Monkey Lobster

Thanksgiving

The 18 hours spent in the car was worth it. So many cousins, so much delicious food and so much love to go around.

let the december wind bellow and blow, I'm as warm as a july tomato

Days of wondering through the garden to choose what to make for dinner are long gone, and what is left out there is certainly not growing. But it is fresh and waiting to be picked before the snow covers it for winter. 

Carrots, turnips, daikon, watermelon and beers friend radishes, kohlrabi, cabbage, kale, collards, bok choy, leeks, onions, spinach and one last cutting of mixed salad greens are waiting for that special moment.

Inside there's squash and pumpkin poking out of all corners, potatoes tucked into buckets of saw dust (I managed to sweep up as the carpenters work around my insanity), and dry beans and dry corn for cornmeal, although I have yet to buy a grain mill. Endless jars of fruity jams are waiting to be displayed in my almost done (really almost done this time) NEW KITCHEN, and a few special collections of summers best chillin' in the freezer.

Can't help but think of Greg Brown............who makes me weak in the knees.

 

 

Cyrus turns 5

With our house still under crazy construction, we had a birthday out, and although this was a little hard for me, everyone elsa was pretty happy about it. Up until now Cyrus has not been aware of this special day, but this time he knew and I would say that it was his favorite day EVER.

I brought my guitar to his class and played some of his favorite songs, we had a crazy dance party and he smiled bigger than I have ever seen him smile. We set up the birthday ring and lit it and sang over and over again at home, happy birthday to Cyrus, and opened up a pile of presents from cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. He wore his crown all day long and strutted his strut for strangers on the street who all stopped to wish him a happy birthday.

He thought he had been crowned the king.

As we were waiting for the bus the next morning, he made a mad dash back to the house and came back out waving his crown. He put it on his head as he was getting on the bus and said "Cyrus Burdae". I tried to tell him that it was not, but he was not having it. I think that he though that his luck had changed that day, and from then on he was to be the center of attention. King of the universe. He has gotten over it since.

Oh how we love this sweet, sweet boy. There were times that I wanted to give him back, when I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge of raising a child with a significant disability. People who raise children with special needs often say that they are blessed, it has taken me 5 years to understand this. I now know that I am up for the challenge, and that having this boy in our family makes us all better than we were before.

back on line

Did you miss us? We have been without internet or phone since the storm hit, but we are back on line and I can't waite to do some surfing tonight.

If you did't hear the northeast was hit by a huge SNOW storm on October 29th and power was lost all over the place, for over a week for some. For us it was a long three days, with Ben working around the clock and a lot of snow shoveling and cuddling.

I've got lots of chatching up to do but just wanted to share this photo.

kids on wall street

We set out for NYC this past weekend to show our support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I tend to not pay attention to much outside of my family and local community. I do my best to raise compassionate, caring children, be grateful and keep greed and envy from entering our daily lives. After spending a few hours on Wall Street I feel inspired to do just a little bit, for what is outside of my life. 

There is so much spinning around in my head about this experience that is so full of emotion and hopefullness. I'm not satisfied with how decisions are made, and how things are distributed, and how I just accept it because things are not so bad, for me at least. I always say that "I am proud to be a Non-American", and there is something every time I go through the hassel of renewing my green card, that prevents me from actually becoming an American.

My fresh out of college, teaching job at a conservative boarding school had me in the principals office more times than I can remember. But I do remember a time I was trying to encourage the students to stand up for what they wanted in an "all community meeting" and was explained during a trip to the office by a team of administrators, that they weren't really going to take into consideration the students opinions but they did need the students to believe that they were being heard. When I engaged in conversation about how ridiculous they sounded, I got the old "you'll understand when you are older" response. That last photo of the sign reminds me a little bit of that moment.  I still don't understand nor do I believe that I live in a democratic country that has its peoples best interest in mind. But what separates me and the occupiers is that I am putting up with it and they are organizing, thinking, reaserching, planning and making a statement.

This is just the beginning of something grand. The occupiers are a group of smart, dedicated, diverse group of people who have our best interest in mind. They are at the begining stages of making change in a deliberate way. Nobody is claiming to have answers or solutions but they have started to gather, organize and work together to make change.  I want to make time in my busy life to support this effort and find my place in it. I'm not really sure that I know what to do, but I think the point is not to do just nothing.