Urban Organica

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.

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.

'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.

vintage sf with hula70

Spent some time through the viewfinder of a black cardboard contraption into a vintage kodak with the ever-cool Andrea at Hula70.  Picture 20 women on a blustery-rainy San Francisco street, heads lowered, arms stretched long with tall black boxes moving up down & around with plastic grocery bags tied all over our equipment.  We can't figure out how to move our cameras to capture exactly what we want, so we just shoot.  We look pleased, confused & our wet heads are cocked to the side as we check our images.  Glamorous.  More importantly I am hooked.  There is something magical about bowing ones' head down before shooting.  Trying to capture an illusive sight by looking down, through 3 black boxes & out many pieces of glass.  Having the images reverse themselves, so when you want to see up, to have to move down, when you want to see left, you have to move right.  So the image kinda creates itself.  I don't know what I 'm doing yet, but this is so extremely fun.  

breakfast #32 :: golden

My brother's here!  From across the sea.  Gratitude today looks like:

My "new" sister, not really new, but now I can hug her & soak up her zen-bohemian strength.  The fact that she can wear a giant turquoise Mexican wool poncho.   No need to get to know each other.  That's my girl.  

A bustling kitchen where the 9 year-old makes Mexican Hot Chocolate with vanilla & cinnamon.

Babies clinging to mommy legs while they cook.

5 year-old pancake flippers.

My kuya (older brother) in his signature malong skirt + tribal tattoos.

Same brother, with his Montessori-mind, busting out globes, jungle guides & grappling techniques with his nephews.

My mom, frying bangus (milkfish), itty-bitty fishies + eggs, perfectly.  But not before making apple-pancakes for us to snack on while she busts out the "real" breakfast.

Pops coming in & out from his TV games in the den.

My 1 year-old nephew, who I am in love with, saying "Pasok!" (come in!) every time he hears a knock.  Watching him hold out a hand & yell, "Waagg!" (Stop!) to the dog before opening a door & brushing him out, "Balis, balis!" (Go, you may leave!)  He repeats everything we say, dances around & smiles wide with the biggest Chinese eyes I have ever, ever seen.

Mom's chili peppers.  Pulling tomatoes, scallions, lemon cucumbers + lemons from her garden to eat with the fish & rice.

4 hours in traffic with my brotha Franz, just to get a glimpse of the Mission district, a bit of blues dancing & a plate of papusas.

Babies tackling & jumping into the arms of aunties & uncles they've never seen before.  Because love needs no introduction. 

All we need now is our bitty brother Jeric to come out to the States, or for all of us to head to the islands for a little more breakfast.

walnut loaf

Last night I filled a large tub full of walnuts that have been hiding in the corners of our home for years & years.  Some of them are tiny:  almond-sized, & I smiled thinking of the no-longer tiny hands that found them.  There's always a rush when we find a "baby," because other baby walnuts are surely nearby.  

October finds us in the walnut orchards of Full Belly Farm, walking with our eyes to the ground, sharing our treasures & cracking two walnuts against each other in our bare hands.  It also has us pulling over along random walnut farms, filling our baskets with the overflow along the roadside.  It's just that we love them so, these wrinkled-wooden spinning tops. Each one holds something no one has ever seen before, & if we pop it into our mouths, no one will ever see again!  

D likes to tell the boys how his mom would set him up with a bowl of walnuts & a spoon so she could prepare dinner in the evenings.  Likewise, these nuts are right up with pine cones as the most-used play item in our home.  If we aren't stopping on our bikes to collect them, we are pounding them out with rubber mallets, "cooking" up a little sumthin'-sumthin,' or selling them to our brothers.  They are fun to play catch with, lovely to display, interesting to smoosh when soft & they are undeniably seasonal, coming only when the pomegranates are beginning to crack.

This is our very favorite nut loaf, from one of my most-used cookbooks.  Bonnie Mandoe ran Maui's first veg catering company, so her dishes run with just the flavors we love.  We sometimes add a wedge of jack cheese & an additional egg.  Once you know the recipe, it's very easy to throw everything into the food processor, then into an oiled casserole.  Usually we make a double batch, for "sausage links" & patties that we pop into the freezer between sheets of parchment.  Or we put them into smaller Pyrex dishes to freeze.  These we defrost & slice before frying.   When my vegetarian children stopped eating veggies & refused to eat meat, we just processed these ingredients very finely & they got everything they needed in their favorite meal.

Nut-Meat Loaf from Vegetarian Nights

"This is the dish to serve friends or relatives who believe they can't make it through the day without their ration of meat.  It's also the dish for anyone who loves a hearty, old-fashioned meal.  When I serve Nut-Meat Loaf with mashed potatoes, a green salad, & an ear or corn, it takes me right back to the 50's."

1 cup cooked brown rice

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (optional)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup minced green pepper

5 beaten eggs

2 T soy sauce or gf tamari

2 T Dijon mustard

1/2 t each black pepper, thyme, marjoram & sage

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch square baking pan & press mixture in evenly.  Bake 50-60 minutes, until firm.  Serve hot from the pan.  (We top with mushroom gravy! m)

 

baby gocco

waldorf jedi birthday

Just in case folks were thinking Waldorf families are anti-establishment...

A few genius moments from the Jedi Knight Academy included the following:

Invites: Sophisticated invitations to the Academy on Jedi letterhead. 

Tunics: A bolt of cream cotton, pre-cut into rectangles with neck holes + pre-sewn brown belts.  Obi's tunic included beautiful detailing with a brown Sharpie.  (If a belt came undone, Obi Daddy One would growl, "Naked Padawan!" And the embarrassed young apprentices would scramble to dress eachother) 

Lightsabers: Made on-site with pool noodles + black & silver duct tape.  (Brilliant.  Party planning could have stopped there.  It is truly funny to see a gaggle of boys, lightsabers in the air,  running to attack the adults, Obi Daddy One stepping in front of them, saying, "Go back to the yard!" & watching them all turn on their heels like little military cadets, roaring all the while)

The Test: An obstacle course that includes playground equipment covered in camo-mesh with a Yoda backpack strapped on, throwing water balloons at DeathStar 1(A gray tetherball w/ Sharpie details), & battling it out with Darth Vader.  This particular family has a barn with 150 costumes, so Darth was chillin' nearby...

Eats: Lightsabers made of large pretzel sticks dipped in colored white chocolate, with foil handles.  Little Pizza bites, cold veggies + drinks with character names.  Cupcakes covered with edible rice-paper logos, cupcakes with tiny light-sabers that light up when put to the light.

The Force: Obi demonstrates the Force by placing a balloon at the tip of his lightsaber & pretending to guide it up into the Heavens. (gasp!!)  Then there's a race for each child to get their balloon across the field with the tip of their weapon.  If there is wind, trees & spiky plants, then it will be hilarious, balloons will pop, fly off & get stuck in trees - & only one child will make it across the yard.

Training: Obi has them line up & practice three stances with their lightsabers.  If they aren't paying attention he growls, & if they are beating him up, he growls bigger & throws their weapon behind him.  They love this.  Just love it.  (And those who've never seen a movie are taking the whole thing very, very seriously at this point, being young apprentices & all)

Graduation: In addition to the prized pool noodles, Young Jedi Knights received official graduation certificates & a photo-op with the Prince of Darkness.  At this point several of the children switched to the Dark Side.  

Favors: Star Wars buckets with Darth Vader & R2D2-head stress balls, stickers, a piece of candy, & a fortune-telling Star Wars Pen.  All from Target, I'm told.

I'm trying to get these folks to start a party blog, 'cause this is how they amuse themselves.   Lucky us.