mercury retrograde. the planet of communication slams back hard and everything freezes: my computer at work, my ability to articulate lesson plans to my students, my water cooler charms. everything requires pause, deep breath, revision, review. everything seems to be under construction as well: my kitchen in dusty rubble from sanding and grouting, my laundry room with boxes of paint and tile on top of the washing machine, my whole approach to springtime in fact, to the challenges of the new season, to promise and rebirth. i think everything is about structure and nurture. discipline. that word keeps cropping back into my blog. but the connotations of it are too restrictive . .too oppressive. how about recognizing the natural order in things . .balancing . .nurturing.
here's what i notice lately: there are tiny birds singing in my gutter pipes. the cardinals nip at the yellow buds on the bushes outside my window. the neighborhood black cat chases the bunnies and ducks across the cul de sac all day. children ride down the street with training wheels on their bicycles.
i sat on the stoop for a moment yesterday and felt the wind. i watched the pine tree next to my house graze my windows i replanted some ivy next to my front door. i read some poetry by whitman . .some verse from "leaves of grass" about springtime and yearning:
" . .lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul, there in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim."
from walt whitman's poem "when lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd"
a list of some of my favorite words: arch, cream, sand, blend, pearl, blue, fennel, threshold, squall, dune, shell, tawny, silver, flicker, puddle, moor, freesia, cup, marsh, pudding, cradle, harp, whirl.
