we all want to change the world

this weekend, my world was changed.

152 volunteers
670 shrubs
65 trees

a garden

the color of play

green (and purple, yellow, orange, brown, red, black...)



a hike / play at the "farm" only a few blocks from our home.


so happy about the donation of over 600 shrubs and 60 trees for our schoolyard. just need a sign to welcome birds and bugs!

and happy to have been invited to participate in a presentation to the Los Angeles City Council on the value of Community School Parks!

Happy (happy!) Monday

circa 1980

good finds at the goodwill last week. i just couldn't resist this early 80's SFV Girl Scout vest. (and the sheet is rests on. along with a great sewing basket, and three vintage embroidery kits in various stages of completion. oh, and a stove-top espresso pot and vintage 60s plastic tray. goodstuff goodwill.) this piece though took me back. thinking whoever wore it must be my age now. (or likely a little younger, eek.) wondering why and how it ended up in a thrift shop.

that is one of my favourite things about thrifting. the stories each item carries. the ones we can deduce. and the ones we can imagine.

happy sunday

listening

day by day is keeping me busy. in all the good ways.
hope all is well out there...
hannah - i'm working on your request.

p.s. any advice on removing serious lime deposits from an espresso maker?

covered

hannah's link inspired me to pull these out. (the series of bookcover screenprints "In Our Time" by R.B. Kitaj)

they do not belong in a box under the bed.

::

sorry i'm not posting schoolyard pics yet. have a few collected here.

rainy again and i love it.

and very excited to have sandra tsing loh coming to our school tonight. we have invited her as an experiment: public school as community center. i have this little side-dream (apart from the one about a green schoolyard) of a place to gather our community for lectures, learning etc. will see how it goes. she will be speaking about parent activism, the "burning moms" movement, and screening the short documentary on the California Children's Rally she organised last summer.

if you are the neighborhood - and want to join the revolution to improve education funding in california - stop by! (when i put it that way, how can you say no?)

best laid plans

well, not quite the estimated cubic yardage came out this weekend. it was hard hard labour. and could have used another group of volunteers. but it came out beautifully. we did get more than half of it done. and we will be planting around 25 new trees and a lot of plants in it in a couple of weeks. it is amazing how much better the dirt alone looks.

we finished last night in the dark. it is raining today. so i don't have any good after pictures yet...

to the few who supported me this weekend and read here - thank you. i know i say it all the time, but i am truly blessed with the best neighbours in the world.

here are pictures from the little garden that started it all. because i like pictures. and these are a good reminder...