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I have no idea why my blog has gone photo-free for viewers using Firefox.

But I'm pretty sure it's not your fault. Or mine, for that matter.

Fire up Safari or surf on over to my Flickr site if you're feeling deprived, and if you've already made the move to Wordpress, tell me how you did it!

Oh, and happy National Coming Out Day. I'm gay. But I'm fresh out of people to come out to. So if you're new to the blog and this came as a big news flash, thanks for being there for me. :-)

Countryside Haiku

Intent on their work
Surveyors taking sight lines:
Two deer on "our" street.

(Thank you to the women of One Deep Breath
for their continuing inspiration.)

Chess

Chess Grand Master Glen Bady came to Princeton on Saturday to play 20 amateurs simultaneously at our public library. The vibe was impressively cheerful for a roomful of people who knew they were about to get their hats handed to them.

It was especially exciting to see some of the smaller guys hanging in there and holding their own.

I see more chess in our future.

Autumnal Effects

I am careful of spiders. Someone told me at just the right moment in my childhood that killing a spider is bad luck, and that, as carnivores, spiders are usually busy trying to kill bugs that we like even less, so... I try not to mess up their work. I have never intentionally killed a spider. Mosquitoes? Moths? You bet. But not spiders.

Yesterday morning, on the way out of the house, we accidentally walked right through an impressive web, leaving it in tatters. D was upset. I explained to him that the spider would probably make another web that we could look for the next morning.

This morning, the new web was even bigger than the one we'd accidentally destroyed.

Why does it need to be so big, D wanted to know. Well, spiders have to work pretty hard to catch their breakfast and lunch and dinner every day, I said. And as the weather gets cooler, fewer bugs are flying around for them to catch. So maybe in the fall their webs need to be bigger.

As is so often the case, I was making things up. I have no idea if autumnal spider webs are bigger than summer webs. But it does seem as though late-flowering plants go through a burst of productivity just as we head towards that first defining frost.

How about you? Are you experiencing a fall-induced burst of productivity? Are you squirreling away your acorns? Or are you planning to proceed directly to hibernation?

(Check out Mama Says Om for more musings on fall.)

Book Tanka

I was only three
when my mother bought the lamp.
The salesman, smiling,
asked her, did I read a lot.
No (smiling back), but she will.

(Thanks to the women of One Deep Breath for their continuing inspiration.)

Balance

Doesn't he look like a future surfer? I have exactly ONE picture of this boy crawling, because once he figured out that vertical was an option, he never looked back. This shot was taken moments after he'd dragged that stool out of the bathroom, having figured out that the linen closet doorknob was out of his reach without it.

And he was constantly pushing his limits. I still remember walking with him in the yard and realizing that he was deliberately walking around the tree with the knobbiest exposed roots -- he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it!

This pursuit of the limits of balance was nothing short of inspiring. It wasn't that he didn't know about falling. He absolutely did. But the thrill and satisfaction of mastering a new challenge was the hands-down winner every time.

I stood aside and kept up a silent running stream of self-talk: "He probably won't break anything, he'll probably be okay if he falls, he seems to know his limits, he's having so much fun, look how proud he is of himself..."

This shot is from the same day:

Yep. That's a fire truck with wheels. Have I mentioned that I have a lot more grey hair than I did in 2001? But look at how pleased he is!

Wouldn't it be great if we could retain this fearless acceptance of risk in the face of losing one's balance? Most falls only result in bruises, after all.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Our little man has always been a good sleeper. And we have a great bedtime routine. Books, bed, songs, lights out; rarely any fuss. Last night, just before I See the Moon, D asked for a little extra time. I thought he wanted to get settled more comfortably, which is often part of his pre-Moon Song deal... likes to really drink that last song in. But this time, what he wanted, was "to pray." I know bedtime prayers are a pretty common part of a lot of folks' bedtime routines, but they've never really been part of ours, so I was pretty surprised. "Okay, sweetie, that sounds good," I said, and waited.

"I prayed that God would send me the very best Transformer ever," he shared. And for once, I bit my lecturing tongue and simply said, "Oh, okay."

"Wait, wait, I have an even better idea!" he said then. And went back to praying.

"This time," he said as he snuggled down into his pillow, "I prayed for a bigger heart, so I can love even more." He was excited and quite pleased with himself.

Just when you think your heart can't get any bigger, they go and build you a whole new addition.

(Thanks to Passing the Torch for the encouragement.)

Window Haiku

(Etching by Brian Dunlop.)

Birds into windows
sound like a heartbeat stopping.
Are we stunned, or dead?

~~~

Dear friends, I think this haiku will come as a kind of shock to many of you. This is not what most folks think of when writing to a prompt of "Windows and Doors." But as I was opening myself up to follow where this leading would take me, what I was remembering was closed doors and broken windows. I used to listen to the news every morning, but I cannot do that anymore. I have a five year old son, and he cannot start his day with roadside and suicide bombs. 2,702 US families have now been rent asunder by the war in Iraq. And the Iraqi civilian death toll, although less precise, has been no less devastating. In my day-to-day life, I appear well. But when I sit in the silence and let the words well up...

(Thanks to the women of One Deep Breath for their continuing inspiration.)

Instructions for Parents of Would-Be College Students

1) Who is going to school? Your kid. Not you. Keep saying it until you believe it.
2) If your student is not yet a junior in high school, forget about "what the colleges want." Focus on supporting her in taking on new challenges, and helping her follow her leadings.
3) Start getting a grip on finances. You're gonna need it.
4) Define success on your kid's terms.
5) Want schools to give your student a fair shake? Do the same for schools. Some of the colleges and universities that represent a terrific match for your student are probably schools you've never heard of.
5) Visit schools.
6) Take pictures and notes.
7) Understand that coaches and admissions people are nice to your kid, in part, because it's their job.
8) Calling schools for applications, information, and appointments? The student's job. NOT yours. For real.
9) Ditto "thank you" notes.
10) Sit your student down and tell them, kindly, that who they are – their integrity, their work ethic, their curiousity, their flexibility, their attitude, their sense of humor – will always be more important than where they did their undergraduate work. Repeat until you both believe it.

(Heaven help me, my day job has temporarily taken over my brain.)

(Want some instructions that might be more relevant
to your life? Check out Sunday Scribblings this week.)