at the table

I came across this poem today.. and I'm sure I've read it before, but it means more to me now as "a Grownup Lady" (as Sadie refers to me) with my own children sitting at the table.  It kind of sums up why I wanted to build our own table--why it seemed too impersonal to buy this particular item of furniture.

Perhaps the World Ends Here

By Joy Harjo

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.

Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

Sadie's Dreefees

“Most kids have a special stuffed animal, ratty blanket or dog-eared book they take to sleep with them – and a lot of kids, lacking this talisman, go berserk and scream themselves to sleep. Bill Bob had no one special talisman: Bill Bob had dreefees. None of us ever quite figured out the etymology of that word, but when I asked him years later Bill Bob thought it might be an amalgamation of ‘dream’ and ‘feed’ – food for dreams you might say.”

 David James Duncan

 When Sadie was little we tried to get her to take to a particular lovey--it was a mild mannered teddy bear named Murray.  But Murray never stuck.
For a long time, Sadie didn't have bedtime lovey at all, but around 19 or 20 months she began to bring "self-proclaimed loveys" to bed with her to snuggle with.  First it was a bunny I made, then, a wooden sea otter my brother Gabe carved--which was cute, until you woke up with it wedged under your back.  For a while it was a favorite ABC book, or another toy from the rotation of stuffed animals.  This summer, the list of things that need to go to bed with Sadie has grown a bit, and become more random.
For example--sometimes we need "ALL Sadie's friends" which consists of Tiger, two stuffed Dogs, Joey doll, Elmo, Owl, Baby Blue (a rubber whale that goes over the spout of the bathtub so kids don't bonk their heads) and a Curious George book.
Last night, there was just Tiger, a harmonica, two kitchen spoons, and a rat-tail comb (I had to take the last three things out after she fell asleep for safety sake) 
I was feeling a little disconcerted by this rotation of oddities in the bed, and then I remembered the little brother from David James Duncan's The River Why and his dreefees, and I realized, that is exactly what Sadie has.
Like many things about getting to know the small humans you are raising, Sadie's selection of dreefees is a source of amusement, wonder and curiosity to Loren and I...and even though lately we have been moving her into her own bed after she falls asleep, sometimes we still find strange things in the bed come morning.
At least we know how they got there now.  

LOVING this book right now.

Seriously.  I am SEW happy with this book ;-)

I want to make almost every single project in it.  The instructions are clear and simple, the ideas creative and kid-friendly.  I am using these patterns and ideas for a jumping off point for some of the Christmas gifts I want to make this year. I started with this pattern for basic pocket pants. 

 

...and that inspired me to start burning through some of my knit fabric stash.  Sadie has pretty much outgrown all her pj's, so I made her these:

But the top was just a little to big, so I had to make a second one (they sew up really fast!) to see if I could get a better fit.

I like this one even better. 

Also in the mail this week...my own labels!  I designed them with my high-tech design software picnik (its free, and online!)  and had them printed at Sewnique's etsy shop--for a pretty reasonable price if I do say so.

my PSA to women everywhere.

     Cover your eyes boys. Don't read this post if you are squeamish about ovaries or vaginas.
Okay ladies.  I think there is a large population of women who HAVE already found and read this book, but if you haven't, you should:

Taking Charge of Your Fertility: 

The definitive guide to natural birth control, pregnancy achievement, and reproductive health. 

by Toni Weschler

     I read this book a number of years ago, and I couldn't believe all the things that I just had no clue about, (or worse, was misinformed about) concerning my own reproductive system. It answered all the questions I had that were just brushed off by many of the physicians I have seen.

     To know me is to know I have a bit of a feminist side... and where better to begin the journey of self-empowerment than through the understanding of your own body. This book has saved me so much worry and anxiety at times, just knowing what it is that my body is trying to do and why.  I see that the author has now come out with a more youth-friendly version of this material for pre/teenage girls.  Sadie will definitely be getting a copy when she is at that age.  Oh gosh, that is just crazy to think about! Anyhoo--if you are a woman, or a man interested in women's reproductive health, you should definitely read this book.  It is excellent, and sooooooooo informative!

Billy Collins... are you my long lost cousin or something?

Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause to Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles

It seems these poets have nothing

up their ample sleeves

they turn over so many cards so early,

telling us before the first line

weather it is wet or dry,

night or day, the season the man is standing in, 

even how much he has had to drink.

Maybe it is autumn and he is looking at a sparrow. 

Maybe it is snowing on a town with a beautiful name.

"Viewing Peonies at the Temple of Good Fortune 

on a Cloudy Afternoon" is one of Sun Tung Po's.

"Dipping Water from the River and Simmering Tea"

is another one, or just

"On a Boat, Awake at Night."

And LuYu takes the simple rice cake with

"In a Boat on a Summer Evening

I Heard the Cry of a Waterbird.

It Was Very Sad and Seemed to be Saying 

My Woman Is Cruel--Moved, I Wrote This Poem"

There is no iron turnstile to push against here

as with headings like "Vortex on a String,"

"The Horn of Neurosis," or whatever.

No confusingly inscribed welcome mat to puzzle over.

Instead, "I walk Out on a Summer Morning 

to the Sound of Birds and a Waterfall"

is a beaded curtain brushing over my shoulders.

And "Ten Days of Spring Rain Have Kept Me Indoors"

is a servant who shows me into the room

where a poet with a thin beard

is sitting on a mat with a jug of wine

whispering something about clouds and cold wind, 

about sickness and loss of friends

How easy he has made it for me to enter here, 

to sit down in a corner;

cross my legs like his, and listen.

Loren gifted me with these two excellent books this Christmas:
and I have been LOVING them.  It is a long time since I have just genuinely enjoyed a book of poetry like this.  Reading Billy Collins is like sitting down to a glass of wine with a long lost friend, the kind you look forward to meeting up with because you know he will be so full of erstwhile adventures, witty, quirky insights and tongue-in-cheek humor. I highly recommend either if you are looking for a good book of poetry to pick up and put down in these quiet winter months.