Path

I drew a labyrinth in the street last night.  It took 4 full sticks of chalk.  We walked it many times yesterday and today.

It rained this evening, and you can just barely see the path.

Another lesson in impermanence.

I will surely draw it again.  And even wonder about painting it.  My neighbors would LOVE that.

I highly recommend you draw one too.

#regram from here.

Step by step pattern instructions here.

Working small

A sample of Calder's micro creations.  I really love them.



He's got a great eye.  Given a pile of LEGOs, I would never end up with the types of things he makes.  His little fingers finesse the pieces into small compositions with a personality, a grace, a randomness that becomes a beautiful, functional synthesis.  My mind is blown on a regular basis.

A Month of Making :: February 17

I think I'm gonna need a second piece.

Six-Minute Chocolate Cake from my copy of Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

I used Black Onyx cocoa powder along with the regular cocoa, spelt + w.w. flour, and went the coffee route.  The book's suggestion to serve the cake with a fresh orange compote (a mixture of cut fresh orange sections, marmalade and orange liqueur) sounded great.  

Sifted together, the dry ingredients formed a Painted Hills-esque cinder cone of brown and white powders reminding me of Roden Crater.  I recommend this video of James Turrell and his work, and look forward to finishing this one later tonight.

A Month of Making :: February 15

Love the faces in the lamp posts.

Surly they're icons of this place, familiar to so many, but I've never been to Coney Island or seen them before.

These faces caught my eye tonight.

Still holding on to the tent

Yes, indeed.

Thanks to Liane (enhabiten) for the link.

Brain magic

This stuff blows me away.

I can't even imagine all the magical things going on in his young brain.

I will never tell him this is wrong. It's beautiful.

Nectar

Calder's brought his teenie hummingbirds to the now-opening quince in our living room. They've been sipping up nectar all morning.

And I've been sipping up the new-found good vibes from doing a little home yoga practice for 3 days in a row now. (Pat on the back.) I feel sore in my shoulders and back, but it's kind of nice to feel it. These muscles have been latent for a long while and they're not too shy to tell me so. You know, I've been counting carrying Lake around as cardio and strengh training, but I'm pretty sure it's not a valid form of exercise unless I do it for 30 minutes or more with an elevated heartrate. No, this yoga is good for me. And thankfully, Jeff's had such a consistent home practice for months now that we've got a little yoga studio space set up at all times. Nice.

And another thing that's been sending me good vibes lately is the work of Ariele Alasko, an artist/builder in Brooklyn (but of course.) I feel like we're kindred makers even though most of my making has been on hold for a few years through my kiddos' early days. I told a friend recently that I was pretty sure if Ariele and I lived in the same town she and I would be duking it out over piles of old, worn wood. Lucky for the two of us we're many miles apart, and I can claim all the fallen fences in Oregon while she gets the lath from old buildings in New York. We both win!