Thanks Mr. President

Annie received a response to the letter she sent President Bush. He didn't address her concerns about the war, or the environment. He did enclosed a photo though.

metamorphasis

First they came as small caterpillars, that climbed to the top of their jars,
then they each created a chrysalis around their bodies, and started to transform themselves,
then they hatched into Painted Lady Butterflies which we enjoyed for a few days, then released!
Annie documented the stages with these drawings.

"I Feel Christmas in My Bones"

It took most of the day, and into the night, to set up our multi-generations of ornaments, knick knacks, and treasures! This year Annie did a bunch of the decorating herself, and nearly matched me in my excitement and enthusiasm. She whistled, sang and danced around most of the day, driving us a little nuts, but mostly delighting us! We still have a few areas to finish, plus knowing us, we will keep on shifting things around until we're satisfied!

At one point Annie said "I feel Christmas in my bones!" She comes from a long line of women in my family who LOVE Christmas. My Grandmother and my Mother would have been so proud. I am.

So far we/I have plans to;

Go ice skating today!
Annie and I are in the Homeschool Craft Fair
Have a kids holiday party
Have a neighborhood, more grown up get together
Annie wants to go visit Santa
The Meyers' homeschoolers are coming to visit
Sara & Ezra are coming to visit
Grandma & Grandpa are coming to visit
Tuesday playdates with Ilana
Thursday playdates with Lily

Annie and the Earth

We had a very sweet weekend. No plans really. Just one moment to the next. Yard work, pet care, a real date, a few open houses, a little Christmas shopping and a bunch of prep for Thanksgiving. Whew! Now that I read it back, we did a lot! One thing Annie and I did was get tableware and linens out for the big dinner, and I attached a small fabric tab with each persons initials on it, to each napkin, so our guests can use the same napkin for all meals we have together over the holiday, which in our case will be four or more meals. Annie and I have been talking about the enviornment and how we all make an impact, either positive and negative. So on that note, we also found a grease pencil to mark glasses so the kids don't need a fresh one for every drink they need. We started to calculate all the resources for each new glass or new napkin for each meal and how much energy is used, human (wash, dry, put away) and earth (water, electricity, etc.). When I think of the amount of waste around Thanksgiving, I really want to be mindful about how we care for the earth!

Albany Bulb?

Right on the shoreline where Berkeley and Albany meet the ocean there is a place called the Albany Bulb. I remember it as the place where people made sculpture out of driftwood and found objects that had washed ashore. I clearly recall zooming by it from the back seat of the family car, trying to take in all that I could of this interesting "hobo" type art. Well, Bill, Annie and I went over there today for a hike and after a disturbing and creepy two hour walk around the entire area, found out the Albany Bulb is the old Albany dump. And yes, there are some wonderful, imaginative and innovative sculpture and art pieces there, but all made from, and atop, a ton of toxic garbage! Depressing amounts of broken up concrete, all kinds of batteries, hoses, sharp and dangerous metal scrap, wire, glass and I can only imagine what else. Yes, much new life has grown over the top of this teeming mass of waste; cattails, scrub brush, blackberries, pyracantha, copious amounts of fennel, and many other marsh growing plants. Despite all this growth and renewal, I felt a deep sadness seeing all of this waste so close to the water, not to mention the alarm of having Annie (and us) romp through it all. Having said all of this, I guess I'm really starved for clean, open spaces. I feel so restored and hopeful when I walk through trees, fields, beaches and wild spaces and I know I'm just mourning the many close and breathtaking spots we used to frequent in Santa Cruz. Even from our bedroom we could hear elephant seals barking on the shore. I know there are many places of beauty here in the Bay Area, now we just have to find more of them, and make them our own.

And to end on a more uplifting note, Annie collected "stuff" along our hike at the Bulb and she was insistent on creating a sculpture of her own. She called it a "Tree Shrine" and we three added to it, fully knowing that the cycle of life and trash is in each of our hands.

REDUCE

REUSE
RECYCLE

RETHINK

Mandarin Jack

Annie's Mandarin teachers keep commenting on how well her prounounciation and accent are! I hear it too. She seems to get a lot out of the class, and seems genuinely glad to be there, as compared to the majority of the class who don't seem to be there out of full choice like Annie is. I have to admit, I'm picking up some too, with all the repetition.

It was a really hot day today here in Alameda, and Annie's been wanting to have a lemonade stand since we move in three months ago, so today we finally did it! Business was bustling! Annie made almost $10, so at a quarter a glass, we were busy. We used more than a dozen lemons from our tree, and Papa and I washed a lot of glasses because Annie wanted to "care about the earth" and not use any plastic or paper. It was a great way to meet people in this town. So many people saw us and had to come back for a glass!