mums looking down at the end of November

"And the very act of living is a tide;

at first it seems to make no difference at all,

and then one day you look down

and see how much pain has eroded."

— Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

shells

"Love, a little shell somewhere

on the ocean floor, opens its mouth.

You and I and we, those imaginary beings,

enter the shell as a single drop of water."

— Rumi, read the whole poem "Entering the Shell"

milkweed 2

"The one close to me now; even my own body —
these too will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions."

— Izumi Shikibu
Medieval Poetess

milkweed

"Never close your lips to those

whom you have already

opened your heart."

— Charles Dickens

Peter's 2nd grade Santa

This is the first thing we unpack 

from the Christmas tub.