the lucky ones

be still my beating mother's heart.

let's revisit the subject of nursing: i really did not enjoy it for a long time. i understood and appreciated all of the benefits, emotional and nutritional and anthropological , but it was a pain. i think now, at nearly 13 months, we're just hitting our stride, whatever that means. it was all worth it, not to wean him when it was hard, just to have the nursing relationship we have now, and for when he's older. think about it: he's walking/RUNNING around, trying to WALK down the stairs, saying da-da-da-da in the sweetest voice humanly possible, pulling at my skirts all day long with his snoogy nose, crawling through the garden bed like it's a sandbox.....nursing is the only downtime we've got, and it's definitely tapered off. there's still nights when he's teething and nurses every hour, but that's the exception. it's so great to have that one magic trick that will make him happy, and relaxed. he pets my face while he nurses. awwwww.

daddy made a clubhouse with a little door. it just tickled us pink to see this little person go in and out of his house. he loved it.

douglas iris, native, wild iris. so happy to see this lovely near the northwestern tip of folsom lake, penryn area.  we came during a magic time.

nothing but blue, green, and orange. the sweet breath of lupine. 

we felt pretty cool to have a real easter bunny this year. thank you, flopsy. i  am amazed and enchanted by people who decorate, and have cute things to put up, mainly because i don't naturally operate that way. i know that celebrations like these mark the passage of time and accentuate our natural rhythms -and kids love it-  but i just can't figure out how to dress it up. we just sorta live one day at a time and soak in it's wonders.

: birthday self portrait while teddy pulls on strap. :) little weasel. i had pampered myself: shower (joined by Link), and a home concocted facial. i was recollecting a book my mom loved to read to us as kids titled: five minutes peace.

i turned 25 yesterday. i felt pretty lucky, and spent the day in peaceful meditation about everything i've learned about myself in the last year. i just feel so much stronger. i asked myself, what do you want to do today? the answer was obvious: go find food. real food. ...meet jack.

jack preaches the gospel of wheat grass juice. he sells it in vats as part of his csa offerings. "dolly, have you ever know anyone with five, five terminal cancers??" "no, jack, i haven't." well, he's cured them all with his oxygenating, enzyme building wheat grass juice. this, and bee pollen, are his preferred food choices. ;)

we met at last year's earth day festival in roseville. he lives in newcastle, about 15 minutes up 80 from where i live, and it is just gorgeous. wild, hilly, green. his little house feels like home to me: books books books houseplants galore.

the view from his fava beans. :)

sunrise, mammatus clouds, wind, sunset. yeah, it's pretty good.

the next day:

birthday revelry: i inherited this fat faux fur coat from my cousin stephanie, who inherited it from my flashy grandmother. win. i had a little party.

it was a tie dye partay. we made some interesting designs. (diana, me, susan.) not to deny the overwhelming spirit of abundance in my life buuut i wish i'd had a group photo taken. i've never had so many kids running around in my house.

 of course there was an ironic photo shoot.

diana serenades me, old timey tunes.

she brought a jug of her famous kombucha. see that dream catcher in the distance? she made me that for my birthday. ahh, true love. <3

my dad came down and hung a HUGE painting he painted that has two bald eagles in a landscape inspired by where my folks' live. i have the biggest ace wall anyone's ever seen and now it is properly utilized. thanks pops. i'll post a photo soon. it makes my house tres dope.

annnd right now i am in the far mu east(ern american continent..) for my first time, studying the whole new world of flora (fungi?) and fauna and pondering monuments designated to represent the consciousness of the entirety of the american people. heavy. 

my gracious and kind in-laws have flown us over. :)

 here are some glimpses so far:

the metro

i have tapped into limitless abundance of the universe and i sip the sweet nectar; we are all limitless abundance, we just forget sometimes.

one last thing: have any of you read a book that rocked your core again and again as it realigned you to your truest stars  like a cosmic back adjustment? i've read a lot of amazing things but barbara kingsolver does this to me every. single. time. the earth folk, the food folk, the down home the little house cookbook folk (tami got me the latter for my birthday :) ) it is her family's tale of being fed by the soil under their feet. it's about how eating bananas is as extravagant as driving a humvee, and asking why no moral value has been assigned to over-consumption (in a down-to-earth fashion.)

if you've read it please gush with meee, omg!!!