meadows & mockingbirds

I've received some lovely bits of brightness in the mail as of late, from a talented pen friend, and a gracious up 'n comer. Arranged in an abstracted order, I think they take on a tale of their own.

Thank you, John and Anna!

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum."      

–Harper Lee

happy hearts

My heart is happy today; made stronger my the transparency of vulnerability, by a willingness to let the light shine through the cracks collected along the way. 

Happy Hearts Day, everyone! Reach out and love somebody.

(And get crafty! Directions here.)

bitty bentos

Living in close proximity to Japantown, I am continuously charmed by the wealth of visual and edible inspiration that the culture has to offer. And when I purchased the precious little book (above) at Kinokuniya Bookstore last Fall, I paged through it obsessively, trying to decipher in pictures what I could not in words. 

Since then, I've had bento on the brain, and after recently purchasing this book (in English), and a few fun supplies from here and here, I embarked on a bento adventure of my own, resulting in a snack of seaweed salad, sweet potato turkey nuggets, and tamari-glazed squash and shiitake skewers, all topped off by a happy bear egg! 

Truth be told, beautiful bitty bentos are a lot harder to pull off than they look, but at least my first attempt was delightful and delicious. And it certainly is a great way to convince children (and adults) to eat their vegetables! Or, as the Japanese saying goes, "Eat with your eyes," not just your mouth.

Get more information here, and here.