork, which is spread all over the coffee table. so, i am biting my tongue and filling in forms until it's all done...pretending that there isn't a harmonium in a box less than five feet away from me! whoa. what a glorious day. pictures and playing to come.
of course, it arrived just as i plunked down to work on all of my loan and tuition and school-entering paperwork, which is spread all over the coffee table. so, i am biting my tongue and filling in forms until it's all done...pretending that there isn't a harmonium in a box less than five feet away from me! whoa. what a glorious day. pictures and playing to come.
19.7.09
fierce's new bf
this is reuben. he's a little corgi. he will also be fierce's new housemate come september. whoa. there may also be two chihuahuas in the mix. i'm just happy that i found a place to live in boston (actually, jamaica plain, which was my first choice) that meets all of my requirements (nice people, fenced yard, close to transit, close to yoga studio, close to co-op, doesn't break the bank, blah blah blah) and it's totally cute and spacious and has a fireplace. my bedroom is pink, there is room for my furniture and there are two screened in porches. whoa. dreams really do come true. i think having a place really makes makes me feel a bit more grounded and ready for this transition...and now i can fill out all the paperwork for school that requires a massachusetts address. this weekend has been so great! and further proof that life works out just the way it is supposed to. thank you darce, andy, caroline & bethany for reminding me of the east coast love.
(omg, this is all so exciting, but be prepared for uber-excitement next week when the harmonium arrives).
18.7.09
17.7.09
11.7.09
7.7.09
thank you google maps!
this is what i just did:
>>maps.google.com
>>get directions
>>from: portland, or
>>to: charlotte, nc
this is what google maps told me:
>>driving directions to charlotte, n carolina
>>suggested routes
I-80 E / 2,764 miles / 1 day 17 hours by car
(or)
I-84 E / 2,885 miles / 1 day 20 hours by car
(or)
IA-2 / 2,722 miles / 37 days 4 hours by foot
(or)
John Day Highway/US-26 / 2,728 miles / 37 days 6 hours by foot
>>i have some big decisions to make.
they make it look so easy...just less than two days to drive cross country?
>>maps.google.com
>>get directions
>>from: portland, or
>>to: charlotte, nc
this is what google maps told me:
>>driving directions to charlotte, n carolina
>>suggested routes
I-80 E / 2,764 miles / 1 day 17 hours by car
(or)
I-84 E / 2,885 miles / 1 day 20 hours by car
(or)
IA-2 / 2,722 miles / 37 days 4 hours by foot
(or)
John Day Highway/US-26 / 2,728 miles / 37 days 6 hours by foot
>>i have some big decisions to make.
they make it look so easy...just less than two days to drive cross country?
8.6.09
gulp... and eggs
i just cashed in 11 years of frequent flyer miles to book a trip to boston in july. i am such a hoarder that it almost hurts to actually use the miles. i like to just watch them collect in that account. i cashed in the equivalent of 14 one-way, cross country trips...all those trips to and from college for holidays and summers and all the other adventures that required air travel...and that is just on one airline. and now my miles account is at 848 miles. just numbers...and a free trip to find myself (and fierce, woof) a new home.
the girls haven't been using their nesting box, instead just making a nest in the straw on the floor of the coop (those weirdos). liz must have cleaned out the coop over the weekend while i was gone. anyhow, the girls must have been flustered since their floor-nest was gone with the clean out with not quite enough straw laid down to make a good nest (heaven forbid they hop back up to the perfect nesting box!)...chickens are really good at panic-ing. anyhow, i heard some ferocious squawking this morning...the kind the girls make when they are unhappy and uncomfortable when it comes to getting the eggs out. fierce and i went to investigate. they had nested themselves next to each other, by the fence, under the juniper bushes, in cozy little spots and they were ready to lay some eggs. fierce nosed them back to the coop and i assessed the coop situation to find out why they moved their operation, put more straw down and let them back to it. later there was some scuffling as two dogs and a chicken were fighting over a shell. turns out someone (gotta be big bird by the size and color of the shell) was still determined to lay her egg in the bushes...and then one of the mutts found it and made lunch of it. such drama around these parts. i locked the girls back in their pen (their very luxurious pen) and i hope they will get back in the coop-egg-laying habit.
just think how juicy these stories will be when i have a flock of 300 on my farm/yoga retreat center. see you all there!
and just to prove that all is not dog & chicken drama around here, this was the scene last week. which is also the same week in which l'il red found her way onto the kitchen sink for the first time. they are getting gutsy!
over and out (as my pa likes to say)
the girls haven't been using their nesting box, instead just making a nest in the straw on the floor of the coop (those weirdos). liz must have cleaned out the coop over the weekend while i was gone. anyhow, the girls must have been flustered since their floor-nest was gone with the clean out with not quite enough straw laid down to make a good nest (heaven forbid they hop back up to the perfect nesting box!)...chickens are really good at panic-ing. anyhow, i heard some ferocious squawking this morning...the kind the girls make when they are unhappy and uncomfortable when it comes to getting the eggs out. fierce and i went to investigate. they had nested themselves next to each other, by the fence, under the juniper bushes, in cozy little spots and they were ready to lay some eggs. fierce nosed them back to the coop and i assessed the coop situation to find out why they moved their operation, put more straw down and let them back to it. later there was some scuffling as two dogs and a chicken were fighting over a shell. turns out someone (gotta be big bird by the size and color of the shell) was still determined to lay her egg in the bushes...and then one of the mutts found it and made lunch of it. such drama around these parts. i locked the girls back in their pen (their very luxurious pen) and i hope they will get back in the coop-egg-laying habit.
just think how juicy these stories will be when i have a flock of 300 on my farm/yoga retreat center. see you all there!
and just to prove that all is not dog & chicken drama around here, this was the scene last week. which is also the same week in which l'il red found her way onto the kitchen sink for the first time. they are getting gutsy!
over and out (as my pa likes to say)
1.6.09
just past midnight + $3
it is just past midnight and finally cool enough to feel the comfort of summer-time goose bumps. fierce has finally moved inside, i assume because the house has cooled enough for her black-furred body to handle the temperature. i don't remember it being this warm and dry here this early...but when it comes to weather i tend to lump entire months into the rain gear or the sun gear category for the bike or the farm, and that's hardly scientific. i am also not complaining. i am happy to have multiple tan lines and peeling skin on my pink-ish nose on the last day of may.
at least the summer is here to make one thing feel certain. the rest of me is in the juggle, the quiet, the anxious of the not-here, not-there of moving at the end of summer. the close of yoga school, the not knowing how long my job will continue, finding the sweet joy in dear friendships without allowing the fear of loss to creep in, appreciation of the huge back yard, collecting chicken feathers and eggs. to exist with a hightened awareness of impermenence: to embrace without clinging, to appreciate without grasping. but really...isn't that all that life is anyway, i just feel it in an exagerated sense because i am going to make a big geographical transition? striking impermanence or evolutionary change, nothing stays the same forever and this is an excellent reminder to live with that notion. my practice: stay with the longing to be present: sitting on the plywood deck with a cup of tea watching the dogs watch the chickens who watch for worms. soaking in the sun and the moment and the knowing that these glorious portland moments are not permanent. that these moments are not because of portland, but because this is just the space i get to be in now. that all of this can be packed into my snail shell heart and will follow me wherever i walk. to have the hope and open heart that whatever comes next offers the same promise, just different packaging (and a much small backyard...sans chickens, really...i'm not attached...i swear).
i am taking baby steps in the packing process. that way the transition of all my stuff (mainly kitchen equiptment, art supplies, clothes and outdoor gear [probably in that order by volume]) into boxes can be about organization and remembering and cleaning out (purging!) and not hurried dumping just to get it all out of dodge on time. i have piles of books for powells, clothes that will get rejected from buffalo exchange, a goodwill bag and borrowed items to return to friends. today i bought $3 worth of ziplock bags to organize sewing and craft supplies. there is something so refreshing about combing through everything i own and asking, "do i need this?" which then turns into "what does this mean to me?"and possibly, "when will i ever need powdered graphite lock lubricant?". how refreshing to head off knowing that i won't be taking anything i don't need, and i don't just mean the stuff i get to unpack and put on a shelf. the things i need surprise me: a journalist's notebook with my nana's handwriting on the first page, cut out horoscopes and fortune cookie fortunes, fabric scraps, chandelier crystals, twelve different pairs of scissors, ceramic tiles, two white-bound copies of the catcher in the rye, rusted paperclips, a heart full of love for all the intangibles i am blessed to be surrounded by here (read: dear friends, teachers, yoga studio, landscape, agriculture, lifestyle). a heart that is full.
purnamadah purnamidam purnaat purnamudachyate purnasya purnaamadaya purnameva vashishyate.
at least the summer is here to make one thing feel certain. the rest of me is in the juggle, the quiet, the anxious of the not-here, not-there of moving at the end of summer. the close of yoga school, the not knowing how long my job will continue, finding the sweet joy in dear friendships without allowing the fear of loss to creep in, appreciation of the huge back yard, collecting chicken feathers and eggs. to exist with a hightened awareness of impermenence: to embrace without clinging, to appreciate without grasping. but really...isn't that all that life is anyway, i just feel it in an exagerated sense because i am going to make a big geographical transition? striking impermanence or evolutionary change, nothing stays the same forever and this is an excellent reminder to live with that notion. my practice: stay with the longing to be present: sitting on the plywood deck with a cup of tea watching the dogs watch the chickens who watch for worms. soaking in the sun and the moment and the knowing that these glorious portland moments are not permanent. that these moments are not because of portland, but because this is just the space i get to be in now. that all of this can be packed into my snail shell heart and will follow me wherever i walk. to have the hope and open heart that whatever comes next offers the same promise, just different packaging (and a much small backyard...sans chickens, really...i'm not attached...i swear).
i am taking baby steps in the packing process. that way the transition of all my stuff (mainly kitchen equiptment, art supplies, clothes and outdoor gear [probably in that order by volume]) into boxes can be about organization and remembering and cleaning out (purging!) and not hurried dumping just to get it all out of dodge on time. i have piles of books for powells, clothes that will get rejected from buffalo exchange, a goodwill bag and borrowed items to return to friends. today i bought $3 worth of ziplock bags to organize sewing and craft supplies. there is something so refreshing about combing through everything i own and asking, "do i need this?" which then turns into "what does this mean to me?"and possibly, "when will i ever need powdered graphite lock lubricant?". how refreshing to head off knowing that i won't be taking anything i don't need, and i don't just mean the stuff i get to unpack and put on a shelf. the things i need surprise me: a journalist's notebook with my nana's handwriting on the first page, cut out horoscopes and fortune cookie fortunes, fabric scraps, chandelier crystals, twelve different pairs of scissors, ceramic tiles, two white-bound copies of the catcher in the rye, rusted paperclips, a heart full of love for all the intangibles i am blessed to be surrounded by here (read: dear friends, teachers, yoga studio, landscape, agriculture, lifestyle). a heart that is full.
purnamadah purnamidam purnaat purnamudachyate purnasya purnaamadaya purnameva vashishyate.
argh. harumph.
details, schmetails. i really want to be able to e-mail photos to the blog...but blogger is not letting me do such things and i don't know how to fix it. that i can handle...what i can't handle (well, i can handle it...it's just frustrating!) is the impossibility of sending a real e-mail to a real person at blogger who can answer my question. what's a girl to do?
7.5.09
procrastination station
last night i did something i haven't done in months. i opened my computer and looked at fun websites and goofed off. a friend came over for dinner and shared two funny website with me...and from there i lost myself in the time-warp abyss of the internet.
it started here...awkward family photos.com
and went to here...things christian culture likes.com
and (of course) included a visit to kittens inspired by kittens
i ran across this passage that i really like (oddly enough, it was included in a post about texting/tweeting during church services).
'There are quiet places also in the mind', he said meditatively. 'But we
build bandstands and factories on them. Deliberately — to put a stop to the
quietness. ... All the thoughts, all the preoccupations in my head — round
and round, continually, What's it for? What's it all for? To put an end to
the quiet, to break it up and disperse it, to pretend at any cost that it
isn't there. Ah, but it is; it is there, in spite of everything, at the back
of everything. Lying awake at night — not restlessly, but serenely, waiting
for sleep — the quiet re-establishes itself, piece by piece; all the broken
bits ... It re-establishes itself, an inward quiet, like the outward quiet
of grass and trees. It fills one, it grows — a crystal quiet, a growing,
expanding crystal. It grows, it becomes more perfect; it is beautiful and
terrifying ... For one's alone in the crystal, and there's no support from
the outside, there is nothing external and important, nothing external and
trivial to pull oneself up by or stand on ... There is nothing to laugh at
or feel enthusiast about. But the quiet grows and grows. Beautifully and
unbearably. And at last you are conscious of something approaching; it is
almost a faint sound of footsteps. Something inexpressively lovely and
wonderful advances through the crystal, nearer, nearer. And, oh,
inexpressively terrifying. For if it were to touch you, if it were to seize
you and engulf you, you'd die; all the regular, habitual daily part of you
would die .... one would have to begin living arduously in the quiet,
arduously in some strange, unheard of manner.'
– Aldous Huxley, Antic Hay
that's all from here. happy rain-sun-cloud-rain-sun day!
it started here...awkward family photos.com
and went to here...things christian culture likes.com
and (of course) included a visit to kittens inspired by kittens
i ran across this passage that i really like (oddly enough, it was included in a post about texting/tweeting during church services).
'There are quiet places also in the mind', he said meditatively. 'But we
build bandstands and factories on them. Deliberately — to put a stop to the
quietness. ... All the thoughts, all the preoccupations in my head — round
and round, continually, What's it for? What's it all for? To put an end to
the quiet, to break it up and disperse it, to pretend at any cost that it
isn't there. Ah, but it is; it is there, in spite of everything, at the back
of everything. Lying awake at night — not restlessly, but serenely, waiting
for sleep — the quiet re-establishes itself, piece by piece; all the broken
bits ... It re-establishes itself, an inward quiet, like the outward quiet
of grass and trees. It fills one, it grows — a crystal quiet, a growing,
expanding crystal. It grows, it becomes more perfect; it is beautiful and
terrifying ... For one's alone in the crystal, and there's no support from
the outside, there is nothing external and important, nothing external and
trivial to pull oneself up by or stand on ... There is nothing to laugh at
or feel enthusiast about. But the quiet grows and grows. Beautifully and
unbearably. And at last you are conscious of something approaching; it is
almost a faint sound of footsteps. Something inexpressively lovely and
wonderful advances through the crystal, nearer, nearer. And, oh,
inexpressively terrifying. For if it were to touch you, if it were to seize
you and engulf you, you'd die; all the regular, habitual daily part of you
would die .... one would have to begin living arduously in the quiet,
arduously in some strange, unheard of manner.'
– Aldous Huxley, Antic Hay
that's all from here. happy rain-sun-cloud-rain-sun day!
20.4.09
chicks! chicks! chicks!
the garden of wonders crew just got bigger as the chicken eggs hatched. check out this adorable video of the little peepers (click here)! it's hard to get anything done in here with all the peeping! omg, so cute!
15.4.09
the best story ever!
i just got off the phone with one of my dearest, most wonderful friends in the world (who also happens to live in portland). she is living the dream with her garden and chickens and wood stove and soon to be natural built house (cob, straw bale, not sure). she just told me that today just as she stepped into her nyc apartment sized chicken coop to visit her girls and check for eggs outside the laying boxes, the wind slammed the door shut and she was locked inside her coop. thank goodness for cell phones and co-workers...otherwise she might have roosted with the girls ovenight.
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