My Mom

Some of you know that my Mom has a tumor on her abdomen.  

Her surgery is scheduled for 9:00 on Thursday in St. Louis, which is four hours away.

  

Our family is going up a day early and visiting the Arch.  

It's one of those things we've said we should do, but haven't. 

So, tomorrow's the day.  

We figured it would be better to spend the day having fun together 

rather waiting and worrying.  

If you think of it, please be praying for my Mom and for her doctors.  

Especially at 9:00 Thursday morning.  Thanks, friends. 

Sunday Morning Poetry

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!
                                         

                                                                   ~ anonymous


The poem was found in an old man's room when he died in a nursing home in Australia.
The image is by KayLynn Deveney in an incredible book called the Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings. 

Lately

I've been...



 

going to car shows,

enjoying an 80s party,

playing with my students,

 



counting all the blessings of my job,

 



and getting ready to say good-bye for the summer.

 

 

Today is our last day of school.  For the past twelve years I've cried as I said my farewells.  This year I only cried a little since I will have my whole class with me next year as we travel to third grade together.  It should be an exciting adventure.  But for now, bring on the sun.

Friday Faves

 

 * A Song: Bring the Rain by Mercy Me

* Great Read: Etc.: Creating Beautiful Interiors with the Things You Love by Sibella Court
 

* Funniest Moment: There really haven't been many funny moments around our house this week, but we have been feeling God's comforting presence.  My Mom was diagnosed with an abdominal tumor last week.  We are just waiting on the biopsy results and trusting in the Lord.

* Something to Make: ruffled crepe paper

* Tasty Treat: one gorgeous salad

* Images of the Week: Claire Burge's photography is amazing.  I especially love the skateboarding photos.

* Anticipating: Our small group is having an 80s party tonight.  The evening is bound to be full of excellent photo opportunities.
 

* A Post: Spring Snowflakes by Georgiana Lane

* Quote of the Week: "A sage knows there is both the wisdom of the universe and of man - and finds a balance between the two." ~ Clara Holm, 101

* PINspiration: A Place for Enchantments by Ciara Brehony

* Film Fancies: a great commercial from Honda

 

* BLOGspiration: My friend, Jaime's blog is like a spa for your brain. 

* In Case You Missed It: It's the Cinnamon Sticks

Happy weekend, friends.

a passion for dancing

I know it's not April any more, but wait till you meet my last guest and hear about her passion.  I've been a big Hula Seventy fan for years.  Andrea Jenkins is an incredible photographer, a thought-provoking blogger, and the kind of mother you want to be yourself.  Her home is gorgeous and her talents are nearly boundless.  Plus, she's the best list-maker I have ever known.  

"you have to love dancing to stick to it. it gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive." -merce cunningham

that single fleeting moment. that's what I'm passionate about.

the truth is that I'm passionate about a good many things. but when relyn first asked me to write this, it was dance that immediately came to mind. it was my love for dance that I came back to again and again. before the cameras and the photographs, before the writing and the teaching and the list-making, before photobooths and bicycles with baskets, before road trips and thrift shops, library books and underground hip hop, before the streets of new york and modern art, before lemon sugar anything and vintage everything, before pretty much everything I have ever been passionate about, there was dance. for me, it was dance. always there, for as long as I can remember.

even when my parents couldn't afford ballet lessons. or when my high school dance teacher told me my body was all wrong. when it seemed like the most impractical thing to major in at college and then after I had my first baby and wasn't sure my body would ever be the same again, it was there. it has always been there. it's as much a part of me as the color of my hair, the shape of my calves, the way I sign my name. it's been years since I performed but that doesn't matter. dance seeps in through the cracks, slips in through the back door. I find myself in class, catch myself choreographing small phrases in my mind. I see dance everywhere I look. 

that single fleeting moment when I'm dancing and I feel alive. that's what I'm passionate about.

xo, a

1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cloughridge/1627541601/">My first interview......
, 2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilmungo/4057149/">handstand + negativa, 3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wowzzaa/311091259/">365 Days : Day 86, 4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davido/435402971/">Au seuil de l'être - François Rascalou, 5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davido/3829576/">Fragment du Boustrophédon, 6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipom/1148114650/">i have a cupcake and i'm jumping hoops because of it futab, 7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbeavers1980/1241252618/">Untitled, 8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/doniazimonneta/240427940/">tsu-mani, 9. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kookooface/613170362/">Untitled, 10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davido/29436790/">Exerce 05 - EZLN, 11. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wowzzaa/212828526/">www.flickr.com/photos/wowzzaa/212828526/, 12. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenacorwin/271679433/">8/20/05, 13. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7765114@N02/455960306/">1. Bill T. Jones, 14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jek-a-go-go/302808364/">wardrobe remix: twist nov 19, 15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartbrother/274429503/">chucks and handstands, 16. http://www.flickr.com/

Sunday Morning Poetry

When Death Comes

 

When death comes

like the hungry bear in autumn

when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

 

to buy me, and snaps his purse shut;

when death comes

like the measle-pox;

 

when death comes

like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

 

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering;

what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

 

And therefore I look upon everything

as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,

and I look upon time as no more than an idea,

and I consider eternity as another possibility,

 

and I think of each life as a flower, as common 

as a field daisy, and as singular,

 

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth

tending as all music does, toward silence,

 

and each body a lion of courage, and something

precious to the earth.

 

When it's over, I want to say: all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

 

When it's over, I don't want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened

or full of argument.

 

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

 

~ Mary Oliver

things I learned in April

I was visiting my friend Alexa when I got a brain wave.  For the rest of this year, I am going to post a list of things I learned at the end of each month along with my own favorite photo from that month.  I think it might be an interesting exercise. 

Some days, you have to shrug your shoulders, put down the lesson plans, and just dance.

Some days, you have to put on your teacher face, find your inner drill sergeant, and get busy.

A good teacher knows which days are which.

Spend the money to go to the concert.  It'll be worth it.

Make the time for regular girlfriend dates.  Even 45 minutes a week at Braum's can keep your connection close.

Spring is a beautiful, flirty girl in a softly ruffled yellow dress.  Now we know why the boys call her a tease.  What's with the newest cold snap anyway??

I know I will never understand why weird weather makes almost all kids misbehave.