crafting love notes

"writing a letter is a real form of conversation in which the image of a distant person is held in one's mind." - a severe mercy

Getting a written letter from zander meant deciphering hieroglyphics, but past the foreign scribbling there was a boy's thoughts that kept my mind transfixed for days.  I would probably get as much thrill as reading his letter as to responding.  Later on in our marriage he confessed that my love letters were just full of descriptions about trees, wind, nature and such; he would be always searching to read those three sacred words.  But they were there zander.  They were just tangled up in the branches, hidden under the rocks i discovered on a walk, floating on the lapping waves of Lake Bodensee... 

So, yes, zander, plainly put.  I love you. 

i had to rub fuzzy elbows with the bees to pluck these calyx clusters

 

 

We don't write letters to each other anymore.  But I think that practise is not totally lost to the past.  It was a season of Spring.  And we all know spring comes again. 

 

The latest exchange of words were passed during church recently sitting behind, apparently, an attractive, young gentleman that Zander noticed.

 

Zander: Is (so and so's) brother available?

Me: I'm pretty happy with you, but I guess we can keep him as a potential.

Zander: For Arica!  You ding dong!!

Me: I'll ask.  No shame :)

Zander: Be tactful.

Me: Always....

 

 

 

 

 

Irrigation days have helped ender get over his suspicion of large bodies of water and bacteria. 

He delights in the ancient gift from the Hohokam. 

a tid bit of valley history.......

"The ancient canals served as a model for modern irrigation engineers, with the earliest historic canals being formed largely by cleaning out the Hohokam canals. The ancient ruins and canals were a source of pride to the early settlers who envisioned their new agricultural civilization rising as the mythical phoenix bird from the ashes of Hohokam society."

mother simplicity

ender sat like a toad on a rock in the middle of the gently flowing creek, croaking every now and again about his disdain for being left alone.  well, not completely alone, the water was ankle deep and there were innumerable shiny pebbles at his disposal.  and I was just a stone's throw away foraging for some sticks.  he's a good little pup. 

zander wrought the discarded branches i gleaned,  into curtain rods for our new home.  a small fancy of mine he made into reality. 

all creatures great and small

more dreams drifting over from japan.  naoko stoop has her own blog where it appears she splashes the screen frequently with childlike splendor.  ender and i found her book All Creatures Great and Small buried in the stacks of children's book at the library.  It is filled with beautiful skies and languid scenes of adorable animals and a curiou,s happy little girl. 

little cubes of warm butter

a near perfect match.  ender's hot, buttery skin warming in our valley's sun is an instant reminder to a delectable addition to our breakfast palates.  war time may take the latter...oh dear, it make take them both.  ok lets not think about that! 

"the great tree goes down and leaves an empty place against the sky.  if the person is deeply loved and deeply familiar the void seems greater than all the world remaining" ~  Sheldon VanAuken

a great man died recently, zander's beloved grandfather.  i asked Zander what kind of tree would allen kinkel be?  He sees him as a sturdy tree clinging and growing on the edge of a cliff, with roots that spread deep and wide, holding together all the soil around him. 

i should see you as that tree, too, zander. but i would go into much greater aesthetic detail of the actual look of your bark, branch and leaf.  :) 

since grandpa's passing, ender has been  exuding life.  he has been a stable presence as i cope with death.  {also reading A Severe Mercy which is an interesting expose on grief and eternity}
but i need to stop clinging to a two year old and cling to an Infinity Year Old :) 

Childhood is ours to keep forever

i discovered my friend discovered gyo fujikawa who discovered and disclosed a smidgen of magic. 
i lose track of time when i look at her drawings.  and that is how it should be, i suppose. 
there is a myriad of her colorful musings, but my first love is her A to Z Picture Book.  The mailman will deliver it soon to me and ender will fetch it from his "treasure" box, my little golden retriever. 

Cheers!

 

 

If its half as good as the half we've known.  Heres Hail! to the rest of the road.

a hardy toast we drank to.

we moved homesteads.  Together we moved heart and soul downtown.

Zander and Ender thinking about the other's next move. Typical.  Zander's hammock was the first piece of furniture to move in

Zander with "Jane" (our computer).  I find light where I can.  Our new home is more of a bear den, with quaint pockets of light.  I am a little moth fluttering from light source to light source.  At the bungalow, the walls were so thin, the windows so big, you were basically camping outside.  I loved it.  But this is our land, now.  Zander already brought information home regarding crop covers for our Valley's summers.  We will till our piece of earth to our heart's content!