The Rain

The tracks of Santa’s sleigh are being melted away by the rain tonight. The streets are glossy, reflecting streaks of bright Christmas lights. The world feels friendly. This long road is dark, but the headlights are bright enough.

I’d like to give a shout out to the time and space collision which is responsible for all of our comprehendible existence.

There is a negative force. There is an equally positive force. Our flesh, each of our cells, are playing with juggling balls, being the motion of the space and time between these two extremes.

Tuesday

Head & Tail Lights

This is a picture of headlights and taillights, driving north from Grand Rapids. Everyone please travel safely! Drive fast when the roads are clear. Take it chill and drive slow when conditions are slippery with poor visibility. Enjoy friends and family!

Snow Angel

I have encountered the remains of a snow angel, in the form of a freshly plowed driveway! I pulled into the drive expecting to spend 30 to 40 minutes shoveling. No such thing! Today I was blessed with a kind, silent neighbor, who took his or her precious time to make my life a little easier. I was beaming. I was smiling ear to ear; not so much because I didn’t want to shovel, more so because these types of random acts of kindness give me hope for the redemption of humanity.

Have you heard? Performing or witnessing random acts of kindness actually boosts your serotonin levels! I felt it today, indeed.

This weekend would be a great time to test this theory out for yourself. Time to celebrate folks! The dark is leaving us. The light is coming!

The Layers Show
White Cotton Thermal, Under 3$, Resale shop somewhere
Brown Knit Dress with pockets, $20ish, Peebles, Petoskey
Brown Wool Sweater, $2.50, Goldmine Petoskey
Black Tights, $10, K-Mart Petoskey
Black Cotton Leggings, $10, K-Mart Petoskey
Striped Leg Warmers, Free, Free Table Stewart House, Sea-town
Maggie's Organic Cotton Socks, gift, thanks mom.
Pink n’ Black Boots, thanks mom! Target

Chilling with my friend Recycled Materials Man on a Tuesday afternoon….priceless.

Pulling into the driveway some kind stranger plowed for you….serotonin boosting pricelessness.

Explorer of California

This is a photo of Perhansa and me in a Target superstore back in November. We share a similar genetic makeup. It’s pretty neat, originating from the same two folks, transforming into two unique individuals.

Yesterday he landed in Michigan for the holidays. As of the last few years, he has been mostly an explorer of the California territories. I do not get to visit him often enough, especially during these colder months. Please contact me if you would like to sponsor my next California adventure.

Stillness

Over the weekend I got the chance to spend some time in the woods; the medium deep woods. (For those of you who don’t know the Northern Michigan area, there are woods everywhere, even within the city limits, so I categorize those as lightly wooded areas. Then there are the medium woods, which, may have some houses scattered throughout them, but are relatively solace. And finally, there are the deep woods, which are extremely blissful if you can find your way out before dark.)

Saturday I cross country skied in an area called “Colonial Point Memorial Forest and the Chaboiganing Nature Preserve.” Honestly I was pretty zenned out during my trek through the woods and didn’t take much notice of the old growth red oaks, which thrive in direct sunlight and the nutrient rich soil, thanks to the glacial activity back in the “Wisconsinan” period. I did take notice of the incredible sound that happens when heavy tuffs of snow fall from tree branches, landing in the powder below. This sound is like a car door slamming in the distance. This sound always catches me off guard. I stop my skating to look around for the invisible vehicle only to witness the remanence of the diving snow as a big puff of whiteness surrounded by the stillness of the wintery woods.

Highlights of this adventure includes; getting lost, getting found in time for my afternoon rendezvous, getting my friends truck medium stuck in a snow bank (as opposed to really stuck where you need a push), taking a really long piss in the woods standing up like a boy using my handy dandy pee tool, being within 20 feet of a red headed woodpecker, watching him plonking his beak into the tree bark, and, dreaming of being the next Marty Stouffer.

The Layers Show
Headband, Free, salvaged from the bottom of an old tee shirt
Brown striped hoodie, $16, Peebles P-town
Black silk turtle neck, $2.50, Goldmine
Blue Wool sweater, $2.50, Sal Arm
Black tights, $9.99, K-mart
Wool plaid skirt, $2.50, Goldmine
Awesome snow pants, $19, Targe Chicago
Hot pink cotton knee high socks, cut off from an old pare of tights
Ankle height Smartwool socks really warn out, $9, Moosejaw Chicago
X-Country ski boots & skis, borrowed, thanks mom!

Having pocket food when my blood sugar levels are crashing after 90 minutes of skiing and climbing that final hill, priceless.

It’s 17 degrees Fahrenheit and I’m not cold

That’s right folks, its 17 degrees and dropping fast as traces of the sun set through the gray sky. I did more shoveling today. As you can see in this photo, I am not even wearing my coat. I started to consider starting a snow shoveling business, but then my back talked me out of it. It is a really ridiculous feeling when you try to tackle something larger than yourself.

If one puts the same amount of effort into seeking peace, as they do seeking escape from madness, then we’d all be chill.

The Layers Show

Pink Seattle Hat, $10, Walgreen’s, Downtown Sea-town
Glasses, $100, New Vision, P-town
Trees and Birdies Hoodie, $2.50, Value Village, Sea-town
Gator Plumbing Long sleeve Tee, $2.50, Village Discount, Chi-town
Blue Tee Shirt with Flowers, $6, Target, Chi-town
Hot pink and black striped tights, $2.00, Value Village, Sea-town
Guess Jeans, Free! Free Table, Stewart House Seattle
Beige Belt, 50 cent, Goldmine, P-town
Snow pants, gift, (Thanks Mom!)
Maggies organic cotton socks, gift, (Thanks Mom!)
Rain resistant snow boots, Thanks Mom!

Resisting the urge to curse Mother Nature when I can’t pull into the drive, priceless.

Not freezing my ass off, and actually being warm in 17 degree temperatures…priceless.

This is a Yooper Scooper, and a Yooper Scooping

Ok, ok, I’ll admit it. I’m not an official a Yooper (person born in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan). I was born in Illinois, but I think I deserve honorary Yooper status since 3/5ths of my family are official Yoopers, I spent 8 of my childhood years up there, and I lived Yooper style, alone in the woods on Lake Superior for four months.

Being underemployed has its benefits. It makes shoveling large driveways covered in three feet of heavy snow seem like a fun play day, rather than a chore. Friday morning I blasted Mott The Hoople and Woodie Guthrie from my bedroom window, then proceeded to tackle the driveway.

This task was loads of fun as I watched pickup trucks drive by with their powerful plows. As I walked back and forth, scoop by scoop, shoveling the yooper scooper into the stacks of snow, I reminisced about my time up north living on Squaw Beach. One morning I attempted to clear my driveway. It was a near impossible feat. I gave up, stuck my shovel in the snow, took advantage of my Subaru all wheel drive, and blasted into town. When I came home that evening it was if an angel had visited my driveway, in the form of an invisible pickup truck with plow. That was pretty sweet. I was blessed by friendly neighbors. But that was years ago in a far away land. Back to Friday…


I was nearly dancing, ecstatic, back and forth, scoop by scoop, clearing, clearing, clearing, and feeling oh so thankful to not be locked behind a desk in some office or school institution; never mind the fact that it was snowing and blowing so hard that by the time I finished clearing the snow in front of me, there was nearly two new inches of powder behind me. It was a reminder of that lesson we all need to be at peace with. The only constant is change.

Change your hat, change your style, change your prescription, change your perspective.

Midway through this snow clearing project, heated from busting ass, I laid myself down on a pile of untouched snow. I could feel my body heat contrast the frozen snow. I looked up at the sky which was grey and dropping delicate flakes of ice crystals. From this prospective the world seemed so clear, uncluttered, simple and simply joyful. I smiled big teeth to the sky.

Eventually I got up and giggled at myself for the silliness of it all; the silliness of lying in the snow, the silliness of moving this massive amount of snow from side to side, knowing well that there will be twice as much to remove next week. Chris Watkins said it best, all we do is move things from one place to another. Really, that’s it. That’s life. Give it whatever meaning you need to.

The Layers Show

Pink & Black Boots, gifted (thanks mom)
Wool Longies, 2 dollar, Goldmine
Blue Linen Pants, prolly from the Goldmine like 3 years ago
Awesome Snow Pants, gifted (thanks mom)
Silk Turtle Neck, $2 Goldmine
Obnoxiously Blue but Warm Gloves, $1 New Beginnings Thrift
Brown & Yellow Striped Hat, $1 New Beginnings Thrift
Being able to park in the drive, priceless.

Race with the Snow

Last week it was a race against the snow to get in the last harvest of the year; turnips, carrots, lettuce. Though the snow was really heavy and persistent, Mike and I were super excited to be back in the garden after a weekend at the Great Lakes CSA Conference.

Surprisingly we were able to salvage a sizable amount of lettuce, and we created quite a gorgeous mix of greens for the Holiday Market in Boyne City; Centers from the weathered lettuce heads, pea tendrils, stunning purple-y reds from the radicchio, fancy frills from the ende Frisee, a tad bit mixers of tatsoy and spinach. Mmm. I was blessed to made a killer salad for the Thanksgiving gathering I attended; lettuce mix, carrots, breakfast radishes, watermelon radishes, turnips, broccoli, croutons, with an improvised avocado salad dressing. It was extravagant to say the least. Yum.

But now I am going through withdrawals from lack of time in the dirt.

These sways,
the rhythm of this world,
cycles lost and found,
drowning in lakes and flesh frozen into snow angel molds,
I haven’t a word to say to you tonight.

Naturalist and Explorer

This is me hugging a tree in Humboldt Park, Chicago. Humboldt Park is 207 acres on the northwest side of the city. I have lived in three different apartments in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. I dug it. It was pretty good living for the city dweller in me. But today, cozy in my snowy country home, I was finally curious enough about the history of who this Humboldt character was. Who was this man who was honored enough to get a 207 acre city park named after him?

Turns out his name was "Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt." He was German. He lived from 1769 to 1859. He was a naturalist and explorer, but never made it through Chicago!

Check this out. He wrote a book called, "Cosmos: Draft of a Physical Description of The World." Now I am VERY curious.

Be Happy

Be happy! It makes the world a better place.

Celeriac

I pulled Celeriac today to clear a row for shallots. They had a celery smell to them. I day dreamed of lazy brunches with my family in the city sipping bloody marys. I dreamed of staying warm in small town cozy apartments throughout the winter’s cold.

The Celeriac is sometimes known as "a vegetable octopus" or "Rastafarian turnip." It is a tangled root ball and if you can peal it to it’s core, use it raw or cooked. I have not yet tried the Celeriac. After harvesting four dozen of them I feel like I am meant to put on my witches hat and brew up a Celeriac concoction, drink it and grow some roots.

The Layers Show:

Brown and Pink Vest with Fake Fur Hood, Kmart Seattle, $16
Biker Geek Glasses, Prescription by USA Sport, Internet, $100
20 Use Tube Cloth, used as light hat, REI Chicago, $18
Earrings, Gifted, Free
Green Fancy Girl Camo Zip Turtle Neck, Woolrich, Goldmine Petoskey, $2.50
Pink Sweater, Goldmine Petoskey, $2.50
Having all the Celeriac Harvested, Priceless

Seasons of the Moon

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I was laughing at the moon. I stared at the horizon towards town, speckled with its electric buzzing lights. I cricked my neck up so I could gawk at the breathtaking, and breath-giving moon. This photo was from last week. Last night the moon appeared full. I think today it is at 100%. It shown so bright my darkness could not exist.

To a farmer, lost in his field after dark on a moonless night, the distant glow of a Wal-Mart may be comforting and reassuring, “Ah, yes, there is other life out there.” But on other nights, when the moon outshines Wal-Mart, Home depot and the Casino! I mean, THAT is something to ask questions about. Who controls this massive light bulb in the night sky? It’s luminous is unlike any other light. A cool passing cloud cover dances by like a mystically narrated lamp shade. I stare up and laugh at the immense power that shines down on me.

Tonight this power shines down on me. Other nights I am left in the darkness to strengthen my faith in the galactic orbits, these seasons of the moon.

I think about the excitement Christmas time brings, as we prepare to celebrate the coming of the longer, warmer brighter days. If I didn’t have electricity, this moon would become my best friend, second in line to sun, (though I spose it depends on what style of life style you prefer.) Nights can be so peaceful and still. There is great opportunity to listen close to the stillness of the earth and sky; and the moon shouts down like a close friend,

“You are loved. Keep dancing.”

Fashion Photo #2

Ok, I am going back a few months in time with this photo, back to September. In fact, I think this photo may have been taken on my 24th birthday! What a beautiful weekend at harvest gathering. I love this photo cuz my outfit goes so well with the tent, this time, bottom to top….

Farmer Overalls, Goldmine P-town, $2.50
Winter Staple Green Woolie, Value Village, Sea-town, $2.00
White hooded cotton thermal, Somewhere between NY and far West, $1.00
Music Note tee shirt, Target, Chicago, Humboldt Park, $10
Necklace, Gift from South West adventures, Love
Smile, ragged, elated, Priceless
Hoop Earrings, Kmart, P-town, 3 for $9
Pink Snow Cap, Walgreen’s, Sea-town, $10
Tent, Marmot, Borrowed from Family, Love
Trees, Priceless!

So this photo is my farewell to summer, fall, and Indian summer. It has been super blissful. But now we hit hard into the transition into the winter months.

Tonight I worshiped the moon. I stood where the boardwalk meets the water. The moon blasted light down on to the earth. This powerful light over shadowing even the bright buzzing lights of the new Walgreen’s complex. I laughed with the moon as I asked it silly questions.

Fashion Photo #1

Welcome to the Layers Show:
From top to bottom,

Pink Snow Cap, Walgreens Seattle , $10
Brown and Pink Vest with Fake Fur Hood, Kmart Seattle, $16
Brown wind breaker, Columbia from REI Chicago, $28
Blue Merino Wool Sweater, Sal Army Petoskey, $1.00
MI NORMAL tee shirt, Bioneers Traverse City, $25 (with membership)
Black Smartwool long sleeve tee, Getz Marquette, $50
White with heart print thermal, Kmart Petoskey $16
Erlewine Sisters Skirt, Goldmine Petoskey, $2.50
Black Leggings, Kmart Petoskey, $1
Leg Warmers, Stewart House Free Table Seattle, Free
Smartwool socks, Moosejaw Chicago, 3 for $20
Earthshoes, Whole Foods Seattle, $70

That's a total of less than a dollar investment every day for a year. Stay tuned for more Fashion Photos. I'll keep ya warm with all my layers.