flower face
ChildhoodIt would be good to give much thought, before
you try to find words for something so lost,
for those long childhood afternoons you knew
that vanished so completely –and why?We’re still reminded–: sometimes by a rain,
but we can no longer say what it means;
life was never again so filled with meeting,
with reunion and with passing onas back then, when nothing happened to us
except what happens to things and creatures:
we lived their world as something human,
and became filled to the brim with figures.And became as lonely as a sheperd
and as overburdened by vast distances,
and summoned and stirred as from far away,
and slowly, like a long new thread,
introduced into that picture-sequence
where now having to go on bewilders us.Rainer Maria Rilke
summer hibernation
The change of seasons happens subtly here in southern California. There is no dramatic display of winter gray popping into spring color, summer heat melting into crisp autumn air. Oh, it happens. It just happens slowly, relaxingly, easy, in its own time…why rush, its southern California.
My east coast psyche is not, and may never be, accustomed to this. The dramatic change from season to season provided a rhythm for my mind. Spring had motivational effects: a fresh start, a new leaf, time to get going on those ideas…the ideas which were born during the frozen, barren winter months…during our winter hibernation: that silent, calm, reflective time when nature forces you inward to contemplate.
Winter for me in southern California is quite different. The weather is beautiful, perfect for sightseeing, traveling, exploring. Homeschoolers relish this time because the museums, zoos, beaches are empty, the tourists and locals at school.
Now here we are in summer. Our favorite places are swarming with people, the days longer, the sun brighter and we…are hibernating. Oh, we will visit friends, take visitors to a beach or two, go on pancake hikes. But for the most part we are hanging by the pool, reading, playing soccer in the yard, tending to the garden, finishing art projects, savoring this slow time together : our summer hibernation.
These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there’s only future
There’s only here, there’s only now…
These are the days now that we must savor
And we must enjoy as we can
These are the days that will last forever
You got to hold them in your heart.
~Van Morrison
water music
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons,
and you will find that it is to the soul
what the water-bath is to the body.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
summer
Summer days
Children laughing. Sweet ice cream from the fair.
Birds humming. Cotton candy in your hair.
Flowers blooming. Sour lemons from the tree.
People drumming. Summer is fun for you and me.
Summer night
A campfire as bright as the sun,
as we dance around it and have some fun.
A light summer breeze there is tonight,
as your quiet mother whispers goodnight.
~Colette Bartel
Growing young
June first marks the end.
The end of our birthday season.
February, March, April, May.
Really only three months of time, yet five birthdays of cake.
We’re growing young here
the youngest turned four (April) the eldest eleven (March)
& the toes in between six (February) and nine (May)
baking birthday love
I don’t recall how our birthday traditions started. Probably simply for they are simple.
Every birthday toe wakes on their birthday morning
to a house blazing with streamers and bobbing with balloons.
The 40toes make handmade birthday cards for each other, sometimes crafting and planning its design a week ahead of time.
Creating it in secret only to be seen on the birthday morning adorning a small hill of wrapped wishes.
Artwork by Charlotte, Cayden and Colette.
And now their birthdays have taken on a new joy for me, beyond the joy of shopping and eating cake, beyond watching my children grow and reflect. Now there is joy in watching the toes get so excited for each other, planning what they will give, saving and spending their own money on a thoughtful gift, sharing in each other’s happiness.
listen closely... you might hear singing
We are very lucky to have such wonderful family and friends on this coast and across the country who take the time and effort to mail cards and packages. The week of their birthday joyful shrieks and shrills come floating down from the mailbox, followed by the toes running into the house with a package or brightly colored card addressed to them.
handmade cards by the Iwugo family
Thanks to you who shared in this year’s birthday season…
time to slow down now and see what adventures these new ages bring.
Locked Out
As told to a childWhen we locked up the house at night,
We always locked the flowers outside
And cut them off from window light.
The time I dreamed the door was tried
And brushed with buttons upon sleeves,
The flowers were out there with the thieves.
Yet nobody molested them!
We did find one nasturtium
Upon the steps with bitten stem.
I may have been to blame for that:
I always thought it must have been
Some Hower I played with as I sat
At dusk to watch the moon down early.
Robert Frost
40toes 
