A late spring here in Vermont and the general state of the world has me dragging my butt. But these two morsels, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for breakfast remind me that we need to show up for one another. So here I am friends, a bit bedraggled and weary.
Last week was National Library Week and I hopped in with a posting on Front Porch Forum with a reminder of how we can support our public libraries. They are essential cornerstones of a healthy democracy. In the midst of reckless slashing of funds. I wrote to political leaders, letting them know how important inter-library loans are to us. I brought tulips to our librarians. I lit a candle one morning and sat with my gratitude for our vibrant, small, rural library and the many donors and volunteers who support it. I tried to show up for all of us who cherish it.
On another board I serve on, we recently reviewed and approved a new policy on what to do if ICE shows up at our Headstart classrooms. Sit with that for a minute. Yup. Brutal.
I try to keep sewandsowlife as a sanctuary for us. A place for book recommendations, sewing projects, some gardening and other gentle things. Because we need safe spaces to rest. But this morning I just really needed to document a few ways the real world seeps into everything these days. And I want to thank those of you who pulled on your courage along with your shoes and stepped out to protest a few weeks ago. I appreciate that you showed up for democracy. And to those of you who may be writing letters and post cards, and making phone calls…thank you. Thank you to any of you who are taking an active part in defending our precious democracy.
And now, for sweeter things…
The road grader has lumbered by this week, heralding the winding down of mud season. The freshly turned dirt smells like hope. Coltsfeet are blooming along the sides of the road, reminding me of Dorothy’s yellow brick road. The spring bulbs are blooming all over the neighborhood, popping up from the leaf litter here and there. Neighbors left a gorgeous handmade Pysanky egg nestled in a pot of tête-à-têtes on our porch. And more baby goats are due this week. Batman is chomping at the bit to participate in “clean up day” on Saturday at our local, public golf course. It’s rather helpful to notice and appreciate these things. :-)
The very first quilt I made is in need of some radical work to revive it from the past. How much do you love those early seventies prints, stripes and checks? I dreaded trimming the edges, but I wanted to reconfigure things and add a border, so trim I did. More soon.
Our 100 days of stitching is winding down. I’m thinking of how the pages of the fabric book will face one another, how to pair them. This detail is from a page I sewed with scraps of batiks from Lindsey’s college quilt and an assortment of dotted fabrics.
This page is stitched with a scrap of fabric brought to me by a friend who often visits family in India. I also used fabric hand-dyed with homegrown, indigo and Hopi Black Dye Sunflower seeds.
Do any of you have pages/books you might be willing to share here? Send me note via my “contact” page (here) if you’d be interested. I’d like to think of a way to share your work here sometime in May.
I listened to The Bookbinder, by Pip Williams. I like her The Dictionary of Lost Words better, but this was a good story, too. Companionable on another drive and back to MA.
Our book group discussed Familiaris, by David Wroblewski, which is a long tome. I did not make my way through, but others in our group loved it.
May’s book is All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley, the story of a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’m looking forward to reading it!
Onion and tomato seeds are percolating under the lights down in the utility room. The small chest freezer in the basement is emptying out. We still have garlic and onions from last summer, and a few aging beets. But we are definitely looking forward to a new growing season. Batman has come out of retirement for the third time (our kids rolled their eyes affectionately and said, “Oh, padre”), and will be working about thirty hours a week for the next 6-12 months, on a bit of a mission of mercy. He is showing up. He really is a super hero. So our team gardening will be done in the late afternoon/early evenings.
It’s almost time for drying laundry on the line (I see you Stacy!) And almost time to put the screens back in the windows. And almost time to swap the snow tires. And almost time to take the plow off the tractor.
So there is HOPE in the little things, friends. And HOPE in standing our ground and showing up. Let’s do it all, whatever we have energy for, wherever we can. Let’s show up. Again and again and again.
With gratitude for your presence here. For your care. For your Light.
-me