spotted

early yesterday i made my first bus stop journey in the new neighborhood. in the quite faint morning light, it was all dark blues and dark greens and browns. and i spied them! so quiet and so close.

destination: grandmother's house

the ever consistant grandmother's house at christmas was experienced again. over the years, actual time spent at grandmother's house on christmas day has shortened and shortened. this year could possibly have beaten all records. in at 11am, gifts unwrapped at noon, eating at 1:30pm, and out the door at 3pm. (we're pros at this.)

1. complaining about when food will be served. check
2. ham. check.
3. the story about uncle b. hitting maxwell (a cat) with tennis balls. told.
4. grandmother accusing everyone of stealing everything. check.
5. me totally loving that i can spend time with my family on christmas. yes.

action adventure : the mystery of marriage

on december 18th, dear friends and family gathered by the lake to coordinate and celebrate love, grilled meats, the great outdoors, pretty dresses, teamwork, and the future.

notable moments:
1. sharing zombie apocalypse plans with will.
2. participating in my first wedding.
3. discovering a new great carbonated water.
4. watching g + n smile.

weddings are a nice thing to do.

books : maps

books are maps that unfold inside our imaginations and contain paths that are lit by little set fires. one of my favorite maps can be found here.

equipment

south of the river : making a difference

it was a november saturday and the handsome man (omega) and i had a spilling over box of donated food, collected from austin's fair scarlet woman lodge, to take south of the river. want to know why the capital area food bank of texas matters?

• according to the most recent census data, 307,296 texans in CAFB's service territory live in poverty. one in six texans is food insecure and has difficulty meeting basic nutritional needs.
• 34% of food bank recipients report having to choose between buying medicine or medical service and buying food.
• CAFB provides more than 17 million pounds of food and grocery products each year. these items serve more than 350 non-profit human and social service partner agencies - including soup kitchens, church food pantries, neighborhood centers, halfway houses, family crisis shelters and low-income daycare facilities.

action adventure: san antonio

sunday evening found the five of us curled into a honda bound for san antonio and a gnostic mass that had not graced that city in two years. lessons learned:

1. adults should not expect to sit three to any backseat.
2. necessity is the mother of invention.
3. crazy misogynists are unreformable.
4. f. makes delish cookies and pours a damn fine glass of wine.
5. family roadtrips on thanksgiving holiday are most spirit fulfilling.