as the sun sets on '07

I got to spend a few relaxing days on the Cape this week. This was one of the sunsets we saw over Waquoit Bay.

Here is an Anne Lamott quote from her book Plan B, which I'm using as inspiration not to make any new years resolutions:

"I don't think that if I lie to be eighty I'm going to wish I'd spent more hours in the gym or kept my house a lot cleaner. I'm going to wish I had swum more unashamedly, made more mistakes, spaced out more, rested. On the day I die, I want to have had dessert."

Happy New Year! Enjoy your next trip around the sun!

see the sun returning . . . darkness is gone

A group of us got up this morning to sing up the sun. Although the clouds obscured the actual sun rise, it's a ritual I do adore. Happy Solstice to everyone.

Raise your hand if you think this is wrong . . .

So as anybody who knows me already knows, I am passionate about birth and midwifery. Women have been attended by midwives since the beginning of time; midwifery is not the practice of medicine! Home birth midwives aren't in it for the hours (they work all of them) or the money, they do it to be with women. It's a calling really. And here in the US, unlike most of the rest of the world, we harass midwives instead of honoring them.



To hear one woman's story check out: http://www.nofelonieformelonie.org/ Melonie is a midwife in Iowa who can no longer work as one because she's been charged with practicing medicine without a license. Maybe you could buy a tee shirt to help her with her legal bills. Meanwhile in Missouri they're working to change the fact that midwifery is a felony there. (And you thought witch hunts were a thing of the past.) http://http://www.mamaroots.com/FreetheMidwives.html And they are also selling shirts and other goodies to raise money for the cause.



And if you want to hear more about what's going on with our children and vaccines and circumcision check out these great interviews at http://www.Modavox.com/WomensNetwork

Got your goat?

So I'm still working with my local Board of Health in my quest to get two dwarf goats. As this drags on into it's 5th month, I've certainly got an answer to my original question: "How hard can it be?" Letters of support to the Board are welcome--the public comment period end Jan. 11.

In Seattle it's legal to keep 3 goats in the city! They're registered like dogs--no inspection, no permitting process. Makes sense to me since they're the size of dogs, quieter than dogs, less aggressive than dogs, and their poop smells better.

Here's the article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333174_goat26.html

an inspirational quote for an uninspired day

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
--Anais Nin

Or as Sophie interprets it, "The risk is greater to curl up
and hide then it is to stand up and fight."

good news/bad news

good news:
http://tinyurl.com/2ttba4
Mom saves her baby's life by holding her after she was born!

bad news:
www.scorecard.org
Plug in your zip code and find out about the types and sources of pollution in your area.

In which I brag unabashedly

These girls are my best work.


Rebecca made this little drawing for me. Both girls made bowls this summer, which they waited until the holiday to give. They are my favorite color--periwinkle. See how they match my kitchen wall.

Sophie spent the last weeks making me this Hanukkah gift with her Nana. It's a family quilt. It was her idea. She did all the sewing. I love it.

cold enough to freeze an egg

It was warm and sunny later, but this morning Rebecca brought our first (of many?) frozen eggs in from the coop. This could definitely be a problem.

We went cross country skiing


It was such a beautiful winter day and with the dusting we got last night there were lots of tracks and prints.

Oak leaf

Rabbit, squirrel, and Sophie thought this piece of snow looked like a bird.

A book, two dvds, and a piece of random trivia

So I keep thinking about one of the last books I read, Living Next Door to the Good Life, which is part homesteading memoir, part expose on the Hellen and Scott Nearing. Turns out the Nearings put their best foot forward in their writings, and may have left out some important details about how they got along. Like they had trust funds. Definately interesting.

I really liked the film Amazing Grace about the slave trade in the 1700s. It tells about how one person can make a difference, in this case working to make the slave trade illegal in Great Britian. The song was written by a British slave ship captain. I always thought it was a Southern spiritual.

Last night we saw Around the World in 72 Days: The Nellie Bly Story. How come we never learned about Nellie Bly in school? She was one of the most famous women of her day (late 19th century). She was a journalist who spent time undercover in an insane asylym to reveal what really went on there. And then, inspired by the book Around the World in 80 Days, she set the record for around the world travel.

I went to a wine and chocolate tasting and found out . . . port comes from Portugal. We never learned that in school either!

by definition

goodog
noun
pronounciation: gu-dog
1. description, especially similar to goodgirl, honeybunny, loveyboo (who's a goodog? what a goodog!) 2. term of endearment 3. reward for appropriate behavior 4. a loved one 5. a superlative example

happy, happy

Rebecca made this out of toilet paper tubes when she was 2 1/2. I love it. When they are grown I still want to use it every year.

Sophie is 8 and here is her poem:

Hanukah's a miracle

Candles are too

The light from the menorah

Shines over glittering latkees

On most days I am not grateful enough for the miracles I'm surrounded by.

Wishing you all lightness at this dark time of year.

Why didn't I think of that?

1. How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard. No I haven't read it either, but what a great concept.



2. Carmel in hot cider with whipped cream like they serve at Starbucks.



3. Peanut butter in hot chocolate like they do at Sylvesters in Northampton, Mass., one of my favorite restaurants.



4. The Peepee tipi. Yes it is horrifying that people spend money on this, but if I used the profits for good rather than evil . . .



5. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/ Stephanie knits. And writes about knitting. And goes around to knit shops and talks to knitters. This is her actual job. And she's very funny at it.



6. The baby wearing group Nine in Nine Out. http://www.nineinnineout.org/ Yes, the concept is fabulous, babies love to be worn, there's a reason folks have been doing it since the beginning oftime. But I'm actually referring to their name--it's so cute!



7. The magic scarf. You knit a regular scarf, do a funky cast off, intentionally drop half your stitches, and get a cool lacey scarf. http://spellingtuesday.com/magicscarf.html



8. Dyeing wool in Kool Aid. http://snowangels.typepad.com/photos/kool_aid_dyeing/index.html I've done this with the kids. It really works, you get pretty pastels, and the kool aid, is urr, non-toxic.



9. Intentionally felting old sweaters, or making use of the ones that accidentally go in the dryer to make mittens, arm warmers, bags, blankets. This is addictive really. /http://www.supernaturale.com/articles.html?id=68



10. Serving soup in a whole pumpkin that you've hollowed out. http://partyfood.suite101.com/article.cfm/pumpkin_soup_in_pumpkin_bowls

Does this blog make me look fat?

I think I'm starting to get this blog thing. It's technologically simple, even for a Sociology major like me, and it's so fun to hit publish and see it come up. But if I start to get out of control with this, somebody, please stop me!


Oh, and if you live in the Boston area. My article on the Cambridge Alliance doula program just came out in Spirit of Change. You can pick it up free at Whole Foods, the library, etc.

You Can't Plow A Field By Turning It Over In Your Mind

Inspired by the above Eric Carle quote, and tired of hearing myself complain to my friend Paula about my blogless state, I am finally joining the world of bloggers. This should be more fun than writing blogs in my head, where they are really difficult for others to read. They say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit, so I'm going to try to blog daily for 3 weeks. Or almost daily. Or something.

I woke this morning to this:

The first snowfall of the season. Which means I'm no longer behind on raking my yard. It also means that I could go x country skiing this morning. Thanks to my neighbor snowblowing his driveway at 5:30 am, I was awake in plenty of time. I saw rabbit tracks and mouse tunnels. I love fresh snow!