When one leaves a dirty training toilet on one’s back porch, then one should not be surprised when it gets used.
In the broad daylight.
By a particular four year old.
Who then said, “I just teasing, Mom.”
Clearly, someone needs to put that potty away.
in the evening and over the land that looks like a sea
she sings her sweet familiar song to me
she’s always singing, if you listen carefully
you can hear her sing
she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song
miles of fresh plowed soil holds hope for the year
rich and somber but always silent to a stranger’s ear
but to her people, she sings of possibilities
you can hear her sing
she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song
growing wheat and growing weeds and toiling horses
these tired men and the sunlight fades into the vast horizon
sullen fires of sunset splash the eternal sky
and still she sings
against all this youthful flames
like wild roses and flash of starlight
in the night, its fierce necessity, sharp desire
it’s singing, and singing, and always singing
and she calls to me
she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song
music & lyrics by kate venable
based off of willa cather’s “prairie spring”
There’s been far too many farewells in the last few weeks and so far it looks like St. Louis is receiving the best of Lincoln, Nebraska. Brook (pictured above with her very full car), Karen, Joe and Kate are all beginning graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary. (Owen, our adorable little buddy, also went along, but instead of studying theology I hear he’s studying how to walk.) It feels so strange to say goodbye and send them to our former stomping grounds. It’s bittersweet, this sending of friends. I’m excited for their futures, for who they’ll get to meet and what they’re preparing to learn, but I’m sad to no longer live alongside them here in Lincoln.
Parting with Brook was like parting with family. She’s part of our tight knit community and partaker of Community Dinners, lover of breakfast-for-dinner, tacos and hot dogs (a girl after my own heart). Brook was Master Barista at Scooters and knew how to make a drink I’d like. So last Friday, we sent our common-sensical, practical, can-do spirited friend to higher education and training as a counselor. I can say with absolute confidence that Brook will be a blessing to Covenant Seminary in the days to come. And if the folks down there are lucky, perhaps she’ll make them a latte or two. We love you and miss you already, Brook-o.
There’s websites I link to (see sidebar), blogs I plug into Google Reader (best thing ever), websites I run through for daily information, and other sites I stop by on occasion. The only sites I can’t live without are View from the Prairie Box and my Gmail account. The rest is icing on the cake.
So, final question for the week:
Feel free to list between one and ten different sites (I’ll check with the web guru to see if hyperlinks will work) and give a general description of the them. Do you like to read comics online? Watch funny videos or trailers? Do you do all your shopping online or are you addicted to a social networking site? Are you into high fashion or celebrity gossip or NBA scores or MTG cards? Is there a blog author who is consistently hilarious or another writer who is always inspiring? Do you debates politics in a public forum or contribute to discussions of theology online? Share with us your favorite stops on the www.
Now that I’ve asked all the questions, I’ll drop a few sites as well. After I’ve read my mail and peeked at Google Reader, I like to check a few news outlets: the local JournalStar, USA Today, CNN. Then, if there’s time, I’ll head for even lighter fare with entertainment news like Entertainment Weekly and E-Online, with a special stop at some point for the Pop Candy Blog. I enjoy reading Pioneer Woman and Dooce as well as Design Mom. I frequent the Terrablogs to keep up with folks I know from Covenant College days. Recently Jeremy and I have enjoyed Facebook—it’s been fun to delight in reconnecting with old friends (”Did you know so-and-so has kids now? Wow!”) and marvel at some profile pics that are out there (’nuff said). I could go on with the listing, but I’ll let the rest of you do that…
Foods can be seasonal. I had no idea of this concept until one day in college when my friend Carolyn started rattling off a list of delicious fall foods her mother would be making soon. It’s funny what sticks in your head—I’ve managed to forget much of my three years at Missouri Baptist for some reason—but I remember walking the hilly sidewalk to our cars on a warm St. Louis afternoon and thinking gloriously of pot roasts and pumpkin pies.
Think of being stuck in the confines of your living room on a blustery winter day. It feels like weeks since you’ve seen the sun shine and it has been months since you’ve seen anything green and growing outside. You’re cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, but you’re longing for a freezing mug of dark Scottish Ale on the outside terrace at Lazlos. You can’t wait until you can pick your Roma tomatoes and long green cucumbers, then eat them on a sandwich mere moments later. So, here is today’s question:
Share a childhood memory, a favorite restaurant, a long recipe, a newfound favorite summer food. You type it, we’ll read it and let our mouths water a bit.(I’ll update this post later with my own favs. I’m cuddling a feverish 4 year old now, poor kiddo, and typing is a challenge.)
Welcome to Entertainment Week on the Prairie Box. Audience participation required (suggested? demanded?). It’s the first week of August which means summer, as we know it, is quickly coming to an end. So this week I’m interested in what the masses do for fun.
Today’s question isn’t limited to summer viewing though:
What is one of the best movies and one of the best television programs you’ve seen in 2008? And why?
(Only answer why if you can do so without dropping spoilers. Oh spoilers! The bane of my non-cable-watching existence!)
I’ll go first. For movies I’ll pick Wall-E for all its Pixar-y goodness. It was great to see a movie on the big screen that my whole family could really enjoy. And while watching the film, I was very aware that I wasn’t catching every fascinating detail, that there was a lot more to discover during future viewings. Wa-a-ll-eeeee! Ev-ah! Who could resist such charm? For tv shows I’ll go with a recent delivery from my Blockbuster queue: Mad Men. I almost quit watching the show (note that it’s not recommended for everyone) because it got dark and somewhat discouraging. But I love history that comes alive and with Mad Men I’m constantly wondering about historical accuracy as it relates to the show’s central office, a marketing firm on Madison Avenue. It may not be the “best” of 2008, but certainly one of the most interesting programs I’ve seen.
God made kid faces irresistible so parents couldn’t stay mad for, oh, say tantrums in Walmart, too long.
I love my summer kid. Wet from the sprinkler, shiny face turned upwards to me, echoes of “you’re the best mom!” from dinner the other night playing in my head. I know every parent thinks their kid is the best… But Livia, you rock. I love you, sweets.
All it takes is a few little seeds, some soil, sun and water and there you go, a garden. Sometimes I’m amazed by the fact that we have jars full of zinnias, black-eyed susans and, er, these cute little purple guys in our house—and that they grew from such little effort. Livia and I planted seeds last spring and watched our baby plants grow. We transplanted them into the beds Jeremy constructed and we’ve all been surprised by the tenacity of the seedlings. Two “Sweets,” William and Peas to be exact, are now thriving despite looking like they were already dead two days after the transplant. The cosmos are growing though we have yet to see flowers, and our sunflowers? Well, apparently bunnies (DEAD bunnies if we see them again) like sunflowers, too. And these are just our seedlings. Jeremy’s done an amazing job with moving perennials around and planting new varieties of annuals in the midst of the plants from previous years.
Gardening is better, not to mention cheaper, than therapy. By simply walking out to our compost pile and taking notice of the height of our fountain grass or the new leaves on the redbud, my pulse slows and breaths deepen. Something about the wind and flowers and sunshine soothes the soul.
Speaking of quiet time (see comments from yesterday’s post). After quiet time a few days ago, I walked into Liv’s room and discovered her in this exact position. Ninety degree + humidity weather is no time for tight-wearing, but Livia had discovered the basket full of socks on her dresser—and used the bear pillow pictured to reach said basket—and tight-wearing she was. I think I initially said something like, “Oh. Nice outfit!” and then she pointed to the black tights on her head and told me that they didn’t fit. I wanted to point out that the white tights didn’t fit either (the crotch was at her knees when she stood up) and that her solution for the black tights was perfect, but I was so delighted by her getup that I grabbed my camera and called Jeremy in instead.
I love the way little kids dress. LOVE it. As a parent, it’s fun to step out of the way and let your kid get creative.
Hi, I'm Rebecca Tredway. View from the Prairie Box is my blog about my life, my family, and more…
