I heard some difficult news from my brother. Earlier this month he recommended a certain version of Peggy oh, by the Grateful Dead. I was just thinking today I should listen to it. Then our old basis Jax texted jeremy a question, we have a play that song together? Jeremy told him he had just recommended that song to me. Jackson said I must be on the slow children van with. So to deal with the emotion I went downstairs and danced to the music. It was cathartic and great in the best way.

17 amazing things we found yesterday

Yesterday the girls had off school for Eid Al-fitr (Muslim holiday to celebrate end of Ramadan fasting.) You gotta love religious diversity if you grow up in New York schools. I only got Christian holidays growing up in Kansas. To celebrate in our own way we decided to make a list of all the amazing things we saw and did today. I told the girls to be on the look out. Here's what we found:

1. For breakfast we ate an unknown but delicious fruit/vegetable that we found in the secret garden yesterday. It was yellow and round in shape, like a small squash. But it didn't taste anything like a squash. It had a semi-hard skin on outside and inside the texture and crisp taste of cucumber,  but tangier, like a cucumber/tomato hybrid. Perfect with a little salt.

2. Sofia was coloring in an outline of Van Gogh's Starry Night when the same image came on as Mister Rogers "picture picture" (as Sofia calls it.) The first season of Mister Rogers is now playing on Netflix as of this month. I'm floored at how good it is, much better than I remember. Yesterday we noticed that the picture on his wall, the one that slides back to reveal the Neighborhood of Make-believe, is different every day. So it was amazing to Sofia to be working Starry Night and then see it appear on Mister Rogers wall.

3. Stars on a starling's wings. Walking to the 7 train we saw a Starling. I pointed out to the girls that you could tell it was a starling because there was a constellation of iridescent stars on its black wings.

4. On the way to the 7 train we opened up the Free Library (a re-purposed newspaper stand on Queens BLVD.) There was no book. But there was a torn off back cover of a book showing cow jumping over a new moon, amidst a sea of stars.

5. On the 7 train we sat next to a woman in her early 20s, wearing glasses, a black dress with a floral pattern on it and reading To Kill A Mockingbird. I asked her if it was the first time reading the novel. She said she was reading it again in preparation for reading the "new" Harper Lee novel, Go Set A Watchman.  She said it was so good reading it the second time. We talked about things we had enjoyed as children that held up and got better with age. Like Mister Rogers. She said Lemony Snicket held up for her. And the TV show Wishbone. She also recommended the children's theater Ta Da! Will check out.

6. At the Time's Square Metro station we saw a tile mural in which a gentleman was handing a woman a fruit that looked suspiciously like the mystery one we had eaten for breakfast. Sofia said the woman was looking at the man like, "Really? For me? I can't believe it!" (See picture in comments below.)

7. Once we got to the 1 train we saw another tile mural, by a different artist. This one was sea turtles swimming through a subway station. I told Sofia that's what it would be like if Manhattan was underwater. She asked what the art was trying to say. I told her I thought it might be saying that life goes on, even if everything is underwater.

8. Lucia said she noticed something amazing. I asked her what and she said, "the wind blowing her dress up."

9. I got into a conversation at CMA (Children's Museum of Arts, our destination) with one of the staff, Annie Moor, as the kids were making art. At one point, during a pause in the conversation, she started singing Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight." I got chills that went all the way down to my marrow. It was so beautiful, what I imagine the song would sound like if Billie Holiday sang it.

10. Annie Moor suggested a podcast to me that she was involved in called We Love Bedtime Stories, wherein actors play out stories told by actual parents to kids. Definitely going to check that out, sounds amazing. www.welovebedtimestories.com/the-story-people/

11. Another mother that was sitting next to us overheard the conversation, one thing lead to another and she was recommending the Smithsonian Folkways recording of Lord Invader, Calypso In New York. Lord Invader? Calypso music? Gotta be great. Will definitely check it out.  www.folkways.si.edu/lord-invader-calypsonian-great/caribbean-world/music/article/smithsonian

12. One of the great things about CMA is the room full of giant exercise balls, one of the girls' favorite places to play in the world. I asked the girls if they were ready to go up there and play and a boy, about 8 or 9, said that the balls were gone for this month and had been replaced by scary chairs. I asked them why they were scary and he said, "You'll see!" So we went up to see. The chairs were giant toys that you could sit in and spin around like a top. They toppled easily and a few kids did get hurt. But the danger was part of the fun and the laughter of girls playing on them for over an hour was, indeed, amazing.

13. Sofia wanted to make a painting, but couldn't find paper. A grandma overheard and said that they had brought their own paper and offered Sofia a piece. Sofia made a lovely splatter painting (see below) and then gave it to the woman as a gift for having given her the paper. Very sweet.

14. Lucia painted one of her little people. When we went back to pick it up one of the staff showed me that she had copied Lucia's drawing because she liked it so much. I liked her version, but she still had a way to go to reach Lucia's mastery. (See below.)

15. One of the things I love so much about CMA is that whoever does the curating of the gallery section does a stellar job. The last two themed shows I've seen there, "Far Away" and "Pixilated," were both outstanding, and this one, "If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home," which had the theme of mapping, was equally amazing. Hat's off.

16. We stopped to eat a snack at James J Walker Park, on the way back to the 1 train . There was a co-ed softball game happening. It seemed to pretty amazing to me to be watching a softball game in the middle of lower West Side on a Thursday afternoon.

17. As we were watching the game I asked Sofia if there was anything else today I should mention for our list, and she said the apple cinnamon rice cakes we were eating for a snack were pretty amazing.

17 amazing things we found yesterday

Yesterday the girls had off school for Eid Al-fitr (Muslim holiday to celebrate end of Ramadan fasting.) You gotta love religious diversity if you grow up in New York schools. I only got Christian holidays growing up in Kansas. To celebrate in our own way we decided to make a list of all the amazing things we saw and did today. I told the girls to be on the look out. Here's what we found:

1. For breakfast we ate an unknown but delicious fruit/vegetable that we found in the secret garden yesterday. It was yellow and round in shape, like a small squash. But it didn't taste anything like a squash. It had a semi-hard skin on outside and inside the texture and crisp taste of cucumber,  but tangier, like a cucumber/tomato hybrid. Perfect with a little salt.

2. Sofia was coloring in an outline of Van Gogh's Starry Night when the same image came on as Mister Rogers "picture picture" (as Sofia calls it.) The first season of Mister Rogers is now playing on Netflix as of this month. I'm floored at how good it is, much better than I remember. Yesterday we noticed that the picture on his wall, the one that slides back to reveal the Neighborhood of Make-believe, is different every day. So it was amazing to Sofia to be working Starry Night and then see it appear on Mister Rogers wall.

3. Stars on a starling's wings. Walking to the 7 train we saw a Starling. I pointed out to the girls that you could tell it was a starling because there was a constellation of iridescent stars on its black wings.

4. On the way to the 7 train we opened up the Free Library (a re-purposed newspaper stand on Queens BLVD.) There was no book. But there was a torn off back cover of a book showing cow jumping over a new moon, amidst a sea of stars.

5. On the 7 train we sat next to a woman in her early 20s, wearing glasses, a black dress with a floral pattern on it and reading To Kill A Mockingbird. I asked her if it was the first time reading the novel. She said she was reading it again in preparation for reading the "new" Harper Lee novel, Go Set A Watchman.  She said it was so good reading it the second time. We talked about things we had enjoyed as children that held up and got better with age. Like Mister Rogers. She said Lemony Snicket held up for her. And the TV show Wishbone. She also recommended the children's theater Ta Da! Will check out.

6. At the Time's Square Metro station we saw a tile mural in which a gentleman was handing a woman a fruit that looked suspiciously like the mystery one we had eaten for breakfast. Sofia said the woman was looking at the man like, "Really? For me? I can't believe it!" (See picture in comments below.)

7. Once we got to the 1 train we saw another tile mural, by a different artist. This one was sea turtles swimming through a subway station. I told Sofia that's what it would be like if Manhattan was underwater. She asked what the art was trying to say. I told her I thought it might be saying that life goes on, even if everything is underwater.

8. Lucia said she noticed something amazing. I asked her what and she said, "the wind blowing her dress up."

9. I got into a conversation at CMA (Children's Museum of Arts, our destination) with one of the staff, Annie Moor, as the kids were making art. At one point, during a pause in the conversation, she started singing Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight." I got chills that went all the way down to my marrow. It was so beautiful, what I imagine the song would sound like if Billie Holiday sang it.

10. Annie Moor suggested a podcast to me that she was involved in called We Love Bedtime Stories, wherein actors play out stories told by actual parents to kids. Definitely going to check that out, sounds amazing.

11. Another mother that was sitting next to us overheard the conversation, one thing lead to another and she was recommending the Smithsonian Folkways recording of Lord Invader, Calypso In New York. Lord Invader? Calypso music? Gotta be great. Will definitely check it out. 

12. One of the great things about CMA is the room full of giant exercise balls, one of the girls' favorite places to play in the world. I asked the girls if they were ready to go up there and play and a boy, about 8 or 9, said that the balls were gone for this month and had been replaced by scary chairs. I asked them why they were scary and he said, "You'll see!" So we went up to see. The chairs were giant toys that you could sit in and spin around like a top. They toppled easily and a few kids did get hurt. But the danger was part of the fun and the laughter of girls playing on them for over an hour was, indeed, amazing.

13. Sofia wanted to make a painting, but couldn't find paper. A grandma overheard and said that they had brought their own paper and offered Sofia a piece. Sofia made a lovely splatter painting (see below) and then gave it to the woman as a gift for having given her the paper. Very sweet.

14. Lucia painted one of her little people. When we went back to pick it up one of the staff showed me that she had copied Lucia's drawing because she liked it so much. I liked her version, but she still had a way to go to reach Lucia's mastery. (See below.)

15. One of the things I love so much about CMA is that whoever does the curating of the gallery section does a stellar job. The last two themed shows I've seen there, "Far Away" and "Pixilated," were both outstanding, and this one, "If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home," which had the theme of mapping, was equally amazing. Hat's off.

16. We stopped to eat a snack at James J Walker Park, on the way back to the 1 train . There was a co-ed softball game happening. It seemed to pretty amazing to me to be watching a softball game in the middle of lower West Side on a Thursday afternoon.

17. As we were watching the game I asked Sofia if there was anything else today I should mention for our list, and she said the apple cinnamon rice cakes we were eating for a snack were pretty amazing.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail with Sofia

I'm brave like miyaAki. Your bottom feels kind of fluffy.

Dr Sofia

Sofia came into my room and said, "Adam DeGraff? "I looked up and she had a clipboard and said follow me. I followed her into her room and she laid me down on her bed and gave me a check up. After looking me over thoroughly she said you have, "bee-itus" and then asked me if I wanted strawberry or plum medicine. I said strawberry. She asked me where the bee stung me and I said on my nose, so she poured the strawberry medicine on my nose. Then she took my temperature and told me that it was, "the hottest." I guess I was really sick. she had Lucia, the nurse, go get me some water. Then she gave me a book and told me to rest told me that I would be sick for a long time. Such a beautiful caregiver. 

Ulster county magic

this morning got all tense, because it was taking us forever to get out the door and we had an appointment to see a house for sale in Rosendale New York, the house that I can't afford, but just wanted to dream about because it backs up to the river and has a cabana. On the way to the house we got a call from the realtor saying there had been an offer accepted for the house that morning.  Even though the house was just a fantasy at this point, I still felt this disappointment. She said she was sorry, BUT, she told us as long as we were already on the road, there was a big festival in High Falls next to Rosendale, for the opening of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. That it would be perfect for the kids. I thought again about the way a disappointment can so often open up into something so much better.   I STILL could not shake the stress that I felt earlier from being late, my nerves were raw and irritable, even though I knew better, something else seem to be going on inside of me. I tried slowing my breathing, but it was like I was stuck in a mode and couldn't get out of it. But the breath work paid off and I began to ease into the music we were listening too in the car, Caspar Babypants, "Sing Along!" Just about then, on the side of the road we passed a yard sale. I spied a big beautiful globe on the lawn and so I pulled over, because Sofia has been wanting a globe for a while, but I have been holding off because they are expensive. I decided that if it was less than $10 I would buy it. There was a sign that said everything five dollars. Suddenly I felt as if we had stepped into the world. It was a beautiful old globe, with the patina of age on it. Probably from the school room in the 50s. There was no room for it in the trunk so I put it on Sofia's lap while singing, "she's got the whole world in her hands." We drove a little further and saw a Walmart on the left. One of our weekend goals was to get school supplies for the girls' first day of school next week. Walmart is the cheapest and best place to do it. So we stopped there and I was thinking how perfect we got a globe and then school supplies, the package school deal. We have a huge specific list from the school, and found everything we needed plus A few variations of the school uniform of blue pants and white shirt, plus a six pack of blueberry ale. Somehow all for less than a C-note. There was a moment standing in Walmart where I went into a samadhi state, everything perfect and good, just a state, One which is surprisingly difficult to reach, especially in this world of busyness and horror at every corner. So simple when you are there. Now I am at the sanctuary and High Falls They take farm animals and let them live out their lives. The guy that helped us park told us the pigs, when they are allowed to live out their life, grow up to 1000 pounds. Wow. This was another stroke of serendipity because we are reading Charlotte's Web right now. Some pig! As I write this I am standing in line for food at a vegetarian food booth called Monk's Meats (seitan sandwiches. Monks for seitan!) There is a band playing behind me, an indie band called beaitiful small machines, and they are doing a bluegrassy cover of MiA's paper airplanes. It is hot, my skin is burning. trying to shave my legs in the shape of the person behind me.Everybody seems weird and fantastic here. Of which I would have known about the real estate agent had not given us the tip. Now I'm sitting along to you and Caroline know where.

Dr Sofia

Sofia came into my room and said, "Adam DeGraff? "I looked up and she had a clipboard and said follow me. I followed her into her room and she laid me down on her bed and gave me a check up. After looking me over thoroughly she said you have, "bee-itus" and then asked me if I wanted strawberry or plum medicine. I said strawberry. She asked me where the bee stung me and I said on my nose, so she poured the strawberry medicine on my nose. Then she took my temperature and told me that it was, "the hottest." I guess I was really sick. she had Lucia, the nurse, go get me some water. Then she gave me a book and told me to rest told me that I would be sick for a long time. Such a beautiful caregiver.