it would first taste bitter

there's been a reprieve: zoë's coughing, snuffly cold resulted in a rescheduling of the wisdom-tooth-yanking until "spring" break (it's in march, so. spring, really?). in the meantime, she's been having a lot of fun for a girl with a cold, seeing movies, reading, hot tubbing, dining on tempeh reubens, etcetera. isaac is back at the shack, where intensive week starts on monday, when he'll be making movies to his heart's content.

he has also, as of january fourth, spent all of his christmas money on skiing.* luckily, there is the learning shack ski club for him to look forward to, as well as a february break trip to tahoe, thanks to his amazing california uncle and auntie. lucky boy.

pellet stove, bbc radio, grapefruit, cold, colds, dog arthritis, words written and read, light and dark. ah, january.


at the fishhouses, elizabeth bishop

*oh, my friends, that is a sport for the well-off!

here there is no place that does not see you

on new year's day i made hoppin' john, southern greens, and skillet cornbread for lunch. just think of all the good luck i'm going to have this year, with my rabbit rabbits and black eyed peas! also, it was delicious, and we ate it cozily in front of the pellet stove, so wintery. i am loving having zoë and isaac both home and relaxed (isaac is skiing for the second time today), sleeping in, staying up late, watching movies with mark, wearing my new bean boots, and even cleaning and organizing post-holidays. although if i had my way, i'd pack up half of the stuff in this house and take it to goodwill. another lovely thing is not throwing up anymore.



archaic torso of apollo by rainer maria rilke

magic

my magical neighborhood. more magical was the fact that at 6:20pm yesterday, the sun was still shining brilliantly (not pictured). spring will come!

in other news, i'm working on a freelance writing thing that i'm kind of in love with. it will be finished some time around the end of this month, but i wish i could do it longer.

isaac is a skier, for real. he had a wonderful time with the cousins in tahoe during winter break, and since he returned he's skied twice with his school ski club and once with a bunch of friends, using one of the lift ticket gift certificates he got for christmas. he also just parted with some of his savings to buy new ski boots that look like they're from the future. i can't even tell you how sad he is to observe the coming spring, the melting snow.

zoë returned from a silent five-day meditation retreat somewhere in the himalayas recently. she's taking a hindi class every day for a month, and max is searching out volunteer opportunities now that the tibetan new year celebration is winding to a close. by the way, according to my research, it's the year of the female iron rabbit!

sunshine

this weekend truly felt like spring -- like spring in baltimore in fact, which is appropriate since we've basically had baltimore's winter this year, while they've had our winter. which is a-okay with me. on saturday, m and i went to see an education after we sat in the sunshine for a while sharing a latte from bard.
























and then on sunday, while boo was skiing with some friends (i can't tell you how weird it feels to say that, not being a skier myself. it's as if he were playing polo with some friends. or. something exotic and expensive like that), bean and i took a long, leisurely walk all over the place. we paused to eat bagels from the works in the sunshine. i could've fallen asleep.fifty-five degrees.
























and then it was time for our oscar party, complete with ginger beer floats and tiny samosas. if you haven't already watched this trailer for every academy award winning movie ever, i really think you should.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever -- powered by Cracked.com