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The National Gallery
Did I even mention the National Gallery of Art yesterday? I don’t think I did. Growing up, my parents never really talked about art. At least, not that I remember. I’ve come late to the Art Appreciation Game. But I married a good-looking artist and we’re raising a handful of creators so I am educating, learning and teaching. And I am realizing – I love art. It’s personal and subjective. And it’s really fun. My friend Hilary is a committed Andrew Wyeth fan. His art is highlighted at DC’s National Gallery. Man. It was incredible. Just like all of DC, we just scratched the surface of the museum. (And we…
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The Keigleys Go to Washington
Can I just type Washington, DC and let that suffice? Ya’ll. There is just way too much going on in that city. My sister-in-law said that when her sons were younger and she was homeschooling them that she had always wished she could live in DC for six months just to really get acquainted with the Capitol. It would take that long. (Actually, isn’t that a great idea? To live in a place for a few months? To really become familiar and to try to squeeze all of the educational value right out of a city? Is there a kickstarter for that? A way to crowdsource my life? I think…
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The Interview: Bergen Hawkeye
So. This interview. Let’s get started. Let’s talk about birds first. Do you still enjoy watching them? Yes! What sorts of birds have you observed lately? Woodpeckers. Robins. Some terns. A few hummingbirds. Terns are seabirds. What kind of bird have you never seen but would love to? Pileated woodpecker. Golden eagle. White seahwak. Peregrine falcon. Golden crested woodpecker. Green woodpecker. I thought we saw a golden eagle this summer? No. We didn’t. What did we see? A bald eagle. Oh. Okay. Besides birds, what holds your interest lately? Fish! Obviously. What have you caught so far? Bass. Perch. Crappie. Bluegill. What do you want to catch? Pike. Perch. Carp.…
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Yesterday. Today.
We drove to Washington, DC yesterday. I didn’t take any pictures. I mostly just sat in the front seat of the car – criss cross applesauce style – because all of the snacks were stored where my feet should have been. The drive was a jaunt through autumn’s glory. It was amazing. The colors were phenomenal, an extravagant, show-offy kind of beautiful. Today we will be exploring our nation’s Capitol with my brother and sister-in-law as our capable tour guides. I promise to take pictures.
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Public Service Announcement or How Your Christmas Gift Shopping Can Benefit My Christmas Gift Shopping
I figured I might as well just call it what it is. Remember how at the beginning of this year this here little website received a visual upgrade? And at the time I mentioned an affiliate program that I participate in through Amazon? You know, the Amazon you already use to purchase clothes and games like I Spy and splurges like a Cuisanart ice cream maker? The Amazon where you already enjoy your prime status that allows the miracle that is free shipping to bring the world right to your red door? Yes. That Amazon. Well. I’m still participating. The link is right over there on the right top of…
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The Interview: London Eli Scout
London – I used to do these interviews when you were tiny. They were hilarious. I still think you’re a pretty funny kid. Do you think you are funny? A little bit. What kinds of things make you laugh now? Friend jokes. Jokes that friends make – or our family. Just jokes. How do you like to spend your free time? Drawing. And playing Calico Critters and Legos. You haven’t had a hair cut in more than a year I think. What’s your plan there? To grow it very very very very long. Why is that? Because I really like long hair. I’d like to look like an elf. Is…
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Field Trip: WNC Nature Center
What a gem! Incredibly beautiful location outside of both Black Mountain and Asheville, North Carolina – you simply couldn’t drop this Nature Center into any prettier spot. Kevin had a meeting in Black Mountain last week and our local zoo membership offers reciprocal passes at the Nature Center. It was a Thursday and we already had a field trip planned for Friday but it seemed like an opportunity too rare to pass. And we were right. The day’s temperatures couldn’t have been better – a chill in the air just perfect for crunching leaves and walking outside. Prior to departure all of the kids loaded their backpacks with their nature…
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Five Reasons I Just Don’t Really Care About Halloween
I grew up on a dairy farm in Snow Creek, Virginia. Snow Creek, guys. Our driveway was practically an entire mile long and it led to a one lane road that connected to another country back road before it ever found its way twenty minutes later to a small town. Halloween didn’t reach us out there. And we didn’t care. I have never felt deprived and I don’t think about losing a piece of childhood experience owed to me. I have never lived in a neighborhood. My children have never lived in a neighborhood. Our house for a decade whilst our kiddos were being born and toddling through their days…
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Choose Nothing
It’s 2 o’clock on a Saturday. The weather is precisely perfect. A brown dog lies next to my feet. I’m sitting on the porch. Our house is silently astir with quiet activity. Two big kids have succumbed to the call of the woods and I love that they are escaping together. I think they will emerge when they are hungry enough. There’s a creator kid with a cardboard box and a bevy of markers. She has an idea and the gift of time. Today is good. I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything. If it’s been too long since this has been true of you – you might…
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Bedtime Questions
The blanket was pulled up over both of our heads. My seven year old and I stared at one another in the nearly dark in the makeshift privacy of her battered hand-me-down quilt. “Does Satan make you do the bad things Mommy?” This child. Where does her miniature mind travel? “Does he make you bad?” Bedtime theology. The little questions that are the big questions. I let my forehead bump against hers. “Oh Willow. We choose bad. God lets us choose. You know how you can love Jesus but still tell a lie?” “Yes,” she nods her golden head. “It’s like that. God says you can pick – you can…
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Autumn From Wildwood’s Porch
The voices. Distant. Child-like. Orange and burnt-umber. The sun. Radiant. Gentle. A warming and a cleansing. Not a scorch, but an invitation. Summoning me to stay. Barely perciptible breeze. Enough to tease the curtains into dancing but not enough to alter a hair on my head. The air smells ready – anticipating camp fires and wood smoke and pumpkin pie. Two squirrels circle our giant oak tree. They’ve left behind acorns to chase one another. I can’t decide if they are fighting or playing or loving. Or all three. This porch provides a portal to Time Standing Still. for this blink/blip/sigh/moment/millisecond of my life. I’ll take it. I’ll measure it…
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Interview: Otto Fox Wilder
Otto – do you want to do an interview? I like to go fishing. I like climbing. And. Um. I like playing. And I like – dadadadada – I like Cereal Sundaes and ice cream and chocolate chips and I like birds and I like animals. That’s all. Awesome. Son – I like you! hehehe What do you like about our house? It haves a big field. There are grasshoppers that live in it and all kinds of bugs – like praying mantises. Why do you like bugs so much? Because I like catching them. What do you do with them? I let them go. Otto – what kind of…
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motherhood: impossible questions
Bedtime was half an hour ago. I’m standing in the kitchen surveying the day’s damage in stacked plates and dirty glasses. Popcorn kernels on the floor and shoes that should be in their proper homes. Little footsteps across the floor and a small hand on my arm. “Mommy, I’m just scared.” I squat down. Red cheeks. Wet tears. I hug this seven-year-old darling with the blue eyes and the freckles and I ask, “Why? Why are you scared?” “I just don’t know when I’ll die. I don’t know when you’ll die. Will you be old? Will I die in pain?” My heart bends and my brow wrinkles and I cannot…
