Orphans

One of my favorite Tom Waits albums is called Orphans. He said that he had all the songs wandering around loose because they didn't seem to fit with any particular album. Finally he bundled them all up and created a home for them. Their own home - Orphans. This post is full of my orphans. Posts I began, but never finished. Good writing, or at least appealing to me. But orphans all the same.


I believe that it is in the dailiness of our lives that we find real beauty. It is in the ordinary that we really dwell. Much more than milestone birthdays and special moments, our lives are created in the day-to-day moments, habits, and pursuits we choose. I believe it, and I do my best to live it. (4/28/10)

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I love this quote from my friend, Jeanne:
"Babies are such a lovely way to start people." (9/18/09)

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My name is Relyn. As in Ruh-Lynn, which actually sounds prettier than it looks sitting there like that. I get Ray-Lynn all the time. ALL THE TIME. I also get Ray, Ree-Lynn, and most notably Rahh-Lynn. I just answer to anything that starts with an R. I mostly just get a good giggle out of it. But, really, when you have known someone, taught with them, for five years, you really should be able to pronounce their name. (10/11/09)

They say,"It's the thought that counts."
I say, "Think harder." ~ Ebay commercial

And for a bit of fun today, a shamelessly materialistic post. Here's my wish list:
* a gift certificate for a monthly pedicure * huge gold ring; a knuckle grazer * an amazing chronometer * iPhone * tickets to Wicked * another family trip to Disney * a convertible * (11/27/09)

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I believe I've told you before that as a Momma and a teacher I am a firm believer in early bedtimes and consistent bedtime routines. The first makes certain that children get the rest they need. For second graders, pediatricians say 10 or 11 hours a night. The second gives them another constant in their life, which brings peace and contentment. A consistent bedtime routine also cues the body for sleep. (12/8/09)

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I told you already about my best book of 2009. What amazes me is that out of those 259 books, only 27 of them were rereads. I usually have a list of favorites that I reread every single year. Books like The Hiding Place, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Year of Pleasures, Isabel's Daughter, When Venus Fell, The Pull of the Moon, everything by Helene Hanff, Chili Queen, and Secret Garden. It's not a plan to reread them, I just notice that I tend to. I'm not sure why I didn't last year, but it was a year full of new-to-me books. (1/1/10)

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I love your list. I started laughing when I read your comment about a list of what's great about lists. No kidding. Here's my version:

1. Keeping lists give you a record of your life.
2. Marking off lists gives you such clear sense of accomplishment and celebration.
3. If you pay attention, you'll learn what your true priorities are. For example, if something stays on the list for years, you don't really want to do it.
4. It's an easy way of capturing all that's in your scattered, racing mind.
5. Written well, they can be a sort of autobiography. (1/29/10)

I've sat here at my desk and cried my way through lunch. Again. No, there's nothing wrong. It's just that my heart gets so full that it all bubbles out in tears. I was visiting my friend Maithri and ended up crying. Have you heard the story of the day water came to the desert? (10/14/09)

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Magic moments. Magic has been on my mind a lot lately. I guess because this Fall has been so blessed. Jeffrey and I passed a personal milestone a little more than a month ago, and I was so busy I forgot to mark the occasion. Sometime in mid October we passed a date I've been watching for. Jeffrey and I have been together longer than we have been apart. I've spent more than half my life with my heart belonging to Jeffrey. (2/1/10)

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I wanted to tell you about my word for the year. I do know it's already February. I told you that sometimes I take a while to warm up to a new thing. I'm ready now. My word last year was YES. I almost kept it for another year, it's such a wonderful concept - saying yes. And I did say yes last year, a good bit. But, perhaps, not as much as I intended; not as much as I wanted to. I didn't take the risks I intended. This year, that will change. In fact, that is already changing. My word for 2010 is LEAP! My post title (Leap as You Run) came from a song by Big Smith. Listen. (2/8/10)


You probably know by now that Team Lawson is big on experiences and not as much on things. Though we make an enormous exception for books and magazines. So, did I ever tell you about Sloane's Christmas present? We bought her an entire hiking kit. Great walking stick, compass, hiking boots, hiking guide to the Ozarks, reusable water bottles, and a fanny pack stocked with everything from band aids and bug spray to granola bars and trail mix. Of course, we also included a series of writing utensils and her first Moleskine to be her hiking journal. (3/27/10)

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Susan's pictures brought back a memory of a time when we lived in an old farmhouse on a dirt road out in the country in Oregon. There was a falling down house in a field nearby. The house was absolutely over-grown with lilacs. I wanted them. Badly. So, my four-year old nephew, my husband, my brother-in-law, and the dog all jumped in the back of the truck with pocket knives, buckets, and secateurs. They cut and cut lilacs for me. I had armfuls of them. I smelled lilacs in my dreams long into the summer. I can still smell them now. (3/29/10)

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As an elementary school teacher, I teach every subject every day. Since it's not possible to be an expert in every single subject, a good teacher has to become an expert in her pedagogy, her teaching. If you know how to teach well, it is possible to teach anything. Of course, I'd be spending every night cramming if I had to teach middle school math, but I think you get what I mean. (4/21/10)


My number one book last year was Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. When I choose it, I didn't know that it had been made into a film by and incredible independent film director. I have to tell you, I was pretty nervous about it. How would these beautiful Ozarks be represented by a director from New York? I got my answer last night at a special screening of the film. I wasn't disappointed. (5/17/10)

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Good Things:

• "Fotofenfefish, that's how plants make food for themselves." ~ Sloane, age 8
• I took Sloane and Lauren to pick wild tiger lilies yesterday. I loved it when they both promptly decided to have huge tiger lily bouquets for their weddings.
• Lauren excitedly asked, "Can I please pick some to take to my Mom?" She couldn't wait to share her bounty. (6/10/10)

Do you have orphans, too? I'd sure be interested in reading them.


The images are from the photo day I wrote about a few days ago.