Tag Archives: family

January 10

January 10

We did a lot today, but I didn’t manage to capture any of it with my big camera (I could tell you a long, boring story about how my purse is empty in the bottom of my suitcase because I carried a guitar onto the plane yesterday and so I’ve been walking around with just a phone and wallet, but I’ll spare you anything more than that). So moments before I climbed into bed, I snapped a picture of said bed.

The true picture that best represents today is this one that I shot with my phone, of being in the kitchen with my sister, making dinner. We cook together so naturally and it is such a pleasure.

Certainly it helps that we were raised in the same household and so learned to cook from the same person, but there’s something more than just that in play when we make a meal together. We share a rhythm, a culinary temperament, and a desire to balance flavor with virtue. It makes for darn good, fun food and I only wish we got to do it more often!

January 9

January 9

Today felt like two in one. I woke up a few minutes after 5 am, in order to shower and get myself to the airport for a flight to Austin, TX. After six hours of reading and doing a little work on an airplane (we stopped in Tampa on our way), Raina and Emmett met me at the airport.

Once I had retrieved my bag, Andrew drove around to pick us up with Trevor and Reese in the back of the minivan. (Trevor is an old camp friend of my sister’s who is in town for an Acro Yoga workshop. Reese is an old buddy of Andrew’s who came to see The Mother Hips perform). It’s quite the party at Casa Rose/Press this weekend!

When we were all tucked into the van, we had lunch at a Tex-Mex spot (that oddly, I’d eaten at once back in 2009 with some Philly people while in Austin for SXSWi) and then hit the Whole Foods mothership for groceries. After that, it was back to the ranch to play with Emmett, make dinner, and catch up. All told, I ended up being awake for nearly 20 hours straight.

It might be hard to tell, but the photo above documents the position Emmett worked his way into while sleeping. Because who doesn’t sleep best when their head is wedged underneath the arm of a foam armchair?

January 5

January 5

The weather the Philadelphia region is pretty lousy at the moment. However, instead of staying safely tucked in at home, Scott and I drove to Harrisburg earlier today (moving slowly and deliberately over wet and sometimes icy roads). I’m doing a handful of canning demos at the Pennsylvania Farm Show tomorrow and Tuesday in conjunction with Fillmore Container and Scott came with me to help haul and sell books. Neither of us have ever been to the Farm Show, so we’re curious to see what we’re in for tomorrow morning.

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Back in October, my Uncle Wallace died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. He was my mom’s older brother and he is greatly missed. I’ve not been able to participate in any of the memorial events for him, as they’ve been all held around his home in Hawaii. However, I had a dream last night that very much felt like a gift of a goodbye.

In it, I was standing at a concert or gathering of some kind, talking to a my friend Harfijah (who I don’t think I’ve seen since her wedding 9 1/2 years ago). As we stood there talking, I looked up and Uncle Wallace was standing off to the right, smiling widely at me.

I stopped the conversation by saying, “Excuse me, but my Uncle Wallace is standing over there. He died recently, so I don’t want to miss an opportunity to see him. I’ll be right back.”

I walked over, he opened his arms, and we had a long, loving hug. There was some good, joy-filled eye contact, but no words. Then it was over and he was gone.

There was nothing weird about it. It felt totally normal to see him, though in the dream, I knew the opportunity was fleeting.

It was such a rare and lovely chance to get to say farewell like that.