How much time do I have?

Lots to read and write about.

Lots to paint and photograph.
Lots of places to see...
How much time do I have?

To Impress

Hair extensions. Check.
False lashes. Check.
Lipstick. Check.
Fake nails. Check.
Heavy perfume. Check.

Impressed! My child’s teacher surely would.
With my fine clothing, shoes, bag, tattoos.
And she’d probably say,
“You have a lovely mother!”

So there we sat as I stared
At the teacher’s plain face.
Wearing hardly any make-up,
Clothes from the thrift shop.

What she said didn’t register:
Daily conversations, home reading,
Extra math practice. Journal writing.
Not to worry about school supplies,
She’d find ways to provide.

So there we sat as I stared,
Feeling bad about bringing allergens.
Her eyes tearing up. Red nose sneezing.
But my fancy phone was buzzing.
MLJ13082026ParentTeacherConferences

Mad Stampede

We didn’t sleep with open encyclopedias.
We didn’t sleep in Scott’s red phone booths.
We didn’t sleep by our rotary dial phones.

AI is a tool.
Cellphones are tools.
Unless we’re on call surgeons.
Unless we’re on call firefighters.

Carpenters don’t sleep with hammers.
Mechanics don’t sleep with wrenches.
Electricians don’t sleep with screwdrivers.
Plumbers don’t sleep with plungers.

The giants snare you with the latest,
The slimmest, the lightest, the fastest,
The coolest gadgets. For addiction.
For entertainment. For memory loss.
Of the stagnant minimum wage.
Of the ever-widening payment gaps.
Of being slaves to the 10%
Who are moving to space.

But you continue to camp out for Black Fridays,
(Or stay online, stay awake in front of the screen,
Saving the store staff’s lives from the mad stampede!)
MLJ12082026MadStampedeOfSlaves

Joe Hutto reminds me of Jane Goodall

 “My Life as a Turkey” with Joe Hutto | Artist and Naturalist (1991)

JH: Wild turkeys were always reminding me to live my life... They constantly reminded me to do better... to be present, to be here. 

What's going on?

 

Who's deciding what?

 

How are your children doing?

 

Wish I could just forage...

 

After a visit to a friend's garden: Six containers of cherry jam for friends, and a hearty breakfast with cherry jam and fresh raspberries (and fresh blueberries on sale). 

Take me to your teeming cherry tree

Take me to your teeming cherry tree.
A few hundred cherries I’ll stealthily steal
From songbirds, robins, jays and squirrels.
Pit them and make jam for your pancakes.

MLJ06082026CherryPicking  

Fresly-picked cherries & cane sugar

 Took half an hour to pit them all! 

Wish I had glass containers...

 Today's breakfast. Bon appetit!

Mother Earth strikes back!

Beans and peas we left in our school garden,
Hoping Mother Earth would care for them.
But precipitation fell like teardrops in July,
Not even enough for fiery forest fires,
So over meager crops we dare not cry.
MLJ26072026BackFromThePacific

What have we done to ourselves?

 

Why do people run for public office?

Politician to critics:
We’re up here.
You’re down there.
You just want to get to where we are
But you can’t. You’re not capable.
!!!!????

Q: Why do people run for public office?
MLJ04082026VSRespondsToBashers

Just whipped up!

Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs dish, and dried herring for breakfast;
Homemade Vietnamese sauce (nuoc cham) on vermicelli noodles, and cauliflower banana shake for lunch; and
Noodles with boiled eggs and bok choy for dinner.
Cravings satisfied with so little!
What else can we whip up this summer?

Ah! Blueberry pancakes next.

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

Who doesn't love wildflowers?
What would bugs do without them?
What would we do without bugs and pollination?