Tuesday Garden Blogging

The First Bonfires of the Year

Peace.

Boundaries

Some difficult thoughts and things this week.

A lot of things I thought would be easier by now.

Peace.

All Creatures Great and Small

My 8yo daughter loves slugs. The smaller slug in the picture above is her pet. She caught him a few weeks ago, after she decided to do her science project on slugs. The Science Fair was last Thursday.

Sisters at the Fair

Her plan had been to let the slug go after its debut at the Fair. Of course, when the time came, she couldn't part with "Swuggie." The slug seems to be happy in the habitat she created for it. She takes it out and lets it crawl around several times a day.

So yesterday afternoon, as they were enjoying the gorgeous Spring day, she and her sister found that other, much larger slug in the top picture. I thought for sure that this one would become her new pet. But no. She let the big one go back where she'd found it, and tucked Swuggie in for the night.

Bright and beautiful.









Peace.

These Gorgeous Days

Ah, Spring.

Peace.

Happy Friday

My mom

I joined the facebook trend of changing your profile picture to a picture of your mother in honor of Mother's Day, which is apparently this weekend. As I was looking through my photos of her this afternoon to choose one, she happened to call. It was not typical until recently for us to talk on the phone regularly--neither of us are big phone people. This new development makes me happy.

My mother has begun preparing her exit, begun preparing me. A friend of mine joked that her grandmother has been doing the same for the last ten years, so put the tears away, I've still got plenty of time. (And, of course, now I'm crying as I type this) Maybe there are people who always know how to play their role, but I seem to figure mine out after the show has closed. I feel, as a parent, like I only learn how to resolve certain challenges at the very moment they are no longer a challenge. As a child, I have no clue how to go through this next phase in my relationship with my mom. Even though, in the past, a month could go by without our ever talking, I took for granted that we could.

I love you, Mom, even if I never send you a Mother's Day card.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival: Pencil it In from Toronto Comic Arts Festival on Vimeo.

"Everything you love will eventually be taken from you."
(watch -- it's actually a cheery video)

A pencil can draw a line 35 miles long.

Peace.

In the Neighborhood

Summer Preview

Peace.

A Righteous Rant from my friend S

There's no place to run anymore.

The corporate fascists have taken it all.

Bin Laden is dead? So what.

Tomorrow morning I'll get up -- if I bother to go to bed to try to sleep -- and still have no health care, no job, no hope of a job -- and get ready to move to another place to either wait to die from untreated illness or to end my life when I run out of money.

How did this happen?

I let it happen.

I believed that if I worked hard, got an education, and stepped up to take care of my family all would turn out well. It didn't. Life's promise left me out -- and I'm not the only one.

Peace.

Helen Mirren's Breasts

My friend, jac posted a link to this video earlier today. I am new to the Helen Mirren phenomenon. What I mean is, she seems suddenly to be on everyone's list of sexy older women. I don't know much current pop culture, but I think she even did a skit on Saturday Night Live recently about her magical breasts (please correct me if I'm wrong, for I'm too lazy to google). It turns out she was a sexy younger woman, too.

What struck me about this video is how well she carries the exasperation at being asked those questions that women artists always get asked. Essentially: how can you create any art of value when you have breasts? How can you expect men to take you seriously? Either you're too beautiful so that is too distracting or you're too ugly so why should we pay any attention to you.

Yet another post about soaking in patriarchy. Maybe I should get out more.









Peace.