Best note...

...to find on my desk after a morning full of meetings!

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The lure

Bulbs planted last fall are starting to bloom, and the new catalog from the nursery arrives in the mail. I'm trying to remember how tired and done in I felt last fall, trying to plant all those bulbs before the frost, but I know why the catalog's siren song usually gets me....


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Almost

A couple of amazing points, right down to the wire; not enough for a win, but enough to know they gave it their all.

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Leaps and bounds

Day one of another 2-day Ultimate tournament. Last one, and yet barely half the team showed up. Surviving the day's brutal heat, feeling connected to those few who also chose to honor their commitment, and playing to enjoy themselves left them still laughing at the end of the day.

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A universe

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Woodland creature

 Do you see the little chipmunk, preening on the stump? Hopefully the neighborhood hawks won't....

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Favorite

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11 more days of high school

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Certain words

When I was growing up, I hated the word "utility."  We had a large, pantry-like cabinet in our kitchen, after it got remodeled, and my mom called it the "utility cabinet" and that drove me crazy. My animosity had nothing to do with the meaning of the word, but somehow the sound of it was deeply repulsive to me. My mom had no patience for my dislike, and was not about to call it anything else. I don't know why she was so stubborn about it, but in any case I realized today that it's just a word to me now -- no power, no energy, nothing negative about it. So I guess that's progress.


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Recuperating

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Warming up

We got up early this morning -- well, the regular time for a weekday but a little brutal for a weekend -- to drive out to Deerfield, Massachusetts for the third Ultimate tournament of the season. Too many kids on the team (and their parents?!?) feel okay about disregarding the expectation at the start of the season -- being on the A team is supposed to mean that you're committing to playing the weekend tournaments. So they always end up short-handed, which makes having to play a full day of games all the harder, given how few subs they have. But even though the day started with two tough losses, our crew kept up their good cheer and great sportsmanship; they won their last two games and -- most importantly -- game home with the Spirit Award on the day.

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Color and texture

Maybe next year it'll just be my theme throughout....


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Visitor

Dean mentioned to Emma last night that today was Grandparents and Friends Day at his school; she lives and goes to school about 90 minutes away from here. Closer to two and a half hours at rush hour. Somehow she convinced her mom to (a) let her take the day off of school and (b) to given her a ride to our school, and (c) wait a couple of hours for her to have her visit. A real treat and relief for Dean, who would rather not have a day every year serving only to remind him of loss. Sometimes I enjoy being a bad influence on other parents (Emma's mom was a little shocked that I let Dean take off last Friday since the prom was that night and we needed to head down to her town early to avoid the Friday afternoon traffic). Love it.

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Entry

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Environmental sculpture

On either side of the path that our graduates will soon journey down on their way to the ceremony that will take place on the quad, students are building sculptures that speak to thresholds, gateways, journeys.


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Wind and rain

make the tulip look like something else, entirely.

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Well, hello there!

 Wasn't easy to leave her there, in the store. But I did.


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Yeah, I guess it was time...

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Prom

Dean's girlfriend is a year younger, and goes to a different school. They went to her junior prom with, I'd say, just the right amount of preparations and plans -- not so over-the-top but rather a very special evening out. Another milestone, another moment come and gone. He's caring and kind and still willing to hold still for just another picture, and I wish I could hold him right here.


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Spring is not always riotous

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Brilliance

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Office corner

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Spring's return

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Mothers' Day

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Roasting

A while back, Ken bought me a bag of shelled pistachios as a treat -- without realizing that they were raw and unsalted. I kept them thinking that maybe I'd come across a recipe or something to use them in, and then finally figured out that I could probably roast and salt them myself. A revelation! So easy -- who knew? For what was probably about 2 cups of nuts, I boiled half a cup of water and about 3 teaspoons of sea salt in a saute pan and added the pistachios. I stirred over medium high heat until the water was all absorbed, then roasted them in the oven at 250 f., stirring every 30 mins, for about and hour and a half (every 30 minutes I'd taste one for doneness). Wow -- so good. I may cut back a touch on the salt next time, but I'm all about the home roasting thing now.

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Dogwood

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Passing by

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Optimism

Went out and bought a grow bulb (although it wasn't clear that it was actually a full-spectrum bulb -- something about beautifying the appearance of your plants but no detail on what that meant) -- anyway, hoping to do something to keep things growing during this seems-like-forever stretch of grey, rainy days. I don't know how people manage in places where it's like this for months at a time. I miss the sun.

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Unfurling

At my front door. I remember lots of lily of the valley around the yard in the house where I grew up, and being able to pick handfuls to bring inside. Hoping these few plants continue to be happy in this spot, really right at the front door, and fill in so that there will be enough to gather. They have a faint sweet scent, and are less fragile than they appear.

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Comfort

An upside, I suppose, to a still cold and wet and dreary spring has been that comfort food is still very much appreciated. Roasted potatoes, slow-cooked bbq pork, and avocados because this is the time of year when they are both affordable and wonderful.

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Still waiting for the "out like a lamb" part

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