suburban transcendentalism: April 2016

whew.

not one to recap, let me just quickly say that i turned 28.

squad.

it was epic. all was well in the universe and there was a balance and harmony that pushed beyond anything i had previously experienced.

born day kitchen selfies.

secondably, (it's a word if i wrote it out and it conveys a meaning), i went to lousiana to meet up with my five sisters. it was......... epic. i'd blog about it but i was pretty on top of my trip feelings via instagram. (@dollycoyote)

but i'll quickly recap: beignets, heart bursting jazz, gators and lily pads, voodoo shadows, sister love, poorly pronounced french sayings, soul tattoos, wanderlust roaring again in my ears.

and homegurl just signed a year lease on a downtown /near the creek/library/park white picket fence/ cottage. gulp.
so much for wanderlust!! rent, y'all!

but this cottage...

i first "discovered" old roseville the first spring ty and i were dating.
i visited his suburban home many times, wondering how i was to fare in that setting after our wedding when i was to move in.

i found old roseville's streets and trees and flowers and creeks utterly beautiful. i found elderberries and old houses and salmon leaping.

i first saw the yellow house a year ago when the boys and i walked from my newer pad to the library.

i thought to myself: that's my dream house.

it's yellow with ..ahem loads of character.

i moved in the day after i turned 28.
i did squat for a while previously.

honey toast with pastured butter on the porch, fruit tree and cotton wood views.

true to form i smudged some sage my first night in, setting off smoke alarms and running outside in a panic to stomp out the embers. :P

a prayer for my house

bless this home to be a place of deep rest

a place of focus

and enrichment

home cooked meals story times art projects

of gathering and healing,

function and peace

a place to nourish my children and be a mother

a place of joy

A safe place for sorrow

commitment to vision

. and self-care

after-ish, getting there.

before.

it's silly to love a place so much but i do.
everything falls into place.

pregnant beetles every where,

burying myself in seeds

cartwheeling flying springing clinging

seeds know how to travel

nature replicates itself in intricate packages.

"it's beautiful, isn't it, right here in the middle of a city!" the old stooped man called at me as he walked by, smoking a cigarette. mind reader. I hide my weeping. "yes" i say, "it's beautiful." elderflower protection and wisdom.

All the ground beneath me layers of seeds
Standing up on fertility herself

meet me under the elderberry tree. i watched the butterflies bicker and a tribe of homeless wanderers left me food and a red baseball cap. the generosity of people. i talked to my sister glory, back against the earth, staring up through the leaves.

defender.

The tiny ducklings fly down the current like tiny paper boats. turning around to struggle against the current and then they slip back down... just go with the flow baby duckies, follow your mama.

another triumphant veggie run in the volvo, just like the year before. magic seeds.

and some day, early in the afternoon, i remember that i live a mere 2 hours from a most interesting urban jungle and it beckons to be explored.

i had my first baby when i was 19.

eight years later this dude wandered haight street with me

nature replicates itself in patterned spirals and fractals.

#dna

teddy knows a whole lot more than i did at 8.

he knows the antiguan racer is facing extinction and wants to protect it when he grows up.

he knows everything is made in china unless you make it yourself. ;) (with slight exceptions.)

he knows about factory farms and round-up and acorn flour.

and has a broader perspective of religion.

he told me today he was awkwardly bored as we worked in the garden.

yeah, honestly. 8 year olds.

he and i are quite the duo.

playing tag.

good ol' Dolores. i saw myself here in a dream a week ago, and went to visit it in the waking. and as usual i find myself in strange and fluid situations that feel like deja vu. witch life.

on a holy sites of america kick. oldest building in san fran: the dolores mission. haunted.

presents for linky. i don't even try to hide my propagandist ways anymore.

a is for activist. advocate. abolitionist. ally. actively answering a call to action. are you an activist?

tastes of spain in california.

have you seen my friend lucy?
nikki, colors, and lizzy.
kids who tramp in tribes from all over for 4/20 (it was the 19th, bicycle day look up swiss chemist albert hoffman if you're curious.)

these kids never assume i oblige myself to capitalism for creature comforts as much as i do.
i mean, it feels pretty swell to come home sometimes.

today a kid at school was wearing a deadhead bear shirt that said further---
(you can almost see it below in the grey)

oh, ken kesey, what do you want with me? formerly a merry prankster, i suppose.

let's just say the dream of the 60's is alive on haight street.
it's easy to make friends when you're barefoot and everybody just wants to feel free.

balancing work and play and making headway.

nothin' better than rootin' for natsturtians and strawberries in this little patch of school garden magic!

blessed by nature

flower essences bringing me to my true nature.

i'm not afraid of how wild i am.

as usual, scorpion moon kicking my heiny.

xoxoxo

dolly c.

easter at my folks had moody spring weather and many foothill blooms. it was a beautiful wild weekend/ would love to elaborate but it's the eve of my 28th birthday and i'm in the midst of shifting and rainbow chaos. :P