feng shui & Wendell Berry

I've been feeling a bit claustrophobic lately. Sometimes I feel as is I am being smothered by things. You'd think with the moving of the past years that we would have cut down on the things we've accumulated, and we did, but maybe not enough. I think part of this feeling came from finally getting all my project stuff out of the dining room, which has been it's temporary place for the summer, as the studio has been over 100 degrees. It felt so good to get it out of the way and to finally be able to see the surface of the dining room table and potentially eat there. However, the feeling began to fade as I faced my studio, which now has piles of things that need a place to be. Moving a mess from one place to another is not the same as eliminating a mess, nor is it as satisfying.

I've been reading a book of essays on the life and work of Wendell Berry.One of the essays, called The Art of Buying Nothing, is by Barbara Kingsolver. In it, she paraphrases Berry's standards for technological innovation.
1. The new tool should cost less than the one it replaces.
2. It should be at least as small as the one it replaces.
3. It should do better work.
4. It should use less energy.
5. Ideally it should use some form of solar energy, such as that of the body.
6. It should be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to home as possible.
8. It should come from a small shop that will take it back for repair.
9. It should not replace ot disrupt anything good that already exists, and thins includes family and community relationships.
I realize that many of these guidelines are easier said than done for those of us in the modern world. Berry, who writes his books without a computer saying, " I would hate to think that my work as a writer could not be done without direct dependence on strip mined coal." But it does make me think about all that STUFF we accumulate and spend so much time organizing, buying more stuff to facilitate the organizational process.

In the new Domino there is an article detailing a writer's experience with feng shui. Looking at the diagram of the 8 point feng shui system, I realized that our refrigerator was in our money space, and that I have been avoiding some seriously sketchy glass yogurt containers in there for a long time. Next to the fridge is a badly placed trashcan. Kind of as a joke, and kind of because you have to face those yogurt containers sometime, I cleaned out the fridge and rearranged some things in the kitchen. I also cleaned off the bookshelf that had becaome the landing ground for bills and mail (our career corner- it could use some help). There were quite a few other jobs that I'd been avoiding, but finally tackled filling bags with things to donate. We've been making jokes about how that clean freezer will help our prosperity. More than that, I think is that doing these things, maintaining order, eliminating things, makes me feel so much lighter. Whether you believe in the powers of feng shui or regard it as new age hype, I think that lightness sure counts for a lot.

chill in the air

There's officially a chill in the air, and it's beginning to feel truly like fall. Even though there is bound to be a few serious warm-ups before fall is officially here, I'm excited that the crazy 90 plus days are gone. It means that I can finallymove my ridiculous mess from the dining room back up to my attic studio. I'm excited. I had so much fun "making over" the attic on a $20 budget. I'll be glad to get settled in again, though I will miss having a dog at my feet. Ramona's domain is the downstairs. The cats are the boss of the upstairs. They would like to hide out in the attic, but they just get into spots where they don't belong and get their white feet all dirty.

This air makes me want soup, so there's some simmering on the stove. This recipe again. If I remember correctly, it was my last hurrah before spring was really here. I've been really hungry for something Indian inspired and I think this will hit the spot. I've been reading Madhur Jaffrey's Climbing the Mango Trees and I've been dreaming of curries as I drift off to sleep. Another great Indian memoir is Monsoon Diary. It really introduced South Indian cuisine to me for the first time. I finally got to try it on a trip to Concord, Massachusetts of all places. It was one of our many destinations during our "Spring of Interviews". We went into Cambridge one night and had an amazing meal. I was finally able to eat a dosa. Since then, I've managed to track down a local restaurant the specializes in South Indian food. If you are in the area, it's called Udipi (from experience I can tell you that it may be called Udipi wherever you live) There's a great grocery next door as well.
When I think of all of those trips, I think of great Indian food. We seemed to eat it everywhere we went. Concord, Seattle, Chicago, Connecticut.


I love a memoir that incorporates food, because food has such strong associations with our memories. I think of Indian food and I remember Massachusetts, that's the way it works. I was excited about Concord for more than Indian food. I loved Little Women more than anything as a girl. I read her biography as a fourth grader and just immersed myself in those Alcotts. I would carry around a notebook a imagine I had a garret to escape to to write stories in. Susan Cheever recently wrote a book about the lives of the many famous Concord residents. American Bloomsbury was interesting, although I felt like I was left wanting more. The lives of Concord residents are worth looking into though.

For now, there's soup.

Shop Update

There are lots of new additions to the shop. I'm so pleased with how everything turned out. The raccoon barrette is being featured today on Wickedly Chic. It's a great site that features lots of independent shops, so check it out!

summer's end

I think there are a few tomatoes that may still get harvested. I so love Shari's post of the Louise Gluck's poem "Vespers". I've been thinking about it everyday when I step outside and see those few hopeful Wisconsin Sixty Sixes and the ironically named Early Girls still producing new blossoms.

One sign of summer around here is the annual Dog Swim. Every year, after the pools have closed for the summer, there is an evening when one of the municipal pools opens for dogs to use before the pool is drained for the winter. Admission benefits a great cause and it is such a great community event.

Ramona spent a lot of time contemplating the deep end.


There were quite a few awkward exits.


This is Moose, one the sweet Newfoundlands we hung out with.


We managed to get a picture of Zeke. It's tough because he's always on the move.





In other news, I sent out my first big card order last week. It was exciting to send it on it's way.

My new project, a line of jewelry, is in its final stages and I'm hoping to have a shop update very soon.