did you even know this pond existed--

we found this pondy place one afternoon due to a wrong turn; it was in a place called a 'public area'and the creatures in the half-iced pond were singing and we were picnicking

bus & poem & drew with chalk [one day over spring break '10]

hey one day i managed to drag my entire apparatus (typewriter, bag of unfinished thready gifts i'm making for friends whose birthdays are now rapidly disappearing into the distant past, guitar, laptop, a beer, my small square notebook of lists) out to our little platform backporch and write a list and work on poems and this happened to be the same day that finn was in love with his new bus (buss buss bus!!) as well as the day we drew happily on the chalkboard together (whales & people & rounds & lines for rain)

murk murk (light went roundly roundly)

last day of spring break and what did we see? murk murk water on stone; light flashing its pretty bones; creek creek playing with light; clear running spring waters--

thaw of earth; mud & ice; finnegan-again

more of the great thaw; some winter goldened cornstalks; the ghost of a snowman

the great thaw

moon morning

these are pictures of the moon in the morning; i'm talking 6 am here. finn woke us up this particular morning standing on our faces and pointing out the window saying moon! moon! moooooooo! and thus, these photos came into being--first of the moon, then of the sunrise through our neighbor's yard, but of course also there's finn's favorite morning activity, always trying to read gogol or kirkegaard and dismantle his papa's book shelf. . .

whale bath (19 months old!)

discovery (the iowa i love)

i (we) have found a new place. it is in swisher, iowa and it is called the kava house cafe! and it is only 10 minutes from where we live now, which makes it extremely valuable to us. also. swisher,iowa is really one of these magical little towns, nestled in hills with houses close enough to the small-business town square to walk, yet with a cozy rural feel. the perfect rural/small town. at least on this quite magical sunset occasion in which we left the kava house, feeling happy after reading aloud poems and drinking coffee, and just in general making this discovery, and then to drive amongst the houses and see the beautiful sunset! we stopped the car and took a picture.

because play pleases the goddess

we have been trying to carefully plan finn's toys, especially because we have such little space these days. i've been thinking about the idea of 'un-toys' too, inspired by other blogs. well anyway, despite all that, we decided to add to what finn already has--thus, i went on a fun thrifting trip and outfitted finn's kitchen with a bunch of random kitchen utensils (including a melon baller, a potato masher, a tiny whisk:::we love you crowded closet!!). oh also bowls,a whole picnic apparatus, hotpads, and empty maple syrup cans. also! found this awesome dollhouse furniture (a piano! a flowered couch and chair!) at artifacts; we will paint these eventually. and happily,happily.

new ritual

started this week: reading outloud together every night (the whole family)--we're reading the kalevala, finnish epic-myth. [golden eggs & creation, a mother raking the death-river for her son's body parts, and transformings/wizardy battlings.]