like the flower and the wind that moves the leaves

like the floating underwater with the sunlight and the shadows from the trees

like the ancient mud beneath and the breathing easily, you are everything

you are a part of me

like the flying way up high with the view of earth and sky

like the universe above and all around us

like the rise on little wings and the way it all begins to sing, you are everything

you are a mystery

like the sunset and the moon who moves the sea

like every dream and all the saints who watch with caring and who offer clarity

like the stone who stands alone for all eternity, you are everything

you are the heart of me

A quickie update...

So far, based on everything I've been told, I've been blessed with a very easy first trimester. Nausea yes but only two days of real sick. Lots of tired, nearly constant happy, feeling healthy and definitely aglow! Jono and I wake up singing, dancing, loving...

I've waited so long for this. I don't really remember a time when I didn't want a baby. I remember in first or second grade when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I said, without hesitation, "a mommy". That said, I feel like any other time than right now would have been too soon or would be too late.

We've gotten so much love in response to the news and it's fed our own enthusiasm. Thank you family and friends! Thank you.

Seventh sense sleepy rant

Tonight's insomnia got me thinking (as insomnia is bound to do) about success and art and society and on and on...

I guess the most compelling thought (at least to me in the midst of sleepy-headed-ness) was that I think there should be a seventh sense; warmth. The type of warmth that only the touch of life can give. In this increasingly technological world I find myself longing for music, art, clothing, food etc. that contains some element of the warmth of life.

It seems that everything these days can be "fixed" and "polished" and "streamlined" and "perfected" with gizmos and plugins and gadgets and I miss all the little "imperfections" that to me make things FEEL real.

I love the missed brush stroke and the prize of the occasional finger moving against a steel string on a guitar. I'm not such a fan of out of tune singing but I'd much prefer every once in a while to hear a note that's a tiny bit off than to hear that other worldly tin can sound of auto tuning... I'd rather eat a carrot that's not bright orange than to taste a faint sensation of fish in a genetically modified carrot. I miss the differentness of things...

I find myself looking for "vintage" on ebay and "handmade" on etsy, but even that category "handmade" turns up pages of mass production thanks to technology that leaves me wondering what exactly "handmade" means anymore...

This year Jono and I got to see David Byrne's concert when he toured his latest record. I've never really been a big fan although I've always recognized the talent. The concert was one of the most beautiful performances I've seen in many, many years. Afterward, when we were talking about it and trying to explain why it was so moving, what it boiled down to was that it was very- human-. It wasn't about fancy light shows or techno tricks. It was a performance based on talent and it was full of the warmth of life. The dancers were more in the modern dance vain than the shooka shooka scantily clad sell it however you can vain. The musicians were all extremely talented and there was a simplicity that was honest, inviting and seemed to strive for connection rather than perfection. And it was pretty close to perfect as well!

Even hospitals and healthcare overall have paid more heed to the impersonal aspects of the industry and have infused care with technology and wellness has suffered for it. We don't have to make eye contact very often but we are very efficient. But are we?

At what cost to art, to health, to society on a whole is this missing seventh sense which we never named and always took for granted ?!

Toby and Mary

I usually use that big gigantic recycled glass dish you gave me for watermelon but this year we discovered it's the perfect Thanksgiving turkey carving/serving dish. We were very thankful to have it. It made me think of you...

winter is when...

winter is when we tunnel inward

looking for light in other ways

everything good is in there shining

growing, living, waiting for spring.

winter collects the dreams we nurture

keeps them in a basket of twigs

bundled up in swaths of memory

with silken ribbons and downy wings.

winter sings a solemn snowfall

with harmonies of giggling kids

starlight dances twinkling two steps

tangos, ballets, Irish jigs.

winter is when we hibernate

even when we go to town

something in us keeps itself warm

and grows in silent leaps and bounds.

winter has a gentle hand

to hush our shivers when they come

winter will pass in a single blink

the earth will flourish, new and warm.

thankful & grateful & happy!

Thankful and grateful and happy for life! For the joy of small things. For good health. For big love. For the slowness of wintertime hunkering down. For the bursting forth of energy in spring. For the round hot bright sun of summer and for the deep exhale of fall...

Thankful and grateful and happy for strength! The reliability of self. The support of friends and family. The ability to support, to sustain, to carry forth whatever comes our way...

Thankful and grateful and happy for "art"! For words. For music. For images. For motion. For color and texture and taste and smell...

Thankful and grateful and happy for inspiration! However it comes. For being moved to feel, to act, to think, to imagine...

Thankful and grateful and happy for you!

Tent Rocks

One more magical place on earth

where I live

can go

walk, climb up, look out across the world

and almost fly

to everywhere...