Friday, February 29, 2008

snow flower and the secret fan

I just finished a short novel by Amy See called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It is a story of two sworn sisters in China (early 19th century). They are matched to be emotional sisters and their committment to eachother is like that to a husband. At that time, this relationship was to be the most important and meaningful of their lives.
A weakness of our society is that, as a whole, we do not value commitment like this. Maybe too, that women find it difficult (practically) to value eachother. I've thought that it may be because we don't value ourselves, but after reading this book, I wonder if we value ourselves too much, thus the difficulty in committing to eachother.
Our communities are not tied to our history like in this book, either. They have traditions that enrich their history, things that remain constant. All these traditions would feel like enormous burdens to us (especially as a woman), but there is something intriguing about it.
While it isn't a true story, I think it was historically accurate. It was extremely sad to realize how women were treated in the time. There were so many rules they had to follow, and so many superstitions that they had to live by. They labored intensely and were on the lowest rung of society. It reminded me about how my circumstances in life are so pleasant.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

bizarre baby bazaar

Here are pictures of some things I've been working on for the Bizarre Baby Bazaar that we're organizing. I'm honored to having eight other "baby item" artists showing their things at the event.
Come by on March 7th and see what we've been working on. All items will be for sale.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

cabin fever

I'm realizing that I have "cabin fever" when I find the energy (at 8am) to bundle up three little boys and myself and spend an hour outside in the snow, hike through Holcomb Gardens when it's 30 degrees, and when I fantacise about going to the Maple Syrup Festival in western Parke County.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

nigel gary eats cake




Tomorrow, Nigel will be a year old! It's hard to believe that a year ago today, we didn't even know him yet. He's so much a part of who our family is now. We love him so much!

How extraordinary that he shares a birthday with Pa Gary. When we were eating cake last night, I realized again how special it really is... that we'll be celebrating these two, each and every February 20. They were completely beautiful together!