when i come home

when i get home, i'll write you a sonnet
but i haven't left yet

when i get home, i'll sing you a song
and wrap it around your finger

you'll hear the mountain lion's roar
as it echoes in the valley

you'll see the fleeing eagle
as she brings food to her young

you'll see the sky split and thunder
when i come home

when i get home, i'll write you a sonnet
but i haven't left yet...

joe's place

just this summer my church, crossroads presbyterian fellowship, and it's area school superintendent have begun a collaborative effort to open a home for homeless high school students to live in. recently, an AP article covering "joe's place" has appeared on both msnbc/cnn's websites. thought you might be interested in checking it out. here are the links:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14078785/default.asp
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/07/28/homeless.students.ap/index.html

more pics coming soon...

what's in a name...

the name "a bit of earth" comes from one of my favorite plays, "The Secret Garden". at one point the main character, Mary Lennox, asks for some land to garden. she inquires, "please sir, may i have a bit of earth?". i chose it as a title for my blog for two reaasons: one, i love the outdoors and two, i desire to use my words to help others obtain a different perspective on the world around them.

on a different note, i recently received another great post from our anonymous writer. if you'll all indulge me a bit; i have a quick question for him/her. do you wish to remain an anonymous writer on this blog? if so, i'm fine with that. however, i'm curious if you might at least share with the rest of us a reason (or reasons) for your anonymity. you have me terribly curious.

still kickin' it

hope your summer is going smoothly. its found me much busier than i had expected. window cleaning is full-time some weeks, part time others. been working on a lot of house projects: painting, "remodeling", organizing, etc. i've also started some internship stuff with church. we were without electricity for the past seven days (as you may have heard) and stayed with some friends.

the fam is doing well, with maia @ full toddler status. kelli got a job at st. john's medical and will start at the end of august.

i hope to write more soon and to post some photos. if you're interested, check out the new post from mr./mrs. anonymous. its in the comments section of the entry titled, "dear mr. anonymous".

Lullaby

Her father sits her down in his lap. It’s been a long day of climbing on top of things best not climbed on, of scattered toys and of soapy bubbles. The bath has been given, the bottle consumed. And the music begins. It’s a familiar tune, her father has sung to her many times before. Tonight it holds new meaning. “Goodnight my angel-- time to close your eyes and save these questions for another day.” Maia has begun to ask her parents new questions. Or one specific question… to be more exact. She raises her pointed finger in triumphant curiosity both at no particular object in front of her and at every single object in front of her. “ish?”, she asks, or “whas adt?” and “atch”; which, translated means, “this?”, “what’s that?” and “that?”.

As her father recalls the shared laughter from their before bed-time play, he continues the serenade. “Remember all the songs you sang for me, when we went sailing on an emerald bay?” While she does not yet sing, she has no trouble dancing. In fact, she will upon command. Her dancing once consisted of a knee squatting up and down motion, and then it was simply arms outstretched, pumping in the air… ghetto style. Now her dancing is much more lady like—she grasps her hands in front of her chest and swings them gracefully from side-to-side. The song continues, “And like a boat out on the ocean, I’m rocking you to sleep…” As the daddy rocks the little girl, nearly one year old already, she leans her back against her father’s chest. Sleep approaches quickly.

Now a new lullaby begins. This one by George Winston. Seated in his lap, she begins to dance. Then the father stands, daughter in his arms, and they dance together. As they twirl about the girl’s room, his gaze fixed on her; he realizes that it is really the room that moves while they remain stationary. And so, with the final waltzes concluding, the dance comes to an end, the day concluded with it. For now, it is time for rest. Time for her little teddy, Slim, and for dreams of a brand new day filled with more toys, more bubbles and more dancing.