01 January 2011

Irish Blessing for the New Year



On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colors,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

~ John Donahue

12 October 2010

"of magical things..."




Like star dust glistening on fairies' wings
Little girls dreams are of magical things.
-- Sherry Larson


30 September 2010

Get Your Green On



No, it's not St. Patrick's Day...but we could sure use some of Erie's green around the schoolyard! Locals, anyone want to join me at the HP Library on October 14th? The daily view of our schoolyard from my office sure does inspire me to help our school get our green on!


CREATING & SUSTAINING GREEN SCHOOLYARDSJoin Sharon Danks and Rachel Pringle, the authors of two new books - Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation and How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers - as they discuss how to conceive, design and sustain green schoolyards and school gardens. Books will be for sale and a book signing will follow. Bring a brown bag lunch. Beverages and dessert provided by Moraine Township.Thursday, October 14, 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m. RSVP (847) 432-3240.Presented with Moraine Township, School Districts 112 and 113, and Climate Cycle.

P.S. No, we are not having an early winter (knock on wood, knock on wood)...that snow is from last March.

29 August 2010

J on J




Twilight at the "Fall Frolic" next door.

Silly bands, pony tails, and bare feet--that's what little girls are made of...

24 August 2010

The Quiet(er) House

Everyone tells you how fast it will all go--that they grow up before you know it. But it doesn't mean anything until they wave, rounding the corner into the old brick school house--and you return to a much quieter house.








23 August 2010

Goodbye Summer



Goodbye Summer,

You were as long as the wait in the kickball line,

as short as the ice cream's melt-time,


as sweet as the watermelon on the front porch,

as lazy as the breezes off Lake Michigan,


as feisty as the mosquitoes at dusk,


as kind as the luck of the game,




and as elusive as a photograph that tries to hold these beings still and young and ours, if only for a frame.