Urban Organica

we've moved!!

So this party, we, have moved to a new space.  We love Typepad, we recommend it, for sure.  And we've moved anyways.  See you over at www.urbanorganica.com.  xoxoxo!  Maya

presence for my painter

  I watch this littlest one pulling out his daily "supplies:" an oilcloth, waterglass, rags, paints, brushes & sponges.  He requests water, new rags, glue, paper, blocks.  If we're too busy, he finds his own mediums & I can count on a new set of acrylic-stained clothes, which is fine, since this is what he does.  He's a painter.  Apparently.  I gave him an apron, & he painted it.  He's 2, & he has a vocation!  Okay, it's not all that deep.  But the point is, I see that he loves it.

And I think, someone who already knows what he loves doesn't need any presents. 

Because I hail from Filipinos, People of the Cheesy Word-Play-Joke, my next thought is, What he may need, what we all may need, is Presence. 

So, here then is my list of things we can make or find that will presence his love, on-goingly:

-Recycled jam jars for water glasses.  A set of 6 with different colored yarn bows will look just lovely.

-Stacks of rags in interesting materials.  The boys can cut their old shirts & jeans with pinking shears & tie them up with ribbon.

-Old blocks in a basket with a tag that says, "for painting"

-A cloth-covered cardboard box packed with old frames, squares of cardboard, felt & stiff cloth to paint.

-Brushes from mama's supply.

-A totebag with a plastic tub nestled into the bottom, for painting-to-go.

-Another apron, or two.

-A little painting cloth.  The oilcloths are my personal favorite floor-protectant, but I can't help but wish they were padded for those sweet little knees of his.  Maybe I'll just take what we have & layer them with a bit of cloth & batting.

If he's called to the painting shelf, then we're going to load up that painting shelf.  Because it may be a vocation, at the end of the day.  Bliss is bliss.

chai fruit fritters!

why not squish in those last persimmons, & grate a pear into your pancake mix?  don't forget to add a giant dash of garam masala, some vanilla, & honey.  a straw for your tea; stockings for those baby toes.  oh, christmas time.

what is transformative change?

a vision worth living into this season, from one of my favorite teachers, my beautiful friend rev. angel kyodo williams.  if we are to be activated, & make a difference, how do we do this without being righteous?  at the same time, how do we honor a sense of wellness & affirmation, responsibly?  consider...

frost weeds

The Earth is deliciously ornamental around here.  For the first time since I can remember, the windshield was a solid sheet of ice, & all around us are frosty weeds, steamy slews & sparkle-topped topiaries.  It's beginning to look a lot like Solstice...

The colder it gets, the more we are heading outside.  The boys strip their hats, jackets & jump into trees, creek beds, have me scaling walls in robust games of follow-the-leader.  Everytime I plan an advent activity by the fire, they come up with the better idea of "get up, let's go!"  And we've been fitting them in, the paper-chains, the chocolate & peppermint covered pretzels.  But the magic has been where it's always been.  On the trees.  In the bushes.  Under logs, under foot.

When their heads hit those blessed pillows, I am gratefully with them.  This is the first night in so many that I am up, here, in this space.  And the sleep has been wonderful.  So goodnight.  Or good morning.  I can't wait to see what's out there.

strauss creamery

A rainy day & several hours in the car led us to the legendary Strauss Creamery, & that dashing man up top.  Along with being incredibly charming & handsome, he & his wife have been raising, loving & milking over 200 cows a day, twice a day, for 34 years.  34 years.  I am 33.  So.  A baby in the world of right livelihood & spiritual practice.  And I've so much to learn from folks like these.  I have never seen someone having so much fun, so in love with his day-to-day life.  He toured our group around with a spring in his step, a giggle on his chest.  You should have seen his delight at getting the kids to pop their fingers in the milking machines.  So much fun was he having, that he went around the group, 3 or four times so they really got the nature of the sucking action.  A man who gets breast feeding!!  I mean, he really gets it & is a true admirer of the sport, the miracle of the process.  Not to mention he has been midwifing these gracious animals in every possible way.  I think when he began talking about the birthing process & asking the kids to demonstrate how they look when taking a dump, a couple of kids peed their pants.  And when he began talking about the insemination process!  Well, I think one of the moms pooped her pants.  I don't mean to be crass.  But that was a really, really fun tour.  Rain & all.  And he does it for free, a commitment to sharing the wonderful world of organic dairy farming.  Angels on earth, organic dairy farmers.  When flies take over the farm, they bottle feed each & every cow to prevent salmonella.  When a cow goes sick, it's all about the homeopathics & natural care.  If the lady might be lost, they give her some antibiotics & pop a big X on her ear, never to be milked again.  A loss for the farm, a boon for the rest of us.  These are the kind I wish to learn from, I wish the children of the world to know & gaze upon.  But that's the last thing he wants.  After popping some bottles in their hands, he wrestled down some giddy young bulls & got our kids feeding.  What else can I say but thank you?  For the tour, the things they do that we'll never know about, the heart break of animal husbandry, the magical ivory milk...  And for the rest of us, for buying organic dairy, & supporting men & women such as this.  We are blessed.

wine train

sometimes...one goes to a wedding-variety show of dearest friends in the magical napa valley & is eager to see what everyone is up to, what kind of entertainment has been put together.  the dad & big boys run inside to find their aunties & uncles in their finest Indian garb, & inside is a sparkly palace of sequins, silk & painted hands.  & the mama sits outside for two whole hours, comforting the bittiest boy who thinks the pounding dj is just way too much for him.  together they rock back & forth, back & forth, greeting late comers & listening to the Indian elders talk about education & Kentucky Fried chicken.  the dad comes to check in, but baby only wants mama & she is loving this while he's still so small.  eventually he falls asleep & she heads in to join her brood, but not before being doubly-rewarded by the dizzy-juice train, speeding on to it's next tasting. 

'round here

Fall things be goin' on.  It only just started for us, you know.  It's been high Summer right up to the first of November.  But just look at all the seasonal stuff you can do when it's hot & dusty!  Harvest season is officially closed & outside the world has turned crimson, damp & fresh.  The sky is still a brilliant blue & our fireplace is an overjoyed cave of glowing, shimmering, simmering embers.  Dinner means good friends, a potluck of soup, bread & sausage.  And the leaves have only begun to sail across our paths.  Like I said, things be goin' on round here...

succulents for d

Recently a caravan of family headed down to Southern California for the wedding of my lovely cousin Sherelle & her beau, Justin.  It was during the same weekend as our beloved Hoes Down organic farms harvest festival, the most-looked-forward-to &, dare I say, stabilizing annual event in our family.  So we missed the wedding (a big deal given how much I love that girl), and Lola brought up a centerpiece to share.  Because D loves succulents.   It was a bit tossed about, having dropped on the floor, so we had the chance to create our garden just how we liked it.  Well, loved it.  There's nothing so fun as getting a little "kit" with really good ingredients in it.  It makes some small creature inside me run happy circles in the grass before gathering the littles for the project.  D does love his succulents, so.  I love having a sweet reminder of our larger tribe & the promise of partnership on the table.  And the boys just love.

spicy apple-pear butter

We have been oh, so very sleepy this month.  So while our life has not been on hold, nights have been unusually quiet in our owl household.  I don't remember the last stretch where I didn't wake up at exactly 2am every single night, only to find D just heading to bed.  That has been our rhythm, our sacred adult time.  But October just wipes. us. out.  We have had Annie's gf Mac & Cheese three times in the last 4 days.  With canned tuna & frozen peas.  Our biggest boy is making all the breakfasts around here, with the help of some jarred fruit butter.

 Lunch is the nearest stack of pomegranates & persimmons.  There's been naps, at least for the grown-ups.  While we've slept, the sweet  peaceful boys have turned into a band from Lord of the Flies.  Everything from pencils to flashlights have transformed into weapons of mass destruction & my newly-armed two year-old somehow makes perfect figure-eights with his wrists while his lips pucker in "pshew-tshew! you're dead, i'd killed you!" sounds.  I killed you.  These words are not only not allowed at my house, they've never even been considered here.  Which may sound rigid, but please remember that our community includes former child soldiers & victims of war.  So that's just not cool.  Nor is the 5 year-old trying to lasso the good pottery off my counter.  But I've been so very sleepy.

Well.  In the car we've had "The Amazing Development of Men" running & much light has been shed on this whole phenomena.  Alison is the Queen of Gender Harmony, according to me.  I LOVE Love LOVE her.  Like I love her.  She is the reason I've made my home feel good to me.  That D & I are so happy.  That I take care of my needs & my family's needs in spite of myself & my creative longings towards far-flung places.  And that I get myself to art classes & retreats.  She says the opportunity of the Queen is to keep her tanks filled, to be well & healthy, so that she can give from a full cup without any sense of self-sacrifice.  Amen.  But all that has to do with me & why I love her.  The CD has to do with the men that I love.  

For years I heard from the great men in my life about Alison's PAX workshops.  Great men, those who are mentors, who've had at least a decade of diverse personal growth work under their belts.  They said it made the women in their lives glimmer & shine & finally understand them.  That those same women finally knew how to support, encourage & appreciate the men in their lives.  

I have to say, I never had any interest, until my girlfriend Kitty began to glimmer & shine.  She broke it all down to me, how she had been completely unable to be the business owner, wife & mother she wanted to be.  Her tanks were totally empty, & she had no idea.  She now knew exactly what tanks everywoman has to fill (patience, graciousness, etc) & which tanks only she had (creativity, magic).  And she knew how to fill them, how often to fill them, what wiped her out & how to recover.  YES!  So I did that workshop (The Queen's Course), & needless to say I love her.  Kitty & Alison.  And Shadee, the PAX staff-member / make-up artist / my girlfriend who set me up.  You would love her to. 

So boys are little knights-in-training, apparently.  The love to be dangerous, to be brave, to win.  And mostly to be honorable & to provide.  And honor is won, after much frustration & trial.  My peaceful oldest boy doesn't seem to fit into this on the surface, but then I see what he's up to when he makes breakfast, & how devastated he is when he's not seen clearly.  That when he walks away from a frustrating experience it's because he needs our support to stick with it & to get that sense of accomplishment on the other side.   I see what is at play when these boys are teaching each other & vying for the chance to be first or the most innovative in their problem solving.  

And so, when they begin to fight I am not jumping in as quickly.  I am watching them from the couch pillows now, curious as can be.  Who are these young men in my living room?  I don't know.  But I am loving getting to know them.  We are currently working (from the couch) on a "Gratitude Board" aka Chore Chart, which will include little buckets for them each to toss chore tags into.  They will have their basic chores with no reward other than contribution to our family community, but then they will have extra chores they can do.  And be acknowledged for, in a family thank-you ritual at the end of the week.  They will get to add up their chore points & trade them in for an experience they are wanting, like a project, alone time with me or a drive with Dad.  They will have earned this little moment & right now they are so into it! Discussing the possible chores they want, embroidering their initial on their buckets & telling me what kinds of rewards inspire them.  

I hope this all goes well!  "Enobling, instead of enabling," is a phrase used in the Waldorf community.  If it doesn't go over, I'll just go back to sleep & probably they'll transform into something new.

The butter?  As many apples & pears as you can get off the tree, grated.  Zest of several lemons & their juice + at least 3 inches of fresh ginger zipped across a micro plane.  Add 1/2 C sugar or a bit of maple syrup if you like.  Simmer for 3 hours on low.  Spoon into sterilized jars.  Serve on toast.