saturday memorial

it was a busy weekend. greg, chanda and i picked up korrina in queens and then drove out to long island for my friend's memorial with her family. we lost our dear friend lizette to cancer on june 6th. i've been so sad about it, that it's been difficult to write about . . and it felt strange at the memorial today. i kept expecting her to walk in with her smile . . it feels odd not to be planning a walk across the bridge for a visit with her in brooklyn heights.

in her beautiful beach home on rockaway, where we spent many happy afternoons.

homeschooling moms . .

with marisa at the memorial . .

chanda took this photo of her friend sami's new little girl, named for her grandma. she was born june 27th. 

lizette in her favorite place at the beach in rockaway in july of 2008 . .

and the two of us in 2023 in front of our favorite health food store in brooklyn.

lizette was my birth year buddy. she was born five months after me in 1961. i didn't think she would go so soon. we all thought we still had years together. we miss you lizette.

errands, laundry and cicadas

a view north along seventh avenue when walking home from running errands (kitty litter and cat food and copies from the copy shop, vitamins from the health food store). it was really such a nice day to walk around as it was in the low '80's and it wasn't humid . . it was just warm and sunny with a wonderful breeze.

i also did three loads of laundry.

the cicadas have been buzzing ever since we returned from london.

thankfully, dinner was leftovers (very easy to prepare, though lots of pots to wash). greg and i also replaced the old handle on the toilet bowl with a new handle. it flushes much better now, and doesn't run incessantly (hopefully). 

(here's a post about flying to london and our first morning, then there will be a break as we'll be visiting my nephew and the beach for a few days.)

time for sleep!

hello again (with a link to the first day in london)

 

i finally finished a baby blanket i began a year ago. i had stopped halfway around while doing the i-cord border. (it's a purl soho pattern, their super easy baby blanket with their daily wool worsted yarn, and i think i used size 8 needles. they say the yarn can go in the washer and the dryer!)

i'm not sure who i'm giving it to! it was supposed to be for a neighbor's new baby who is now a year old . . but now we have another friend who just had a baby in june . . i'll have to let you know what i decide!

i just finished reading this book. it actually went all the way to london with me . . but i never read it. it just took up a lot of space in my suitcase; too much space! i have a thing about taking at least one library book when flying . . it's a superstition, but i should at least make sure it's a paperback. 

across many mountains is a beautifully written account of artist sonam dolma brauen's trek across the himalayas with her mother, father and little sister in 1959 when fleeing the chinese occupation of tibet. it's heartbreaking and inspiring and informative of how the tibetan people lived prior to the invasion and what they went through (and go through) during occupation. it's written by sonam's daughter and i couldn't put it down once i had read the first three chapters. (sonam dolma is the artist whose artpiece chanda and i participated in at the rubin museum a few years ago - there are four links here to the workshops and events.) the book also shares about their time as refugees in india and the life they created for themselves in switzerland.

this (the tree in the courtyard) was also a lovely book to read about the years that anne frank and her family hid in amsterdam during world war ii - all told from the perspective of the horse chestnut tree in the courtyard which was within sight of the building's attic window. (i think eva recommended this.)

chanda and i met ellen for ice cream today and were able to give her a party favor from the wedding (which she has in her hands - a vintage napkin holding italian candied almonds and an almond nougat).

we had homemade pistachio ice cream at the restaurant across the street from where ellen lives. they have such good food . . greg and i have eaten here several times.

and chanda made dinner this evening! we had vietnamese lettuce/rice rolls . . 

chanda is trying to get the rice paper out of the package . . 

she then soaks it in the warm water in the bowl to her left . . 

we sliced cucumbers, carrots and mint leaves and chanda made a delicious peanut dipping sauce. (she also warmed up very fine rice noodles that were wrapped up with the vegetables in the rice paper.)

then we played bananagrams and greg won as he was the first one to use up all his tiles.

i finally put up a few photos ("back in londontown") from our first day in london on saturday, july 18th (we flew out friday night, the 17th). i hope to be better at posting our days together on this trip than i was in 2022. 

it's actually thursday night right now and a cool front has blown through after a heavy rainfall. i actually closed the window next to my computer as i felt cold (and greg is in bed curled up with a blanket! so shocking!). every day and night has been hot since we arrived home on august 2nd . . and that's typical for summer in nyc!

sunday morning poem

i meant to do my work today

i meant to do my work today--

but a brown bird sang in the apple-tree

and a butterfly flitted across the field,

and all the leaves were calling me.

and the wind went sighing over the land,

tossing the grasses to and fro,

and a rainbow held out its shining hand--

so what could i do but laugh and go?

by richard le gallienne (1866-1947)

morning poem

my grandfather and home

i

my grandfather used to count the days for return with his fingers

he then used stones to count

not enough

he used the clouds birds people

absence turned out to be too long

thirty-six years until he died

for us now it is over seventy years

my grandpa lost his memory

he forgot the numbers the people

he forgot home

ii

i wish i were with you grandpa

i would have taught myself to write you

poems volumes of them and paint our home for you

i would have sewn you from soil

a garment decorated with plants

and trees you had grown

i would have made you

perfume from the oranges

and soap from the skys tears of joy

couldnt think of something purer

iii

i go to the cemetery every day

i look for your grave but in vain

are they sure they buried you

or did you turn into a tree

or perhaps you flew off with a bird to the nowhere

iv

i place your photo in an earthenware pot

i water it every monday and thursday at sunset

i was told you used to fast those days

on ramadan i water it every day

for thirty days

or less or more

v

how big do you want our home to be

i can continue to write poems until you are satisfied

if you wish i can annex a neighboring planet or two

vi

for this home i shall not draw boundaries

no punctuation marks

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

things you may find hidden in my ear, pages 17-18 (city lights books, 2022)

sunday poem

 

a rose shoulders up

don't ever be surprised

to see a rose shoulder up

among the ruins of the house:

this is how we survived.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

things you may find hidden in my ear, page 99 (city lights books, 2022)

sunday poem

 

we love what we have

we love what we have, no matter how little,

because if we don't, everything will be gone. if we don't,

we will no longer exist, since there will be nothing here for us.

what's here is something that we are still

building. it's something we cannot yet see,

because we are a part 

of it.

someday soon, this building will stand on its own, while we,

we will be the trees that protect it from the fierce

wind, the trees that will give shade

to children sleeping inside or playing on swings.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

things you may find hidden in my ear, page 49 (city lights books, 2022)

back in londontown

 

(it was fun having a ping pong table in the garden)

here are photos from our first day in london: from lunch at gail's cafe to meeting up with morgan and harley for the first time (so exciting to see each other again in londontown!), to the amazing dinner harley made for us at the airbnb with my nephews and our friend amelia (a delicious curry!). it was a very happy day.