After weeks (months) of rain, I stepped outside today for 10 minutes and stretched my body toward the sun. My face felt the warmth if its rays and pure gratitude took over my heart. The effect something so simple as sunshine can have on my mind is amazing.
I felt like a bear creeping out of its cave, cowering under the intense light, closing my eyes and feeling the light on my ivory skin.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
24.
24 years and 7 minutes ago (Utah time) I took my first breath of air. This is the first birthday I will celebrate without my family and friends.... No party, no birthday dinner, no birthday cake. Is this what it means to get older? No fun!
I'm homesick.
Thank you Mom for your thoughtful care package. Thank you Dad for the early birthday phone call. Thank you Mr. C for planning a thoughtful trip to the yarn store. Thanks to all (in advance) for your birthday wishes! :)
PS. I am spending the next 4 days in Yakima, WA for AmeriCorps training. Despite being a little lonely, I really enjoy my work with the Red Cross. More to come soon.
I'm homesick.
Thank you Mom for your thoughtful care package. Thank you Dad for the early birthday phone call. Thank you Mr. C for planning a thoughtful trip to the yarn store. Thanks to all (in advance) for your birthday wishes! :)
PS. I am spending the next 4 days in Yakima, WA for AmeriCorps training. Despite being a little lonely, I really enjoy my work with the Red Cross. More to come soon.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday at home.
Bob the House is my new home.
This is my room:
And some views of the the central areas of the house. Notice the bulk food (all communal), the refrigerators (two for 9 people), and the extensive kitchen seating. We are like one big family, only unrelated and living together by choice.
I spent most of my day washing jars; scrubbing the grit and grime, the dust, dirt, cobwebs and dead spiders off 136 mason jars of various sizes was a considerable task. A woman was getting rid of some mason jars that had been stored in her garage for decades, and I volunteered to take them home and give them new life. The sheer number of dirty jars is overwhelming, and I'm only about 75% done. Next in line, finding fruits, vegetables and meats to fill the jars with. And, the house already has much of the needed canning essentials! Major item missing: Pressure Canner.
This is my room:
 |
| From Autumn 09 |
And some views of the the central areas of the house. Notice the bulk food (all communal), the refrigerators (two for 9 people), and the extensive kitchen seating. We are like one big family, only unrelated and living together by choice.
 |
| From Autumn 09 |
I spent most of my day washing jars; scrubbing the grit and grime, the dust, dirt, cobwebs and dead spiders off 136 mason jars of various sizes was a considerable task. A woman was getting rid of some mason jars that had been stored in her garage for decades, and I volunteered to take them home and give them new life. The sheer number of dirty jars is overwhelming, and I'm only about 75% done. Next in line, finding fruits, vegetables and meats to fill the jars with. And, the house already has much of the needed canning essentials! Major item missing: Pressure Canner.
 |
| From Autumn 09 |
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Gas Works Park
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Library: a woman's best friend
Since my childhood, libraries have played a central role in my life: The reading races to see who could score the most points in elementary school. The book-mobile truck that stopped in front of our house every two weeks in the summer days of my childhood, beckoning the neighborhood to come out and find new words and stories to fill their warm evenings with. The Tremonton library which lent itself to calm afternoons and was just a short walk from mom's store.
I made my way downtown to the Central Library shortly after arriving in Seattle to pick up my new resident library card! I feel like this little piece of plastic makes me an official member of the beautiful city surrounded by water. The bicycle jaunts around town, back and forth to pick up books that are being held under my name, are inspired (if not provoked) by my need for new reading.
The hunger for knowledge, the passion to experience another person's life through the words they write, the excitement for travels and happenings that are not mine, these are the ideas and feelings pushing my to read ravenously. Since getting my library card three weeks ago, I have swallowed book after book after book. Mostly the subject is midwifery, though I'm expanding a little and wish I had MORE time to read. If you too are interested in reading some of the books I have on the topic of babies, birth, etc-- here's my list of digested books & movies from the past couple years on the subject. Most of them are narratives, stories of women's experiences in the realm of baby catching.
Your Fertility Signals: Using Them to Avoid or Achieve Pregnancy
The Business of Being Born
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care
--Reading so many statistics regarding childbirth mortality and morbidity became somewhat dull, but the comparison of birth practices of the United States to those of other developed nations was interesting. Considering cesarean rates, perineal tears versus episiotomies, development of labor on its own versus medicine's management with pitocin, etc, this book raised my eyebrows.The Birth House: A Novel
Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali
--This book is easily one of the most moving accounts of a peace corps experience AND that of a midwife's assistant. Two experiences I crave, combined. It's heart-warming, heart-breaking, and overall a story I will never forget, filled with laughter and tears and cross-cultural accounts in relation to birth, pregnancy, nutrition, malaria, and AIDS.A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785 - 1812
Labor of Love: A Midwife's Memoir
The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times
--The story of midwife working in a convent with hardened and happy nuns, working with clients living in complete poverty where sanitation was a dream, not a possibility. I was interested in her accounts of social welfare and the system that failed most of her pregnant patients in the ghettos of London, including prostitutes, new mothers, and a woman who spoke no English. Great read! Oh, and coincidentally, after reading in this book about "kangaroo care," a form of caring for babies born prematurely, I stumbled into the similar information in the news!
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife
The American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding
I am currently reading Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, a book that is more hands-on textbook than story telling, and it's nice for a change. Also on the list of items-in-waiting at the library:
All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story (1953)
Listen To Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Spiritual Midwifery
When I get email updates from the library saying an item is on hold for me, waiting for pick-up, it's like Christmas!
I made my way downtown to the Central Library shortly after arriving in Seattle to pick up my new resident library card! I feel like this little piece of plastic makes me an official member of the beautiful city surrounded by water. The bicycle jaunts around town, back and forth to pick up books that are being held under my name, are inspired (if not provoked) by my need for new reading.
The hunger for knowledge, the passion to experience another person's life through the words they write, the excitement for travels and happenings that are not mine, these are the ideas and feelings pushing my to read ravenously. Since getting my library card three weeks ago, I have swallowed book after book after book. Mostly the subject is midwifery, though I'm expanding a little and wish I had MORE time to read. If you too are interested in reading some of the books I have on the topic of babies, birth, etc-- here's my list of digested books & movies from the past couple years on the subject. Most of them are narratives, stories of women's experiences in the realm of baby catching.
Your Fertility Signals: Using Them to Avoid or Achieve Pregnancy
The Business of Being Born
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care
--Reading so many statistics regarding childbirth mortality and morbidity became somewhat dull, but the comparison of birth practices of the United States to those of other developed nations was interesting. Considering cesarean rates, perineal tears versus episiotomies, development of labor on its own versus medicine's management with pitocin, etc, this book raised my eyebrows.The Birth House: A Novel
Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali
--This book is easily one of the most moving accounts of a peace corps experience AND that of a midwife's assistant. Two experiences I crave, combined. It's heart-warming, heart-breaking, and overall a story I will never forget, filled with laughter and tears and cross-cultural accounts in relation to birth, pregnancy, nutrition, malaria, and AIDS.A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785 - 1812
Labor of Love: A Midwife's Memoir
The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times
--The story of midwife working in a convent with hardened and happy nuns, working with clients living in complete poverty where sanitation was a dream, not a possibility. I was interested in her accounts of social welfare and the system that failed most of her pregnant patients in the ghettos of London, including prostitutes, new mothers, and a woman who spoke no English. Great read! Oh, and coincidentally, after reading in this book about "kangaroo care," a form of caring for babies born prematurely, I stumbled into the similar information in the news!
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife
The American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding
I am currently reading Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, a book that is more hands-on textbook than story telling, and it's nice for a change. Also on the list of items-in-waiting at the library:
All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story (1953)
Listen To Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Spiritual Midwifery
When I get email updates from the library saying an item is on hold for me, waiting for pick-up, it's like Christmas!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Spicy Eggplant
The weekly trip to Queen Anne's farmers martket was sweet this week-- though working late caused me to miss the knit-in, an event where men and women gathered to socialize and knit baby hats to donate to hospitals, I did meet a woman spinning beautiful wool from her angora rabbits into elegant lace-weight yarn. She also displayed some very creative knitted hats (all hand-spun, hand-dyed, hand-knitted with combinations of alpaca, angora and sheep wool from either her own farm or her sister's). She let me in on the location a spinners group that gathers once a month and casually invited me to come meet people since I'm new in town. :)
And of course, the produce looked wonderful! Berries are coming on strong, but the real pull for me were the deep purple, plump, fresh eggplants. Besides taking home eggplant, I picked up some green beans, hot peppers, and get this-- Peanuts! Never before have I seen "locally grown" peanuts! In my naive mind I'd almost forgotten that farmers could actually grow these; prior to yesterday I'd only ever seen them packaged up for sale in grocery stores. And they're tasty.
Tonight's recipe:
Chop/Blend/Mix/Puree (whatever) together:
1/2 c Cilantro
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 Serrano Pepper
Couple shakes ground cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
Juice of one lime
Slather the mixture all over (top and bottom) 1/4 inch slices of eggplant and broil for 10-15 minutes, depending how cooked you prefer it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper afterward. Yum!
Ps. Went for a bike ride downtown, pushing through rush-hour traffic to get to the Central Library before it closed at 6. A few items I put on hold were in and I wanted to pick them up for the weekend. It was like Christmas! An audio recording (book cd?) of tales of old women's wisdom, a DVD about birth, and a couple memoirs of midwives. I love libraries.
And of course, the produce looked wonderful! Berries are coming on strong, but the real pull for me were the deep purple, plump, fresh eggplants. Besides taking home eggplant, I picked up some green beans, hot peppers, and get this-- Peanuts! Never before have I seen "locally grown" peanuts! In my naive mind I'd almost forgotten that farmers could actually grow these; prior to yesterday I'd only ever seen them packaged up for sale in grocery stores. And they're tasty.
Tonight's recipe:
Chop/Blend/Mix/Puree (whatever) together:
1/2 c Cilantro
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 Serrano Pepper
Couple shakes ground cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
Juice of one lime
Slather the mixture all over (top and bottom) 1/4 inch slices of eggplant and broil for 10-15 minutes, depending how cooked you prefer it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper afterward. Yum!
Ps. Went for a bike ride downtown, pushing through rush-hour traffic to get to the Central Library before it closed at 6. A few items I put on hold were in and I wanted to pick them up for the weekend. It was like Christmas! An audio recording (book cd?) of tales of old women's wisdom, a DVD about birth, and a couple memoirs of midwives. I love libraries.
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