Mary Oliver

“You do not have to be good. 

 You do not have to walk on your knees 

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
call to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
― Mary Oliver

A Memorable Summer

Things that happened this summer:

I was fingerprinted twice.

I renewed my license and got a great picture i.d.

Lover and I got a dishwasher.

I biked Santa Monica pier using a "chopper."

I touched a banana slug in Muir Woods.

I spent my 30th birthday in NYC for tapas and poets at Bluestockings.

I ate delicious fresh fortune cookies from the Fortune Cookie Factory in San Francisco.

I lead a production crew for Othello.

Lover and I went to Lake Tahoe and rented Jetskis!

I found wooden snowshoes at a flea market.

I officially became President of the Soroptimist River Valley Club.

I saw dolphins in the water below Golden Gate Bridge.

Lover and I picked out hardwood flooring for the upstairs.

I installed a new garden bed on the corner with Lover's help.

I harvested vegetables from my own garden.

I scored a bread maker at a tag sale.

I completed the Warrior Dash with my friends Geli and Katty.

I participated in guerilla gardening with seed bombs.

I biked to work.

I completed an eight-week AmeriCorps program.

I went to the Museum of Tolerance while visiting Los Angeles.

I pickled cucumbers and dried hot peppers.

Lover and I experienced "Sleep No More".

I repainted the living room a light, creamy orange.

I lost eight pounds and two inches off the waist.

A lot more happened, but I think this is a good summary. Happy First Day of Fall!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

 Anyone out there use a homemade laundry detergent? Have you tried more than one recipe? What recipe do you use and why?

Thanks!

Also, here's a photo of a turkey that was probably 80 feet up in our tree. It got down eventually.