Casteluzzo

Stars in the purple dusk above the rooftops
Pale in a saffron mist and seem to die,
And I myself on swiftly tilting planet . . .

We visited the nature preserve. The sycamores were shivering, half naked in the wind. My children ran ahead, delighting in every new flower and leaf and bird. I walked behind them. Our yard is full of birds these days. We must be far enough south that somebody else’s birds come here to overwinter. I recognized the goldfinches again a few days ago. I hadn’t seen them since late summer.

This year I am grateful for a thousand little gifts of grace.… Read more

dog owners, that is. I was thrilled a few weeks ago when someone posted a dog on freecycle. Axa and Raj love the goats and chickens, but their efforts to play with their animal friends are often unsuccessful and always comical. I thought it would be great to get them an animal that would play back. And what could be more logical than a dog? We corresponded with the owner a few times, and she brought the dog over yesterday afternoon. He was everything she said: sweet, beautiful, energetic, sensitive, and great with the kids. Unfortunately (also as billed) he was an escape artist.… Read more

I have a photograph on my desk of Axa, half buried in autumn leaves when she was maybe nine months old. I don’t recall the children playing in leaves since then. I don’t remember raking them either, since I was a little girl. We used to always rake our yard and then our neighbors’. It was an easy act of service where you didn’t have to see anyone, which appealed to my shy side. And as a bonus, we got to keep all the leaves we raked and make a huge pile or a leaf fort (snow forts are out in California).… Read more

Can we disbelieve the birds?

Our goldfinches have come back. The male was almost bright orange in the springtime, but then I hadn’t seen either one for months. We saw them the other day (he and his mate are indistinguishable to my eyes now), soaring across the empty blue spaces between trees.

Today was windy, and the sun came in and out from behind the clouds. The calling of the crows takes on a bleaker tone in the wind.

I have three little carved elephants from Indonesia standing on top of my roll-top desk with trunks upraised at me. The littlest one seems to be smiling.… Read more

Life is hard to plan. Everything seemed to have been straightened out. Tony has been working at his new job for nearly a month. I had the whole Casteluzzo Academy schedule worked out for this term. But my body just can’t seem to kick the infection I’ve had for a month. It’s my tooth, which turned grey and got a root canal three weeks ago. In retrospect, I am not surprised that all the emotional stress over the past several months caused some corresponding physical stress. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t end up with some worse health problem.

But this infection is driving me crazy.… Read more