I'll kneel down

"Nothing is written," Mumford and Sons

Since they released their first album, "Sigh no more," in 2009, many fans have been eagerly awaiting a second album. That album is due out later this year and until then, I am trying to satisfy my Mumford cravings with these newer songs which aren't yet released, but can be seen on Youtube.

I heart bluntcard

happy

"Below My Feet," Mumford and Sons

"Happy"
Last night
we spoke of a happiness
new, yet familiar
feelings of calm and excitement
a moving on without loss
or
a staying and knowing
that it is out there
just waiting for us
not leaving us behind
not moving ahead
to an
irreconcilable place.


As we spoke
I couldn't help
but see the curve in the road
which we drove everyday
for a thousand years--
which was really only two
because poverty
doesn't equal privilege--
away from where I felt most safe
yet moving towards
something unknown.


Who would have known all those years ago
that I would sit in this place
have this conversation with you
and know that you meant it
when you said
you
were
happy
for me
--A. R. Bennett

"When I was 5 years old, my mother told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy". They told me I didn't understand the assignment....I told them they didn't understand life." --John Lennon

best summer dinners #3

Had another great dinner last night.

I help Jay milk the cows Sunday afternoons.
The girls were milked, the milking dishes were all done and things were tidied up, and we'd just gotten into the truck to leave when we heard some horrible screams coming from the Pig Palace. A piglet had gotten his head stuck in the fencing around the pen while he was trying to munch on the weeds just outside the fencing. It seemed like the poor little guy had all but used up his energy by the time we got up there--he was panting and gurgling for breath. Jay wrestled with the fence and tried to push the piglet back through or pull from behind, but to no avail. While I tried the same he ran and got bolt cutters and in no time the piglet was back playing with his siblings and, as Jay put it, probably saying, "man, my head hurts!" I had to laugh when Jay said that we got some good karma for getting the piglet out.

After a quick swim in a nearby swimming hole we met up for dinner at my cabin--"breakfast for dinner," one of my dinner staples. I scrambled eggs with mushrooms, bacon, onions, Farm chives, Farm broccoli, and garlic from Jay's garden, and served it with Farm bread. Simple, good food to enjoy as we chatted.

I love making meals in my little cabin, but I hate eating alone, so I usually go up to the Farm dining room for meals, so two meals with friend at my cabin in under a week! Life is good!

best summer dinners #2

Had another great summer dinner this weekend at B1 & B2s house. We'd talked about having a "bring your own grill items" night since the start of the summer and by golly it finally happened. Word of mouth invites were passed among our friends and Saturday early evening found us gathering at B1 & B2s house; B2 had the grill heating up, Sierra was shucking corn, Beth was slicing Farm cheddar for burgers, and I was finishing a Farm cabbage coleslaw.

The dinner was perfect because we had some staples: coleslaw, cucumber salad, burger fixings and beer, and then wound up with a variety of choices with what everyone brought: B1 & B2 had the burgers, I brought hot dogs, TSO and Brett brought venison pork sausage and lamb sausage, RugbyGirl brought Farm steaks. And the grilled corn--AMAZING!

It felt nice to sit around and talk and laugh. If the worst complaints of a summer night are that mosquitoes were present or that the beer wouldn't stay cold enough long enough, it's a good night.

Life is good.

My simple Summer Coleslaw:

• Wash and thinly slice 1 head of cabbage  (I love it thinly shaved)
• Wash, peel and shred 2 carrots
• Toast sesame seeds
• Toss above ingredients with soy sauce, lemon juice, cider vinegar (I used red wine vinegar since B1 didn't have cider vinegar), salt, pepper and dill (do all to taste)  
• Also great in this coleslaw are thinly sliced red onions or grated turnips, or horseradish

best summer dinners #1

Part of what makes the best summer dinners is the food, but the other equally important part is the company. This past Wednesday Ian and Sascha (his gf and my Kitchen coworker), Jay and Pico came over for a grill out at my cabin; what came together was a Farm meal of cosmic proportions: marinated Farm ribeye (beef) steaks; potatoes, (white, red and fingerlings), garlic and onions from Jay's garden; lettuce greens from Sascha's garden; turnips from the Farm's gardens; cranberry lemonades with vodka from my refrigerator. 

Ian oversaw the grilling, so the rest of us kicked back and chatted, enjoying the summer early evening. Everything was amazing!

Here's how we made everything:

Steak:
Marinated for 5 hours in olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, maple syrup, oregano, rosemary, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.
We didn't put anything on the steak after it was cooked (medium rare), the marinade left the MOST AMAZING flavor.

Potatoes, onions and garlic:
I par-cooked the potatoes by boiling them in salted water until soft. Potatoes, chopped garlic and onions were tossed in plenty of olive oil, sea salt and pepper and put into a foil pouch (made by putting two sheets of foil on either side of the food, then twisting the ends in)
Potatoes, onions and garlic were roasted until browning.

Turnips:
Skewered, slathered with oil and cooked until browned.

We also got to meet my new neighbors across the street. 

Marinating Farm beef...drooling like Homer Simpson just looking at this picture.

Potatoes I dug up in Jay's garden. The first potatoes that I've ever dug up--I was so excited!

Pico

Wonderful "cranberry lemonade with fun"

My new neighbor checking us out

My new neighbors checking us out

Dinner time!

The wonderful potatoes!

Hobbit'n you excited?

Peter Jackson on The Hobbit.

This movie will give me something to look forward to post HP.

hard knocks

I heart this song. So much.  Hard knock life--Jay Z

so much depends

This is for my cousin Suzanne, who just shared this poem with me!

"The Red Wheelbarrow"

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
-- William Carlos Williams

great resource for librarian

Today I learned of a great, FREE service for persons in need of a cell phone, but who are unable to pay for these services themselves (not yet in all states). This is great. Just a couple of months ago I was assisting a woman who had recently lost her job, was fighting losing her apartment and didn't know what to do since she didn't have a phone or internet--how do potential employers reach her? (We were eventually able to find a program through a phone company to do something similar to this). Anyway, this is worth sharing:

SafeLinkWireless
A little info on SafeLinkWireless taken from their website:

"Lifeline is a federal program created by the Reagan era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1984. The program was enhanced under Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was supported on a broadly bipartisan basis in Congress. The FCC’s Low Income Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), is designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services are available to low-income customers at just, reasonable, and affordable rates. Lifeline support reduces eligible low-income consumers' monthly charges for basic telephone service..."

Just heard about Amy Winehouse. Thought I would share this song, which rocketed her career to greater heights: Rehab, Amy Winehouse

no where vegetables

We are in the garden season here at the Farm, but for whatever reason, we don't seem to be getting as many vegetables in the Kitchen this year as we did last. To say that I am bummed out about that is an understatement. Long gone and terribly missed are the asparagus of May and June--these days we are enjoying lettuce and mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard and bok choi, mung bean sprouts; carrots and turnips look and taste amazing this year; broccoli, cabbage, sugar snap peas and snow peas have all begun to make an appearance in the Kitchen, and taste so fresh and green that I am in complete ecstasy with every bite. Eating things that were picked just hours before is such an amazing gift. I am always absolutely astounded by the difference in taste between a fresh vegetable and a store bought one. People who "hate" veggies have never tried farm grown, hand picked, fresh veggies. There is no way that you can hate foods which taste so good! The greens taste as leafy as they look; earthy chard, bitter mustard greens; the peas and carrots are so sweet and fat. And yet this afternoon we found our refrigerator void of any Farm veggies...how can this be!? The gardeners are supposed to bring up something fresh this afternoon, so I guess I will just have to wait! In lieu of fresh veggies maybe I should sample some of the Farm's own mozzarella which was soaking tantalizingly in a brine bath. Or lop off a little sliver of Farm cheddar. See a pattern here? We get to eat such amazing food here! I am in Heaven. Life is good.

The video today is: The Beatles - Nowhere Man (1966). Every weekday morning we have a meeting at the Farm; go over appointments, events, announcements, the official things, then do a reading and end with a song from our trusty songbooks to start the day. It used to feel so hokey to me when I first started at the Farm over 8 years ago, but now I have to start my mornings with music. Is there any other way?

still laughing

wind through the barley

I was daydreaming today, back to THIS day in May. I sat on a lichen covered rock watching as strong May winds whipped and bent the barley making it waves in a sea of browns and greens. It was gorgeous. This video definitely doesn't do it justice, but I am glad I made it anyway; captured was something...maybe nothing more than my poor quality camera's take on the clouds changing the shadows over the barley.

Will write again soon. Real entries. Not just videos. Tomatoes are just controlling my life these days.

in NY

I jones to be in a city sometimes. Sometimes I am jonesing to go to the City. Especially after I hear this song: "Empire State of Mind" Jay-Z, Alicia Keys. I am feeling like a trip to NYC is in my near-ish future.

'scuse me while I kiss the sky

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze (2nd Take)

back in black

I've been digging on the Black Keys again lately. Love love love this song.

The Black Keys, "Tighten Up"

but I CAN post them here

I love BluntCards.

Just had to share.

Also, wanted to say thanks to my newest followers! You know who you are--THANK YOU!

how Harry Potter saved my life

I am going to see the final movie installment of Harry Potter in about 24 hours; five friends and I are making the trek out late at night, to sit spellbound (pun intended) and watch (and judge) to see if the final film does justice to J.K. Rowling's final chapter in the Harry Potter saga. I feel like years from now I will be telling my kids how cool it was to see these movies in the theater (just like how some older friends relive the moments they spent in awe of the Star Wars Trilogy). And yet, I wasn't always a Harry fan.

When Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone hit the U.S. I was in high school, delving into classic English literature, and becoming a literary snob, poo pooing the HP books as "crap fiction" for kids. It was about  eight years ago that TSO got me to watch the first movie, assuring me I'd like it. I didn't. I convinced myself that I would hate it. And I think I did...probably because I couldn't remember most of the movie, having fallen asleep.

It took two determined best friends, repeated naggings from my Mom and sister A1 (who's literary tastes seldom align with mine) and my quarter life crisis before I turned to the Harry Potter books--it seemed the perfect time to lose myself in some fantasy. The rest is cliche'dly "history." I read the first six books in about as many days and then had to wait a YEAR and A HALF!! for the seventh book. Harry Potter is what I turned to when I hit the proverbial "what do I do with my life?" fork in the road; kept me entertained on many road trips; was what I read and reread in the misery that was my life immediately after my Dad's death. In some ways Harry Potter saved my life--the books saved me from much boredom, from lack of imagination, and even at age 27--when I was feeling half-orphaned--gave me someone as angsty as I was to turn to.

Rowling has given us stories that can be boiled down to simple themes of friendship and loyalty, courage and doing what's right, and that simplest of simple themes: good vs. evil; she didn't do anything new in writing her books: magical worlds already existed; mythological themes have occurred in fiction before; friendship, honor, love--these are not new traits..so, what makes Harry Potter so special? For me, J.K. Rowling's greatest triumph has been in the characters: their likeability, their foibles, their flawed nature--Rowling has given us a world where we want to live, (with the sport of Quidditch for Heaven's sake!) with characters we want to hang out with/despise. 

As a Librarian I have been fortunate enough to see how the Harry Potter books have caught a hold of kids that weren't big readers, and given these kids something to really get sucked into. I guess I can chalk that up as another reason why I love Harry so much. So, if you haven't, read the books one day. You may surprise yourself and enjoy them. And for you fans, enjoy the final movie, and before/after you do, check out this article too...if you want.

"How Harry Saved Reading," Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal
"Step into my time-travel machine for a short journey back to the early summer of 1997. Bill Clinton is six months into his second term, Tony Blair has just become prime minister in Britain. Princess Diana is eyeing up an unsuitable lover. Apple is dying without Steve Jobs as CEO. Broadband is something people wear around their heads while playing tennis. All so long ago, a time before time.

On June 30 that year, a book was published that blew apart one of the iron rules of publishing. Children's books, a literary agent assured me around this time, when I submitted a proposal, did not sell. Kids had ceased reading, full stop. Only a television tie-in could make chain stores stock a children's book, and even that was unlikely.

Twelve London publishers turned down "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" before an independent, Bloomsbury, offered J.K. Rowling's agent, Christopher Little, a paltry advance of £2,500. The original edition appeared on June 30, 1997, in a run of 500 copies, most of which went to public libraries. That's how few children were expected to read.." For the full article, click here.

heat

Holy hell, it's hot today.

"Heat"
From plains that reel to southward, dim,
The road runs by me white and bare;
Up the steep hill it seems to swim
Beyond, and melt into the glare.
Upward half-way, or it may be
Nearer the summit, slowly steals
A hay-cart, moving dustily
With idly clacking wheels.
By his cart's side the wagoner
Is slouching slowly at his ease,
Half-hidden in the windless blur
Of white dust puffiing to his knees.
This wagon on the height above,
From sky to sky on either hand,
Is the sole thing that seems to move
In all the heat-held land.

Beyond me in the fields the sun
Soaks in the grass and hath his will;
I count the marguerites one by one;
Even the buttercups are still.
On the brook yonder not a breath
Disturbs the spider or the midge.
The water-bugs draw close beneath
The cool gloom of the bridge.

Where the far elm-tree shadows flood
Dark patches in the burning grass,
The cows, each with her peaceful cud,
Lie waiting for the heat to pass.
From somewhere on the slope near by
Into the pale depth of the noon
A wandering thrush slides leisurely
His thin revolving tune.

In intervals of dreams I hear
The cricket from the droughty ground;
The grasshoppers spin into mine ear
A small innumerable sound.
I lift mine eyes sometimes to gaze:
The burning sky-line blinds my sight:
The woods far off are blue with haze:
The hills are drenched in light.

And yet to me not this or that
Is always sharp or always sweet;
In the sloped shadow of my hat
I lean at rest, and drain the heat;
Nay more, I think some blessèd power
Hath brought me wandering idly here:
In the full furnace of this hour
My thoughts grow keen and clear.  
--Archibauld Lampman

the universe unfolding

"Desiderata"
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-- Max Ehrmann 

Photo found here.

every leaf a miracle

Orange lilies will forever remind me of my Mom and Dad's house; the reaching orange stars, stretching out from the shade for the sun which makes the petals peel back. Orange lilies are what I picked when I walked down the long driveway to bring in the mail; filled moments with important "he loves me, he loves me nots;" beautified lesser vases; are now what I look to as signs of summer, what I gather and pin into my hair. 

 

I couldn't find a poem I loved with lilies in it, so Uncle Walt's one about lilacs (really about the death of President Lincoln) will just have to do.

 

"When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,"

                         

                           1

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,

And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,

I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,

Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,

And thought of him I love.

                    2

O powerful western fallen star!

O shades of night -- O moody, tearful night!

O great star disappear'd -- O the black murk that hides the star!

O cruel hands that hold me powerless -- O helpless soul of me!

O harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul.

                    3

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,

Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,

With every leaf a miracle -- and from this bush in the dooryard,

With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

A sprig with its flower I break..."

 

--Walt Whitman, from " When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd," Memories of President Lincoln

 

The whole poem may be found here.

 

 

The lilies along the road.

My hat bedazzled.

cool librarian job

I periodically look for examples of really cool librarian jobs...I think this comes out of a need to prove to myself that my field is more exciting than most people think it is. Anyway, saw this old-ish (May '11) posting this morning...I just wish that I wanted to move to CA...can't 20th Century Fox have a Boston office!?

Twentieth Century Fox

Research Librarian

The Fox Research Library is the Entertainment Industry's premiere Production Research Library & Service. Created in 1923 specifically to meet the needs of filmmakers, it provides visual and background research exclusively for Fox Film and TV projects, Legal and Marketing departments. The Library's unique and extensive special collections of production materials include: Fox history, Fox location photos, illustrations, books, photographs, DVDs and VHSs, periodicals and clipping files dating from the mid 18th century to present day.

The Fox Research Library is currently seeking a Research Librarian. This role is solely responsible for cataloging materials, maintaining the SirsiDynix ILS and the Master of Library and Information Science Graduate Internship Program. The Research Librarian also performs administrative duties, maintains the Library's diverse collections, provides research, consults with multi-level executives and performs other duties as assigned. This role maintains the highest standards of confidentiality and accuracy.

The ideal candidate must be able to demonstrate the ability to create original MARC records with relevant subject headings and detailed 500 notes including but not exclusive to art, architecture, pop and sub-culture. In addition, he or she must be able to process and research materials sometimes containing graphic photographs and/or content. An expert knowledge of pop culture, film and television is highly preferred. Knowledge of any academic subject, foreign language, esoteric hobby and specialized work is also highly preferred. Excellent communication and written skills are essential. He or she must be able to work independently as well as with the department as a team. Finally, the candidate must be able to juggle many priorities, be detail-oriented and creative.

This is a union position in Wage Bracket 2.

Responsibilities

·Catalog books, photographs, DVDs, VHSs, and other library materials in SirsiDynix's Horizon using MARC 21, LOC, Sears Subject Headings, Dewey Decimal Classification system and local rules. This includes creating detailed original records relevant to directors, writers, production and costume designers.

·Catalog digital materials in an upcoming digital asset management system.

·Coordinate and supervise graduate interns pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree.

·Manage and troubleshoot the Library's catalog in SirsiDynix's Horizon ILS.

·Perform administrative duties as assigned.

·Perform circulation duties including but not exclusive to: checkouts, overdue item follow-ups, usage statistics and the refiling of items.

·Perform visual and background research as assigned.

·Consult with clients as assigned.

·Perform collections and archival maintenance of books, photographs, DVDs, VHSs and other library materials.

·Assist with developing a customized digital asset management system for retrieval and archival storage purposes.

·Assist with developing the workflow systems associated with the digital asset management system cataloging.

·Remain current on the Film & Television industry, especially Fox projects.

·Assist with acquisitions relevant to current Fox projects and the overall collection.

·Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

·MLS or MLIS from an ALA-accredited university.

·5 years of experience cataloging special collections including creating original MARC records or equivalent.

·Excellent oral and written communication skills.

·Demonstrated consistent accuracy and attention to detail while maintaining a very high level of productivity.

·Demonstrated ability to work independently and as a team member.

·Demonstrated ability to take direction in a rapidly changing environment on a variety of simultaneous workflows.

·Ability to learn rapidly and implement new cataloging procedures and principles.

·Excellent analytic and problem solving skills.

·Demonstrated ability to complete projects under rigorous time deadlines.

·High level of proficiency in both Mac and PC-based applications with the demonstrated ability to maintain SirsiDynix's ILS as well as Filemaker, Adobe Bridge and Photoshop preferred.

·Demonstrated ability to perform visual research preferred.

·Expertise in art, architecture, forensics, military, pop and sub-culture, and/or foreign languages preferred.

·Production experience or equivalent preferred.

·Experience using electronic databases including but not exclusive to: Nexis, HW Wilson and Nielson BookScan preferred.

·Ability to operate scanning and multi-function copy devices preferred.

·Demonstrated ability to teach and supervise graduate students preferred.

·Ability to lift 35 lbs.

Application Procedure

Please e-mail resumes to ffe.resumes@fox.com and reference job # FFE0000325 or apply directly to our website at http://www.foxcareers.com/. 
Please direct any questions regarding this posting to Rob McClary at 310-369-4107

you can stand under my umbrella

Riihanna - Umbrella (Orange Version) ft. Jay-Z

I am really into Rihanna again these days, and this song felt apropos since it's pouring.

tread softly

"Had I the heaven's embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
--William Butler Yeats

of one author and one volume

I watched the loveliest movie tonight: 84 Charing Cross Road with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins; a movie based on the correspondence that took place over 20 years between NYC author Helene Banff and the staff of Marks & Co. (London antiquarian book sellers). I loved everything about this movie: the cultural differences, most obvious early on in the film as both countries move through post WWII; the chain smoking, drinking, typewriter clacking, loud and loveable Bancroft, the bibliophile heroine; the stoic Anthony Hopkins; the portrayal of love and friendship that can be formed over such great distances. (Mary Ann Shaffer, author of The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society must have read the book before writing her own!) Watching 84 Charing also made me nostalgic for the pre-internet days of my childhood when there was an excitement in checking the mailbox, waiting on letters from dear ones far away.

I recommend this movie. But, until you see it, just enjoy this gem, shared in the movie:

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another; as therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come; so this bell calls us all..."

--John Donne, "Meditation XVII"

an island

Stopping by M&N's house before I left for Jamaica (and my brother A3's wedding), 4 year old Maddie and I got to talking and she seemed confused by the idea of me being on an island for a week. "What's an island?"
"Well, it's land that floats in the middle of the ocean."
"But won't the ocean wash over it?"
"Well, the ocean washes up on the shore, but not all over the island."
"But what's an island?"
Beginning to feel like my high school chemistry teacher, I took Maddie's shoe and placed it in the middle of their blue couch, "Maddie, this sandal is the island where I will be staying, and the blue couch is the ocean all around it. See how the island's on top of the ocean, sitting there?"
And then she did that amazing thing that little kids do--she sat and pondered it.

Later that day I again found myself hanging out with Maddie and her family and Mummy Dearest and her family, this time at the lake; after being toweled off Maddie ran up to me and pointed at the buoyantly bobbing diving platform, an anchored floating dock in the lake, "Monster, that's like an island."
"Oh, I'm so glad you were paying attention earlier when I was talking to you,"
 "Oh, Monster, I wasn't paying attention when you were talking, I was listening." I had to laugh because these two things aren't always as synonymous as we'd like to believe.

Anyway, it was that simple observation from Maddie that stuck with me as I traveled to be with my family and see my brother get married, because isn't that all that family is, an island?--a place of rest or entrapment; a place to temporarily dock for a while, to shore up energy for more of life; that which can weather storms and be nearly destroyed, but can also be built-up again too. We grew up and swam away from our island, explored foreign lands, made new niches for ourselves out in the world; the wedding meant being called back to our island and to the island of Jamaica.

Looking at more pictures from the wedding today has left me again feeling grateful, thankful for my time away and thankful for how blessed I am by having my family in my life.
 

"A child said, What is the grass"

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full
 hands;
How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it
 is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
 green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
 may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe
 of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow
 zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the 
same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and
 from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps,
And here you are the mother's laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old
 mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths
 for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men
 and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring
 taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and
 children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait
 at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
 luckier.

-- Walt Whitman 

Jamaican me miss the ocean

View from one of the paths around the hotel

Back view of pools and hotel

Ocean, ocean

Where I spent much time. The pools! And the main stairway from the hotel

Today as I sweated under the hot July sun, I thought of Jamaica: the smell of the ocean and palm trees and coconuts. I was glad to be back at work, but did miss falling asleep to the sound of the ocean...just a little...

rock lobster

Reflections on our Jamaican vacation:

• I am lobster red
• My brother A3 got married without a hitch
• (Ocean) crabs are working together to scare the crap out of me--almost stepped on 2, both times at night, which made the experience even scarier
•  Knocking fists with the hotel staff, while simultaneously saying, "Respect!" is encouraged
• Playing Bob Marley music all the time isn't cliche (said with heavy sarcasm)
• Being asked if you, "like to party," means, "You want to buy some weed from me?"
• Everyone, from the bell hops to the rasta dudes on the beach, will ask you above question

I am getting that vacation-ed out restlessness; it has been absolutely gorgeous here, but I am ready to trade the sandy shores and clear waters of Negril for the Farm.


 "You have to remember one thing about the will of the people: it wasn't that long ago that we were swept away by the Macarena."  -- Jon Stewart