figgy fun

Locally grown fresh figs are in abundance this time of year out here in (sorta) sunny San Francisco, and I can't get enough of these sweet little treats. Simply delightful served over thick yogurt with honey, they also serve as the perfect impetus to an afternoon of crafty play!

Eat more produce–locally! The Mobile Food Collective has it right. See more about this idea in (brilliant) action here and here.

worlds beyond

"If we have no connection whatosever with the worlds beyond the ones we take for granted, than we too run the risk of drying up inside..."

Lately, more than usual, I've been buried in books, in many more ways than one. Elif Shafek reminds me of the power of storytelling, of imagining the vast potentials of our hearts, and the beyond. Please enjoy if you have the moment!

taking hold

Miles of man-made hills surround me in this city, yet I tread the same few most of my days. The concrete below my feet often vanishes in a rhythm of routine, but then I remember to look! And when I do, I find: a wrinkled masterpiece blowing amongst discarded plastic bags, and a leaf with a brilliant identity crisis.

In an ongoing quest for hope and love and authenticity, I hold these things dear, pressed between the pages of a bedside book, rare treasures mined from the mundane...

"A collection is usually an attempt to somehow take hold of the world around us, to control at least a few of its parts..."

-Paul Elliman, The World As Printing Surface

upon re-visiting

There is a forest, mere blocks from my new doorstep, with a rich canopy of trees watching over winding grounds of lives gone by. The roots of these trees run deep in the soil here, in this place they call The Presidio––1,491 acres of hilly pathways and forests that served as a military base for 218 years before being determined a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It was here, way back in 1948, that my grandmother Marjorie Ruth Samson first met my grandfather Hal Schroeder. She, a young 2nd Lt. in the Army Nurse Corps, met he, a dashing Army officer, while reviving him from illness at the Letterman Army Hospital. The pair later eloped to Switzerland.

Upon re-visiting this forest, the breeze breathes gently amongst the trees, and I am embraced by the romance of this transformative landscape––gaining strength in my solitude, and the faint ancestral whispers of my past.

i have arrived

Car-window landscapes raced by in a blur of transcendent splendor, the days passed delirious, spellbound by constant motion.

And tonight, as the fog spins in like blue raspberry cotton candy, I look out my window and realize I have arrived; at home in a new city, in a world still full of wonder.

I long for all and everything to have depth and veracity and grace, after a week filled with packings, see you laters, and goodbyes. Please stay tuned...I'll be seeing you soon.

on 26th street

To the vagrants and the voyagers that tread on 26th street: I know of life's terror, bleak solitude, and uncertainty. And so, I humbly offer you a fragment of a fantasy. Because there are so many bits of brightness amongst the day-to-day banality.

Make. Do. Enjoy!

in the backyard

(McCall's Garden Book, circa 1967)

Inspirations have been gathered, ideas have been planted, and the arrival of a warm Minnesota June brings seedlings of hope and anticipation in the fruitfulness of communities new and old. A certain dapper gentlemen/jack-of-all-trades has asked me to contribute to this, as he seeks to strengthen our community through a series of happenings in the months to come. Exciting things are about to happen in the backyard! Please do check it out.

In other news, my backyard has just expanded! Soon, I'll be embarking on a grand adventure West, to begin work/play at this magical place. There are many new neighbors I've yet to meet. Stay tuned...

adventuring

(Hikers pause at Glacier Point. Ektacolor photograph by Ansel Adams, c. 1959)

"As a young person I had no clear perception of my future–I only knew that my professional career depended on my energy, self-criticism, discipline, and a permanent desire to learn."

–Josef Müller-Brockmann

Summer has arrived. Let the adventuring and learning begin! There is much discovery on the horizon.

pocketbook press presents

Pocketbook Press politely presents....The Bear Came Over the Mountain, by wordsmith extraordinaire Alice Munro.

This is the first release by Pocketbook Press, a humble publishing project that seeks to promote the simple joys of print and the written word through limited edition booklets carefully curated by its founder, Aimee Gauthier (that's me!)

If any creative soul out there would be interested in collaborating on future editions, it would be an honor. Please let me know!