Laundry Line Divine

I am still digesting the magic stirred by a group of Sister Goddesses by the Sea. We know how to have fun. We know how to celebrate. And we know how to acknowledge.

I guess I have a back log of posts for you, here in my pocket…one about aprons from last week and one about Miami this week.

But today I have to offer you something, because it is one of the most glorious Spring days here, the lawnmowers are cruising the lawns of my town like a legion of Upper Peninsula mosquitoes- bloody annoying yet part of the territory called Paradise.

It’s like that to be alive. I came home from a weekend of Sisterhood, laughter, eating meals under the shade of grand tropical trees where I got shat on by a green parrot and found it hard to fit in to my apron. How do you re-enter the life of lunch boxes and laundry after all of that fun? Me? I go one little bit at a time and resist the temptation to make a long list, as my pal Benita and I are professional at- lists for all we will do between now and eternity, I will go just one little step at a time and notice the beauty around me. The beauty of one single breath breathed.

Time is both slimy and textured. It slips and catches in unpredictable ways. I desire to be caressed by the hands of time intead of strangled. Just for today, I will live through this day only and find 5 things to be absolutely joyous about.

Here they are:

1. I am so happy to be healthy and well.

2. I am so happy my family is happy, well, creative, energized and inspired.

3. I am happy to live in this beautiful land where Jack in the Pulpits and Lilacs are busy doing their spring dance.

4. I am so happy to have friends who send me mail.

5. I am so happy I took a walk while talking to my pal Jennifer, I traced the same block back and forth and kept seeing new things.

Do you realize Lena Horne died on Sunday? If you have a moment, find a recording of her singing Jim Croce’s song, “I’ve Got a Name”.

That was a theme for our weekend in Miami. That and all things Pink.

I hope you are well dear reader. I hope the buzzing and breathing business is making you happier than you ever imagined you could be on this fine spring day.

Roger leaves with Sarah on Saturday for Haiti. Send them your love.

I send you mine.

S

Here’s me and Mom in 1990. We are sitting in a tree stump. That is reflection on my chin and cheeks. I am so happy to be with Mom.

I have quite a story for you about me, mothering and an apron.

Come back next week, dear cherished readers, especially you Marilyn,

and I will tell it to you.

First, I gotta go to Miami with the School of the Womanly Arts.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

Hugs, S

Hmmm?

On a day like today, with the groans of making room for my 15 year old to spread his wings…with Mother’s Day on the rise and mine lives in a nursing home…with the press of time, panting at my calves salivating…I take a walk.
I talk to my Mom as I walk. This is what I saw.
What do you do?

Weekend Brags- this is just a tip of the iceberg of brags. See my “Key and a Bit of Context” for a definition of Brags. Check out my girlfriend Regena’s website “MamaGena’s School of the Womanly Arts” for more on Bragging.

1. I brag we helped raise just enough money to send Roger back to Haiti. For all of you hoping to contribute to this “Fun(d)raiser”, please contact him through his blog- Roger. I am so full of gratitude to everyone who is making his work possible!
2. I brag May Day at our school was so lovely and the Green Man is a true sign of the season turning. I love the Green Man. I loved to see my girl dancing around the May Pole.

3. I brag we were thrillled to see the show at CATA on Saturday evening. Every artist was brilliant- the Shakespeare work, Michael Wolski’s sketch and Dawn Lane’s Moving Company- I brag Sandy Newman and Janet Reich Elsbach are amazing leaders with a team of wonderful artists!
4. I brag I snuggled in to watch a romantic movie with my girl and ate my first ice cream sandwich of the season. Yum for a Saturday night.
5. I brag today our Community ROCKED Lake Mansfield Day! We had canoes and kayaks for everyone and teams of people hauled vintage tires out of the lake and a 100 year old ammonia burner from one of the ice factories that were on the lake in 1900. The Lake Mansfield Alliance is a little engine that CAN improve a natural outdoor space by intelligently assisting our small town government in to coordinated support of the Jewel of Great Barrington.
6. I brag we have hung tons of wash on the line this weekend and we stand mesmerized by the air wafting around us, scented by the flowering crabapple at the end of the laundry lines.
7. I brag this snapping turtle shell is just one of the many wonders we found today at Lake Mansfield. Fen and his crew took out tires and metal peices. But this is by far the most beautiful thing. See the spine?

How about you? Any brags?
Happy Spring!
Love, S