Weekend Goodliness

We found another letterbox...in a store....and picked up our first "hitch hiker". I received an email from the placer of the missing "whale box" (see previous letterboxing posts) and it was found in a nearby trash can then re-hidden. I placed the "hitch hiker in the "whale box" along with a cd of whale songs. (Thanks, Nina, for my new obsession) I will soon be designing my own letterbox to hide. (Details on that soon)

In the meantime, I finished these journal commisions which will be published in the summer issue of, "Artitude"! The article will be a short tutorial on how I made the books as well as an interpretation of the imagery.

Did a little gardening (Robert calls this "dirt therapy")...I planted some native and not so native plants. I found some wild mint, fern and violets...separated the tubers (and rhizomes), took a few offspring while leaving the main plant intact and planted some of them in back of our nest.
We are also working on a container herb garden for the front stoop...just a few of my faves and most used herbs: basil, chives, cilantro and more mint (mmmm...mint for iced tea and cucumber raita)

Picked up a copy of SARK's new book, listening to the new Feist album, waiting not-so-patiently for the release of Volta and looking forward to a visit from Julie this weekend! (her birthday is friday)

Oh, and here's a find: Satch is wild about these mini organic blueberry waffles. They are delicious and cute...about the size of a half dollar!

My Boys by Moonlight...

& adventures in letterboxing part II

Last evening we tried to locate the "lizard box" and "ball box" as I recognized by the clues that they were close by. We found them! One was actually located directly behind our home. Satchel enjoys an early evening stroll with his dada and is obsessed with finding the moon.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone...and as my beloved edward estlin cummings would say...may your days be "most sane and sunly" and your nights,"most mad and moonly"!!!

The Elusive Whale Box

As you know, yesterday morn, Satch (don't his high tops look enormous in this photo?) and I headed into the woods with a list of clues in search of the elusive Whale Box.  We found the hiding place in a hollow at the base of a tree, but not the box.  We turned around and headed for home.

It was a little disappointing, but we saw some beauty along the way...like this family of turtles. (They were too far away, in a spot too dangerous for the stroller, so I couldn't get a clear photo)

And an itsy bitsy red spider.

















We ran into another mama on the trail and was invited to join a group of tots at the playground. They climbed, played ball...

splashed in the fountains and ate blueberries by the dimpled fistful.






I don't think there is anything cuter than a bunch of soggy wee boys with blueberry stained faces romping about in diapers and underoos!

Hot Off the Press...

This just in....

JOIN THE NEW YORK WOMEN'S AGENDA ON THE STEPS OF CITY HALL FOR EQUAL PAY DAY
TUESDAY, APRIL 24TH at 11 a.m.

Please Wear Red
to symbolize how far women and minorities are "in the red" with their pay!

Councilwoman Helen Sears, Chair, Committee on Women's Issues and the New York Women's Agenda, Sandra Eberhard, President; Joan D. Firestone and Linda Hartley, Co-Chairs, Government Affairs and the celebrated actress, Kathleen Chalfant join with professional women throughout the United States to raise awareness of the continuing inequities for women in the workforce.
We need to advocate for passage of legislation to guarantee parity in salaries; educate the public about current disparities and loopholes in the law; educate and pressure businesses and local government to enforce laws, and support upcoming New York State and Federal legislation to ensure pay equity.

For more information, contact Beverly Neufeld at bneufeld@optonline.net. Learn more at: www.pay-equity.org.

DID YOU KNOW?

* In 2005, women's earnings were only $.77 for every $1.00 earned by men. For women of color, the gap is greater, only $.71 for African American women and $.58 for Latinas.

* A working woman will lose between $700,000 to $2,000,000 over the course of her lifetime compared to her male counterpart with the same level of education.

* Equal pay in female-dominated jobs would increase wages for women by about 18 percent.

A Grain of Sand

"To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour." - William Blake

(click on photo to enlarge)
We walked the uplands trail to the Town Center. You asked to pick a flower along the way as you always do (but later will exchange for a rock or a stick). The trail followed a tiny rippling stream then crossed over it with a small wooden bridge. We passed a ball field and the green tufts of wild onion. "UN YUH!", you say. We saw a marble fountain and heard music and the chatter of many conversations through the open windows of the cafes. The sky was bright blue and the sunlight golden as clusters of people sat eating their lunches outside at bistro tables. We stopped for a falafel sandwich and ate lunch with a total stranger who was visiting from LA. We followed the sound of live guitar to the coffee shop outside Barnes & Noble and parked the pram right in front of the musician. After the song, we clapped loudly and cheered before strolling back home to play in the sandbox. This would be your first time in a sandbox. (The silica free white beach sand had to be ordered)
The sand sparkled in the sunlight and you let it fall through your fingers. You rolled in it, dug in it, poured it, pushed it and tasted it. "Mmmmmmm, GOOOM", you said with a gritty smile.

Have a good weekend everyone...may it be "sane and sunly"!

*Mother Fckrs

I've just read the Washington Post book review for The Feminine Mistake by Leslie Bennett, a book about the economic realities that mothers face . You can read Rachel Hartigan Shea's review here! Shea does a very thorough job of encapsulating Bennett's work. Here are the hard facts:

• Mothers are 44% less likely to be hired than non-mothers with the same experience
• Employers pay mothers an average of $11,000 less in starting salary than non-mothers with the same qualifications
• Women lose 37% of their earning power after 3 years at home.
• Of the 74% of mothers who return to work, only 40% are able to find full time employment

To say that this ruffles my feminist feathers is an understatement! I have a visceral reaction to injustice. In general, women in America earn only 2/3 of what men do and women artists earn only 1/3 of what men do, so when I'd learned of the further beat-down that mothers get, I was furious. Ok, I know, women have been getting *fckd (both literally and figuratively) throughout history so this new analysis should come as no surprise, but it continues to anger me. Some interesting reading about the feminine struggle in the art world and health care professions can be found here, here, and here! (two subjects close to my heart)

I would like to close with my own hard facts in favor of femininity and motherhood:

• The wonder of sharing my body with another human being for 40 weeks and the awe of feeling the first flutters of life.
• The magnitude of labor that I can only describe as an earthquake in my body. A sensation so mighty that it literally drove me to my knees. A powerful energy that shook me from sleep like those summer storms that seemingly come out of nowhere with a loud clap and a bolt of light. It was as if my body was saying, "this is IT...the miraculous is happening...life is coming through you". The birth of my son was a quake that shook the very core of my being and split my perception of the world wide open.
  
• The tenderness of nourishing life at my breast...with milk that contains exactly the right amount of protein and fat and antibodies. The sweetness of watching little eyes roll back with satisfaction and a milk drippy chin.
• The privilege of being a SAHM and being there for the first smile, first words, first steps...

The reality is...all life comes through the feminine. The female is the doorway to life. In spite of the sexism that continues to exist, I wouldn't trade motherhood for ANYTHING, not even a penis or a paycheck because.....I'VE GOT THE POWER!!! (Shall we dance?)


*I apologize for the profanity, but I felt it was both appropriate and witty given the nature of the post.

How Cool is THAT!

Free ice cream today....

Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day! TODAY, all of the Ben & Jerry’s stores worldwide offer free cones, with no limit!!!

There are often long lines, and popular flavors run out early.

Find Out More: Click here for stores.

"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy the ice cream while it's on your plate" ~ Thornton Wilder

Parting: Paul

I just learned today of the death of our former neighbor, Paul, and I'm terribly saddened by the news. Paul adored his grand daughters and they adored their "Papa". Paul always stopped by to say hello when I was outside with Satch. Satchel often looked for Paul from our living room window and if he spotted him walking his dogs, he got very excited and squealed. Paul had a warm smile and a wonderful laugh. I will miss his presence on this planet. (Above is a photo I took of Paul and grand daughter last summer)

April Shower & Wild Life House List

Saturday afternoon, while working in my art studio, I saw the most enchanting scene unfold below me...the children of Hickory Cluster enjoying an April shower in an umbrella fort.


"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity." — Thomas Huxley.

We had a lovely visit from Satchel's Uncle Chip this weekend. Sunday morning, Chip spotted a coyote in back of our home. At first I thought it was a fox, but as Chip pointed out, it was too large to be a fox. I decided to keep a house list of all the wildlife we've seen.

This is what we have so far:

• 1 Great Blue Heron
• several Cooper's Hawks
• 2 Eagles
• 4 Deer
• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 3 Grackles
• 2 Turkey Vultures
• 1 Wolf Spider
• Black Throated Blue Warbler
• adorable Eastern Bluebirds
• 1 Great Northern Loon
• 1 red Fox
• 1 Coyote
• Several Marmorated Stink Bugs
• Many Asian Lady Beetles
• 1 Red Milkweed Beetle
• 1 Green June Beetle
• Chipmunks Galore
• 1 Black Rat Snake
• 2 Hummingbird sightings at our feeder
• Yellow Swallowtails and Black Swallowtails
• Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis cecrops
• Yellow Sulfur Butterfly
• tent worms
• unidentified caterpillar
• Cicadas
• the usual crew of Robins, BlueJays, Cardinals, Sparrows, and squirrels
• Cabbage White butterfly
• Summer Azure butterfly
• Red Admiral butterfly

(I'm still trying to identify some of the many other birds we see and I always point out the characteristics of the various animals to Satch. He now says "booday" or "Wobin" instead of just bird)
At this moment...the wind is howling and it is supposed to get stronger due to the Nor'easter. Robert said that considering all the rain we had Saturday night and Sunday, we should expect some trees to fall. A large tree outside my studio on the other side of the trail has already snapped.

Love Train

"People all over
the world
Join hands
Start a love train,
love train"
- The O'Jays












Have a good weekend, everyone!

Hot Off the Press...

News Release from The Environmental Working Group

When Should You Buy Organic?

Free Guide Ranks Pesticide Contamination
of Fruits and Vegetables

WASHINGTON — If you're concerned about food safety, you probably already look for organic produce at the supermarket. But if you can't always buy organic, you can still dramatically lower your family's exposure to chemical pesticides by choosing the least pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables with the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

The Shopper's Guide is a handy, wallet-size card that lists the "Dirty Dozen" most contaminated fruits and vegetables, as well as the 12 most "Consistently Clean" items. It's available for free download at www.foodnews.org.

I Heart....

I bought some swell summer kicks by Crocs. I had avoided these shoes for so long because they were ubiquitous, but Crocs has created some funky new styles. Sooo I got these very Scandinavian looking red mary janes. They look like a mod, rubber version of my old "Olaf Daughters of Sweden" clogs that I wore in high school 1979-1981. (While most kids were wearing regular clogs, mine were mary jane style!)

AND I also bought this funky cap toe black and red chunky clog. *Update: While repairing my blog's photos that have gone missing, I noticed this post and wanted to add that these aforementioned crocs lasted so many years.  The red pair was given to a friend who loved them, and the black pair finally wore out in 2019.



AND
two of my favorite toy makers (in case you're wondering) are Lynn Roberts of the UK....


These are just two of her creations from her website.








(I was always more an animal person than a doll person, but I'm absolutely in love with little Ruby.)















AND
Camilla Engman of Sweden.





AND
I heart these Gee's Bend Quilt postage stamps.




They're so wonderful I almost don't want to use them.


Robert and I went to the exhibit at the Whitney in 2003. One quilt, in particular, touched me very deeply and I'll never forget it. It was made by Arlonzia Pettaway from her late husband's old work clothes. She said, "Lonnie, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to take Nathaniel's old clothes and make a quilt out of it, where I can remember him."

AND lastly, I heart David Byrne for keeping me in the musical loop (since my cd player is loaded with Satchels' tunes) because now I heart Hanne Hukkelberg!

OK...I showed you mine, now you show me yours!
oh..I almost forgot, here's the html code to create a hyperlink from my comments section to your I Heart list. Just copy and paste the code into your comment and insert the url to your I Heart list where noted, change the "click here..." text to, "I Heart".

Mom to Mom: Tina Roth Eisenberg

It's April..... and I'm please to introduce a very talented designer from my former home town...Tina aka Swiss Miss.

Mom: Tina Roth Eisenberg aka swissmiss

Of : Ella Joy Eisenberg, born April 21st, 2006

Where: New York

Blog: Swissmiss

1. In what ways has becoming a mother changed you?

It made me slow down. Enjoy and appreciate the little,

seemingly mundane things in life. And it taught me how

to survive with little to no sleep.

2. What is one tip you would like to share about mothering?

Do not drive yourself crazy with parenting/child development

books. I see so many parents worry about their child's development.

Trust your own instincts and and most importantly trust your kid.

They will do things at their pace. When they're ready, they're ready.

3. What is your creative outlet/medium?

Well, I have many. First of all, my blog. I post about

design on various levels. I am a designer by trade

and love what I do. And I like to leave silly notes

for my husband. Is that considered a creative outlet?

4. How do you find time for creativity?

It's no matter of finding time. It's part of my day.

It's part of me. I even consider just being goofy

with my daughter as being 'creative'.

No matter what you're doing, there is room

for creativity.

5. Why do you blog/journal?

Like with so many bloggers, it started as a way of

keeping track of things I've seen, that inspire me.

I didn't realize that this could turn into a blog with

such a big following. I love the fact that my daily

finds seem to inspire creative minded people all

around the globe.

6. Which blogs do you frequent?

I can't possibly mention them all, there

are too many. Let me tell you my top 10:

• Chris Glass
• BB Blog
• Popurls
• NOTCOT
• Coudal
• Design Observer
• I like
• Keri Smith
• Apartment Therapy
• Subtraction

7. Who are some bloggers that you would like to meet?

• Khoi Vin
• Jim Coudal
• Keri Smith