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Someone last night made a comment to me that I lacked passion. I feel passion every day. I just don't entirely know how to express it. I'm so much in my own head that I sometimes forget to experience the moment, and then it passes. Somehow I became overly cautious. The death of spring explodes so much beauty. These warm days we've been having are so cruel, and make sitting in the office seem like such a poor substitute for breathing in the crisp October air. I am grateful I can see a corner of this brilliant blue sky from my window. It will have to be enough for today, though I wonder how much longer until my own leaves begin to fade and fall. Is it possible to capture this beauty through some form of art? Photographs come closest, but can't fully capture how it feels to my soul to gaze upon the bright yellow tree which was still green and fresh when I cut myself trying to impress a woman with my climbing skills. What seemed like a tiny cut has become a lasting reminder

Signs from the universe continue to tell me that generally everything is okay, even though I feel dread on Monday, just like everyone else. Even though I wake up with my children, I feel this tremendous lack of inertia and perhaps a sense that my life is going in the wrong direction. Happens almost every Monday. Not so much on the other days, mostly on Monday. Yet, the dread fades if I can just take simple steps to remind myself that the universe has plenty of positive energy to tap into, if you just know it's there. Even if you can't feel it, even if you feel this need to be a skeptic. On Saturday, I strolled my son about a mile in the double-stroller to pick up a box of LP's that I found on Freecycle. In the past month, I've picked up a utility cart, four boxes of video-tapes, some desperately needed knick-knacks, and some toys for the kids. But, I think in the grand scheme of things, there's one thing that will stand out as the most important thing I could have f

I've never really used my blog to do this, but I'd like to highly recommend Cora Houghton's Nature's Bloom daycare. Cora has looked after my daughter on two long stints, and currently is looking after her and my son. The kids' mother and I have decided to move them both to a preschool closer to downtown Charlottesville, and that's opened up two vacancies for her that I'm hoping we can help fill. If you or anyone you know are looking for a nice in-home daycare, consider Nature's Bloom . Here's some information from Cora: Nature’s Bloom is a friendly, safe, fun, hands-on learning environment. Everyday is a combination of free play, arts, music, dance and movement, games, circle and story time. Age appropriate learning themes, yoga, Spanish, Italian and sign language lesson integrated into daily activities I have worked in childcare since1990 and have operated Nature’s Bloom since 1998. My goals are to encourage imagination, creativity, and self-con

Today I took the kids to the Fall Fiber Festival up in Orange County at Montpelier. Increasingly I want to take them to agricultural events in the area, prompted by a recent story I wrote for Charlottesville Tomorrow and the Daily Progress on ways to promote local farming. I was amazed at all the different things you could do with well. Tonight I was talking with someone about all the different types of products that can be made with animal hair, and she told me about this woman on the downtown mall that spins dog hair, which got us to wondering - would there be a market for people who wanted to create things using the hair of their pets so they would always have a useful keepsake. But is that idea just too creepy? Right now, my dog is covered in fur. On Monday, he will be taken to Creatures Great and Small on Berkmar to get his twice-yearly shavedown. The transformation will create a totally different version of Billy. He will see squirrels again, making walks with both him and the