white tulips

standing in the rain –

taller still

Easter Finery

There were no bonnets in sight in our Quakerly celebration of Easter. (Although, if you're looking for that kind of vibe, we can recommend friend Melissa Harris-Perry's lovely going-to-church hat.)

But we did indulge in a dress-up spirit of sorts, as we returned to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen to transform a dingy side lot into an Easter Wonderland for the 90+ children who squealed their way to finding hundreds of eggs provided and hidden by the children of Princeton Monthly Meeting.

And Mr. D's new bike has a certain fancy flair about it, don't you think?

As does Witherspoon Street, with its o'erhanging blossoms...

Tomorrow morning we'll start the day

with an "egg war" (good thing Nana's not here,

or none of the rest of us would stand a chance),

so feast your eyes... this is your last chance

to see all twelve of these beauties intact:

Happy Easter!

(A warm thank you to Sassafras Mama

for an outstanding Easter supper;

she & her boy certainly make for good company,

and she provides a dependably scrumptious meal as well!)

Forever Family Day #10

We have made celebrating the anniversary of Tama's successful adoption of Mr. D a family tradition, and this year (#10! how is that possible?), we started off by sharing songs with a celebratory theme. Here are Tama & Mr. D listening to Kool & the Gang rock Celebration:

(Mr. D noticed that some people had clicked "thumbs down"
in the comments on this video,
and asked, "Who the heck doesn't like this song?!"
He's turning out nicely, we think.)

Actually, the first thing we did was treat ourselves
to a fancy breakfast of raisin challah French Toast.

Then the sound of a basketball being dribbled
in our neighbor's driveway called Mr. D's name,
so off he went...

(Nice body English, huh?)

Later, we went on a family bike ride to
our favorite bike store,
where Jay was able to show us a picture
of Mr. D's soon-to-be-delivered new bike!

The weather was not cooperating,
so we rode back home
and played several rounds of
Mille Bourne ("nice guy version").
(This version encourages players
to help each other out when they encounter
trouble on the road, and since the original version
is considerably more cutthroat,
"nice guy version" games tend to take a while.
No worries; we had all the time in the world.

Then, just as happened last year,
we found ourselves in the market for some 3-D movie action.

We give Born To Be Wild six thumbs up!

And we remain grateful for each other's
love in our lives... not just on Forever Family Day,
but every day.

(For more Forever Family Day fabulousness,

check out the posts from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.)

John Keene's Challenge

(John Keene, who's tweeting for the Poetry Foundation blog this month, tossed out a challenge last night for folks to write a particular kind of poem, so here's my attempt. Can you tell I'd just been to a blues concert?)

Always
before, she had
come to my
defense,
even if we’d been
fighting.

Guess I
hadn’t realized how
Iong it had been since I felt
just-
kissed.

Last
minute
now, we
opened ourselves,
praying for the

quiet moments that might
restore our
sense of
trust,
uncover our shared
vulnerability.

What did I
expect? My grandmother sighing:
“Why are we given
zis life, but to work?”

(I want to be writing more,
and am grateful for the endless
blank page that is the internet.)

A New Car!

Well, new to us, anyway!

The thing is, Tama really doesn't like car shopping, whereas I enjoy it. So she does all the research, comes up with a few makes/models she likes, and then it's my job to close the deal. This time, the car I liked best ended up being in MD, which presented some challenges... especially since I wanted to keep its arrival a secret right up until the last minute.

So... this is how last weekend went:

DRK & I hide my car in a nearby lot and
snag a ride from a friend (thanks again, Maggie!)
to the train station, whereupon we catch a train to BWI.

At one point during the ride, Tama calls to check in,
thinking that we're DRIVING down to MD.
Uh-oh.
I tell her Mr. D is fast asleep and hang up in a hurry!

My dear college friend and roommate A.
and her fab partner C. scoop us up
and bring us to Chez Feld,
where we learn the cost of running behind schedule...
those used to be chicken skewers,
which my sister thoughtfully
left in the oven to "warm" in anticipation
of our arrival. Ooops.

Our birthday present to cousin T is much appreciated...

... as is our hangout time with the Feldinis.

Then, when we get back home, we tell Tama
we have something to show her that
"looks better in natural light."
When she comes outside and sees no trace
of my car, she knows something's up...
and then we give her the good news!

Now THIS is what I call a happy ending!

(It's a 2007 VW Rabbit,
manual transmission,
with HEATED SEATS, people!
You'd be grinning, too.)

New Stories

(image via splityarn of Flickr fame)

Thinking that the person
who was calling
was you,
I dove right in
with endearments.
But she was calling about
some mail that
had gone wrong.
She was not you.
Was, in fact,
a complete stranger
with whom we share
a house number,
though not a street.

We got it all untangled:
the mail at her house
meant to be at ours,
the words in my mouth
meant for you.

And now,
both of our families
have stories
about me
speaking,
for a moment,
with such tender devotion...
to her.

A Changed World

Planting Democracy in Tahrir Square
by @CarlosLatuff

(Click on the image to see it full-size,
then once more for a "size to window" version.)

(Looking back, our years of talking with our son about
what makes a good leader good,
and a bad leader bad,
seem now like a preface for today.)

My Snow Day

The latest storm knocked yet another limb down into our front yard, and this one took out our FIOS line in the process. What's a girl with no cable, no internet, and no landline to do?

Bake, of course!

Almond Kuchen, inspired by my Oma.
Not as good as hers, yet, but still.

(FIOS was out for two days,
and the limb is likely to be there
for quite a while to come. Sigh.)

Perfect Storm

Here's one boy's recipe for a perfect snowday:

1) Roll out of bed and go directly to Lego heaven. (Note inside-out pajama shirt, which helped ensure that the snowday was ON.)

2) Round up some neighborhood boys for a massive snowfort build.

3) Finish up with some review of human anatomy with a good friend in a cozy spot (heat duct + comforter = super cozy!). And yes, the book really is that big.

(Stay tuned for MY idea
of a perfect snow day...)