:::Swedish Saying: Shared joy is double joy; shared sorrow half sorrow:::
::fresh air::open windows::fresh bread::being outside::u2 songs::
::baby smiles::tech help::awaited email::
:::Swedish Saying: Shared joy is double joy; shared sorrow half sorrow:::
::fresh air::open windows::fresh bread::being outside::u2 songs::
::baby smiles::tech help::awaited email::
"Before"...can't wait to show the "After"
Big changes seem to be underway for the house next door: someone has purchased this delapitated mess and is cleaning it out. I can only imagine how much work it will need. Today they carted away truck load after truck load of random, rotting, rusted ruins. They also spent at least twenty minutes draining water from the roof! The roof! I don’t know how many gallons per minute that is, but judging from the tone of wonder in their voices, they too were surprised at the amount of water and sludge, they encountered, the collapsed chimney, the junk. (By the way, it hasn’t rained or anything, that’s standing water!)
Ah , the no-no house. If ever a grandparent questioned where Riana picked up some choice word or another, I had planned to blame the neighbors, but then the residents were sent on their way.
How to handle survive the house next door has been one of the ongoing ponderings of parenting. How to explain people who live like animals? How to press upon a young child the necessity of staying away without making her worry? How to teach treating others with respect when it’s a crack house??? Things not quite brought up in the parenting books. All of this is rushing back now, and I am sure that in the years to come, I will question how I addressed these questions.
But for today, even if only for today, Riana met me at the door with the big news: Mama it’s no more no-no house. It’s guys nice guys working…contucton (construction) guys to make it no more no-no house…it be really nice good happy house.
I’d like that too: the no-no people are gone, the house has been boarded up, and now new people are ready to gut and repair. You will be glad the walls don’t talk. Welcome home, you have your work cut out for you.
Back home…returning from a vacation in want of a rest. A house that needs to be filled up with smells. So let the baking begin! We will start with our daily granola, some breakfast bars and 5-minute bread. Come to think of it, it is the end of Passover, so bring on some more leaven. Then we’ll brew some coffee for our fresh biscotti, and maybe make some pizza too. Recipes will soon have their own little section here, but for now I just must get reacquainted with my daily breads. Smells, welcome me home.
It is the last full day of vacation and first day with nobody tossing cookies. Finally, we get to make our traditional visit to our almost trusted food joint that I wish would extend to the East Coast! Then it was on to the Desert Botanical Gardens for their Chihuly show. Coincidentally, we recently watched a documentary about Chihuly’s work. While the film was hardly able to show how unique and striking his pieces can be, it was interesting to watch him chucking large glass sculptures into water to watch it get wet and spin around floating. But oh, if ever you have a chance to visit one of his installations, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. <aside: I’m practicing the art of linkage!>
We arrived about an hour before dusk. The gardens have limited the number of people who can visit at a time, and thank goodness. While most people were polite, it was still a lot of people at times. For awhile, I had fun listening to Riana give her interpretive names to various pieces. That is, until she named one of them poop. People around her laughingly agreed, but since it was funny once, she named everything “poop” after that. Game over…
Visitors...Amelia, Liz, Me, Riana, Mandy
I was amazed at the way that the glass seemed to <<fit>> with the plants. Somehow the choices for color, size, shape, texture all seemed to accentuate the plants rather than detract, as I thought it would. The other fabulous part was that the glass was lit at sunset. Some pieces that didn’t seem so fitting during daylight now shone with their purpose. I don’t know if all of his shows are planned with this play between day and night, but it seemed rather fitting for the desert, where there is such a difference between the harsh sunlight and the cooler evening air. It reminded me how different life can look at the end of a day versus in the morning, or during the middle, when things get messy.
I am sure that Ryan will post some of his wonderful photos on his website, but in the mean time, here is one of my favorites…maybe partly because he snuck us into it. :)
"The Sun" 2008...at night by Ryan
Oh, and one bit of natural world meets glass: the poor humming birds seemed to be very determined to find the nectar in what would have been gigantic flowers, but instead they must have been very perplexed by this one. I’m not sure if you can see them hovering around, trying so hard to find food.
Mexican Hat and Horn Tower 2008
Next time Chihuly, think of the humming birds.
A simple post full of bright spring colors, sun, and yes plenty of sweets. Since I’m on vacation, I am allowing myself to simply enjoy the colors, tastes, smells, and sounds of this day. From the sun, to the things we don’t usually eat, to the voices of surprise when baskets of goodies are found. If I weren’t on vacation, I might have to reflect on how these things relate to Easter, but we will just savor the day with some photos from Riana’s perspective. (Can you find the tell tale sign of her sampling?) Happy Easter!
By Ryan www.shadowtraveler.com
