Although much has changed since this summer-fall recap post was originally written in December 2019, I’m backdating the post upon belated publication to reflect my reality at that time. —— When I look back on past Novembers when I did NaPoWriMo – National Poetry Writing Month – I love knowing that I found joy in…
nature
EcoAction Author Event May 21
I’m pleased to be a featured reader at the first EcoAction Author Night on May 21 in Arlington, Virginia. EcoAction Arlington, the event organizer, was formerly known as Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE). The organization celebrated 40 years last fall! I’m honored to be reading with Tara Campbell, author of TreeVolution, from which she…
A no-travel, just-us Thanksgiving
This is the second year we haven’t traveled or hosted anyone for Thanksgiving. I’ve been offline all day and want to avoid getting too sucked into a screen, so I’ll just recap in brief, and in photos. Despite designs on waking at 4:30, I ignored my alarm and didn’t get up until my son woke…
Getting my children – and myself – outside
With a background in environmental education and an avowed interest in connecting to nature, you’d think my children would be outside all the time. Well, at least I’d like to think that I could have little adventure explorers who would never ask to watch anything on a screen. Not so. I blame it partly on…
Under a January sky: Welcoming 2014
It didn’t look like it was going to go well, this New Year’s Day. I had been eating pancakes all morning (sugar-free and GF but not GAPS-legal) and was wearing the world’s frumpiest sweatpant/pajama combo. My daughter was reaching up to the counter to help herself to the sausage she didn’t eat at breakfast while…
All I needed to know about myself I learned on Land/Sea
My alma mater, Kalamazoo College, contacted me some weeks back to let me know there would be a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Land/Sea Program. Patterned after Outward Bound, this was a special orientation program and outdoor adventure experience for about 30 first-year students in an incoming class of around 300. In my…
On moons and mothers
Got the kids to bed exactly three hours ago and dashed off to a lovely evening of blessing two pregnant mamas in my Holistic Moms chapter and honoring a third whose child chose to come before we could bless her back in September. My camera was out of battery, but I had in mind a…
A change in the forecast
Closing in on December Even though you can’t see the fifteen degrees that tromped out of the woods yesterday with as many miles of winds each hour, their departure left today hunched over, knocked into a new category where shoulders that once opened to warmth and the smell of dry leaves baking turn heavy, and…
How would you slant light?
Blank canvas If you had the chance to paint the sky, how would you do it? Would your brush be brash and full of color, from orange through pink up to early-morning blue? Or would you go for the sunset, dimming down from dark to the last warmth of sinking light? Maybe you would deeply…
It’s the most ___ time of the year
Routine Whenever I worry that my middle name is inconsistency, that erratic behavior disrupts my chances at bliss and my children’s balance, stepping outside reminds me that the leaves turn only once each year. And not for 30 minutes every morning. Then they fall and a new generation, long waiting in promise before gingerly pushing…
A new view on the hurricane
My NaBloPoMo plan is to write a poem and take and post a photo every day in November, spending less than half an hour on both. See below for links to previous entries including Day One about why poetry? Today we walked in the woods behind our home. Everyone has been so grateful that no…
Unfolding into nature: May Carnival of Natural Parenting
Welcome to the May Carnival of Natural Parenting: Growing in the Outdoors This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared how they encourage their children to connect with nature and dig in the dirt. Please read…
Nature center saves the day
Although I was totally annoyed at my son for waking me up at 6:11 a.m., I also felt a little guilty that I was going to be dragging him to an appointment later that morning with nothing in it for him. Well, the practitioner was going to check him out, too, and at least she…
Look both ways — a tale of a city and its suburbs
Having someone in from out of town helps you see where you live with new eyes. When my brother-in-law visited, I was kind of psyched that after my husband picked him up at Union Station, they got enjoy a lovely drive through the District — past the monuments — at dusk on a perfect summer-feeling…
Take a break, Winter.
I think my shoulders are finally detaching from my ears. Fifty degrees and the disappearance of last week’s bone-chilling wind could not have come too soon. I’m amazed at how different my attitude is now that I’ve actually had some warm, fresh air. The world feels open instead of hunched into a ball. I can…
Waldorf School Advent Garden
I just wrote this post at my column on the Washington Times Communities. The main idea is that I found this simple ceremony of children lighting candles and walking through a spiral of fresh evergreens to be profoundly moving. It’s late, and I don’t know why the photo of the apple candle wasn’t loading to…