expecto patronum

we finished harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban tonight.

honeydukes and lupin and patronus charms...

teddy and I have even more to talk about now.

gardenia and shady streets and sandals. mm mmmm mmmmm.

my biggest regret is if I've ever acted in a way that led you to believe you weren't loved or wanted, because you are very much adored. this guy is a pure nugget of gold and cynical wit. you can hang out anytime.

 life has been full and busy and bursting and today summer came.
and I took a nap in the heat.

 my participation day at the radically simple community preschool, just about the most nourishing space created by humans for the nurturing and protection of wild children.

they run around half naked, eating snacks and creating and playing to their hearts content.
it is a refuge for my own inner child to bask in their energy.


I was in area a today (the art area.) I can't resist the colors.

 land before time.

 all sorts of dinos come to play. the kids dig dams and lakes in the sand and create their own little worlds.

first cosmos in our first urban garden. barefooted and recalibrating.

teddy and his peers' rainbow affirmations. :)

drowning in jasmine's intoxicating summer scent.

rad bad little appleseed lad. our eyes swirl with visions of lush green realities.

 to me community is the place where your needs are met////  where you don't need to travel far, or at all, (other than to sate wanderlust)...

undeniably giddy. vegetable high.

like candy

work scenes. handy work. #unappetizing.

snuggles with a limp and hot sick puppy.

mmm.....honing my craft. :)

settling in to slow down.

the compost machine. like a bat outta compost.

I've settled in but the wildness seeps out. oak and sweet pea.

"take a picture of me because I feel triumphant for recycling vegetable scraps from work."

only the sweetest baby French breakfast radish!

this little climber impresses me so much.

my curious George reincarnate. i'm sorry I was so crabby with you tonight. I had to pick you up after you were asleep just to hold your teddy bear body and tell you I loved you. you snored and patted my back at the same time.

reading:

Michael pollan in defense of food  learning about nutritionism vs nutrition. margarine being a good example of nutritionism. he follows the American journey from food to food-like substances, examining important US gov't food

regulations and the power of food lobbies.

starhark dreaming the dark  "magic politics spirituality community" who would I be without this witch's writings?

back to the drawing board.
getting older and really learning that life isn't a race from one vision to another--

the garden teaching me that roots follow the water as it seeps down.

polly c

happy flippin' summer----drowsy already from the California heat, and digging it.

earth, take me back.

(or, you know, what's up 'round here)

 i think i spend a lot more time doing what i love.
plants.
seeds.
wild babies.
organic vegetables.
quiet mothering.
daydreaming.
outside.
outside.
outside.


i do feel restless, though.
always some distant glimmering on the horizon--
apply for that wwoof grant?

trade the golf in for a westie?


why do not it all, you know?


naw  naw, stick to here, stick to what you're doing... it's working.

we'll see.

toast, cookie crumbs, yoga, story time, escaping puzzle pieces. 

I want to be earth, stable and nourishing.
I want to be seeds, freewheeling and catching rides on shoe laces, cats, and soft breezes.

The road calls.
The heart stills cries for action.

I don't know what the horizon holds.

I know how to dig out of holes
I know how to climb out to vistas

I see a shining horizon
I leave A dying world

I can only follow my wild heart/ plants and flowers amplifying that true voice,

take me back, earth.

the best sort of playgrounds for growing monkeys.

explosion 

i dropped teddy off at school and we stayed long enough for snack. it's like our second home, complete with siblings, garden, and cozy community.

i love this magic boy.

home studies.

decomposition is the basis of all growth--- the end and the beginning. compost is my muse through and through.

mmm, key hole bed filling in so nicely.

oh....o o o o oh. more precious than jewels, these saved seeds.

the best sort of work.

getting lost in flower faces. 

hahahaha, they wanted a selfie with me! (flattered.) child conservationists. brooke told me that she loves trees because they help her breathe--- together we're remembering how to best care for SPACESHIP EARTH. :) it's amazing to hear the children's views on our home--- the young ones are so sensitive, and the next generation of activists. my hyper-fixation/connection with nature is leading the way in my life.

i point out the ever beautiful poison hemlock and think of socrates, who was guilty of "corrupting the youth." yep, hug them trees, kids, they help you breathe, kids.

treasures instinctively collected by the children, and then handed to me! we learned about how this dying foothill pine is also an acorn pantry for acorn woodpeckers. :)

finding fireweed in roseville had me like: :D:D:D:D!!! i know it's a common wildflower throughout the continent but i've only seen it yonder north! <3<3<3

making friends with mugwort.

baby sunflowers hugged by a crumbled asphalt bed. teddy plays on his own.

 Inoculate

The crumbling
Structures
Like mycelium in a fallen tree

We can recycle it.
Make it fertile.
Bring it back to nature.
That's what we do.

 he likes bicycles. i like vegetables. we have a lot of unanswerable questions. dragon monkey madness. we get each other. mostly. misfits. explorers. idealists. big personalities.

watering can snuggles.

elberries come out of hiding.

our latest kombucha flavor: loquats, elderflower, and rose petal.

and after work, some nights stranger than others.

the lupin bringing their a-game this spring, caught them before they went to seed.

mmm, five minutes of the sweetest sort of peace. we also have an old tv/vcr combo and jumanji, the wizard of oz, etc, on tape.

window seat, watching squirrels and robins in the mulberry.

still very attached, us two.

loquat love.

anarcho-retro. 

too cozy.

the season of sunshiny showers and all sortsa magic.

tyler and lincoln. days like this when the four of us are together are amazing. i've really put tyler through the ringer through-out everything, and i'm learning how to really appreciate the golden and gorgeous people who put up with me. you are sunshine, tyler. <3

the wildest. 

tyler and linc play at the big school with teddy and i. thunder rolls in.

those thighs. that face. omg. <3 he picked out his pj's.

yep, and these two. life's pretty radical when hanging out with your best friends means digging/planting/sweating. experimenting here with waffle beds.

we're not old fashioned.
just idealistic.
following our visions
dreampt up by our ideals.

i knew we planted some crazy magic when these two cartwheeled their way into my life like the chaos twins they are. it's karmic, though, i know these kids.

i can't resist taking pictures at work. the vegetables are so incredible. and i get to source them from my local farmer buddies.

help. <3 

fairy scissors. :)

have you ever been on the clock and made pickles??? it's a very rewarding experience. #careergoals

some days: so dreamo. i love this hand-me-down luna lovegood shirt from my sister...because i feel like loony luna sometimes. gotta get those nargles out of my ears and wear radish earrings, you know? and wear crystals and eat flowers and listen to sad folk music.

teamwork

mise en place. i enjoy what i do.  COMPOST! RADICAL RAINBOW RADISH! 

psychedelic pickles. <3

abnur's scene at school. caption contest....

mmm, hibiscus with stevia on the left, and brewing kombucha on the right.

listening to thunder roll in, thankful for daisy magic.

a month ago, on the new moon and my 28th birthday, i felt ready for radical and lasting changes.
felt them coming.

we're always growing.
life is a flow.

stay open and true.
<3

missing my compost moniker,
olly compost
xo

ps. blogger feels retro now and i sort of dig that.