winter cooking

• Smoothies: bananas, spinach, kale, fruit, chard, almond milk, flaxseed, ice
• Savory zucchini bread with Moroccan spices
• Cabbage-fennel soup with roasted garlic chips
• Zucchini frittata with chilis
• Pumpkin-cauliflower soup
• White wine curry squash soup
• Raw kale salad with sesame dressing
• Mozzarella chard salad
• Red wine vinegar black bean dip

12.27.12 [the Mountain-Climber proposes]

Is not impermanence the very fragrance of our days? 

-Rilke

The hunger in my right hand for my pen has eased by now, and the blank pages of my newest journal perturb me a little less.  I have grown adjusted to the fleeting days and accustomed to ignoring my longing to record all pieces of beauty and heartbreak and detail, given over to the scarcity of opportunities to write this fall and winter.  

Do not fear, Little One, your hand will again drink from the inkwell in its time and season.

But how could I not inscribe this day, when the Winemaker asked for me?  These are the things I will remember from the sunset that changed my life:

• the almost-full moon rising as we drove back in starlight
• and that beautiful expanse, the vista east and north and west he led me to, the sweeping Methow Valley edging toward Loup Loup, the Pasayten, the Cascades and the Okanogan.  

• laughing uncontrollably as I began to discern the immediacy of the coming request.  My love also laughing, terribly nervous.  Turning me as we calmed to face the sunlight on the mountains.

• his arms encircling me as he recalled the dream I had after we met but before we ever spent time together, the scene of us running through tall fields of sunflowers, planted ten and twelve feet high along narrow trails.  Our visit to Elbow Coulee in May, when he first took me home, to participate in the mountain race Sunflower Relay.  (I met you in a dream, my Love,  and I woke with the knowledge that my husband would come to me).
• And then I could no longer feel his arms around me, and I could not turn around to see him on his knees; I was weeping before I even faced him.  I want to run with you, he told me, as long as I walk this earth.

Yes, the Lord has been so good to me.

Bozeman Thanksgiving

 dearest friends

 branch art installations

 the Winemaker

 an incredible meal, after a 21 day cleanse

 mountains, snowshoeing, and light

these four 

on counting to 1,000

gifts from the weekend

990. Longboarding to the Y on weeknights, yoga mat in tow

991. yesterday's 60+ degree weather and sol, sol, sol

992. Prairie Nocturne, Ivan Doig: currently reading

993. running 13.5 miles Saturday. And not dying!!

994. Lentil burgers from The Green Spoon, eaten with new friends

995. followed by a night hike

996. bouldering at the Whitman wall

997. a giftcard to the Patisserie from Kia'a mom

Thanks, Ann Voskamp.

on working at the best school

Today I was filling out paperwork to for a routine dental check-up in my new town, and as I checked no to question after question (gum pain, discomfort chewing, bleeding, coldness, numbness, tooth decay, blisters, sensitivity, erosion, jaw pain, etc, etc, etc) I remembered again how much we have to be grateful for that, most days, I confess I fail to even notice.

After site shadowing at another elementary school in a neighboring county, I decided to make a list of all the reasons I love Blue Ridge. I've worked in seven schools now, and attended ten more, and it really is such a unique, energizing atmosphere. Here's why:

• First of all, the building is underground, a grassy knoll on one side, exposed windows on the other. Huge skylights overhead allow light into each stairwell so even the basement hallway is lit. The structure is ''an architectural gem 30 years ahead of its time'' according to one architect from Boston I met last weekend, who said he spent some time studying the building's design when he moved out west.
• We do zumba every morning for 15-20 minutes. 'Nuff said.
• The color makeup. I hope this is not shallow, but after visiting a very white country school, and having a conversation with a six-year-old about hunting and how he shot a deer in the foot and thought it was super funny, my appreciation is majorly renewed.
• Latino teachers. Young teachers. Brown teachers. Six male teachers. That is kind of unheard of in elementary.
• Recycling. I know that seems standard, but trust me, a lot of schools don't.
• Many bilingual teachers and students.
• The view of the Blues (for which it is named)
• The eagle mascot
• The Turkey Trot. The best!
• No gossip/teacher drama.
• The salad bar.
• The secretaries.
• Hearing and speaking Spanish every day.
• The kids, duh!! Some of the most hilarious and precious and ridiculous and wonderful little ones I've met... not that I'm biased or anything...

re: being with your best friend

elle, after almost three years