Looking Forward, Thinking Back

The year is speeding to a close, as Nye and I prepare to wing to New York.  I'm not sure that we're really ready, but we are extremely excited.  Nye has been bouncing off the walls in anticipation for a week.  I've been doing my best to cover all possible bases.  Present shopping, house keeping, end of year deadlines at work.


Season - Solstice    The seasonal transition here in San Jose is fun and not at all  like back east.  The Fall days with their "ocean" mornings of gray, until precisely 10 am, are gone now.  Most of the trees that will loose their leaves dropped them sometime between the 1st and the 15th of December.  (I love seeing the small mountains of leaves awaiting pick up by our local composting crew.)  While there are still flowers on my tomatoes I think they're probably done producing.  No doubt while we're gone there will be some killing frosts.  Hopefully the garlic and snow peas will survive. I'm not really much of a gardener but I do love that I have all these lovely things that I can eat in the yard.  Days can be up to 60 degrees but nights do get chilly in the low 40's.  After the New Year if the weather stays cold overnight we'll see the tops of the mountains dusted with snow and frost in the yard.  I wish it would rain, though since my lovely natives really need the soaking.  I probably jinxed it by putting in the drip irrigation system! The big change to the landscape is that transformation from golden brown to lush green in the chaparrals.  I love driving toward the range to our east at this time of year.  The color and shapes always remind me of the a pride of sleeping lions  

Chapters   So as the we unfold the seasons, a new year, and all the new chapters yet to be written, I'm thrilled to announce that I have a new chapter of my own.  Just recently I had my first chapter published in a book.  I co-authored it with my colleague Lisa Ellsworth.  It is published in Museums at Play: Games, Interaction, and Learning and our chapter is called Leveraging Play, Unlocking Imaginations.  Writing it was quite the challenge but well worth the effort.  I'm hoping to get to work on a second chapter after the new year.  A friend/colleague has requested a piece about institutional collaboration and I'm eager to do some reflecting upon the past few years of work. 


Words    I've been collecting words and phrases that I enjoy for quite some time.  (Every once and while I'll come across a little collection from my past hoardings.)  There were two words that I came across recently that I really enjoyed - haimish and gaman.  They come from very different origins but both seem to be inspiring to me.  Haimish is a yiddish word that suggests, domesticity and unpretentious conviviality.  To my mind it is at the very heart of the best social gatherings.  It makes me think of a warmth of family and friends; and the sharing that comes with being in both a peaceful and engaged state.  Gaman (我慢) is a Japanese term of which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity". The term is generally translated as "perseverance" or "patience." I don't want to trivialize this word but it strikes me that it expresses a beautiful way of being.  The small slights, petty struggles, and annoyances of everyday living fade before it's perspective.


Holiday Wishes    Soon we'll be enjoying time and stories with friends back east.  (I'm hoping for a warm fireplace and the kicked back comfort that can only be found in front of one.) From our small family I'd like to extend the very warmest wishes for the holiday season.  

We wish for everyone, peace & good health!

With love, Sara, Nye and Archil   

[aka SNAP Press]

Giving Thanks!

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
                - Dalai Lama

 

A Day of Giving Thanks

I guess all times of year are good times to give thanks, but today is one day that I like to try to remember all the things that I'm thankful for.  There are so many not the least of which are my family and friends who all have such a wonderful passion for life.  The last year or so have had some serious ups and downs and through those you all have always been there for us and for each other.  Thanks!

 Long Pauses

You may be asking "What took you so long to get around to posting?"  We'll I guess I've been a bit busy and too tired at the end of the day to write. (I think all those colleges students can probably relate to that sense of crunch time at the end of a term.) Most of this year has felt a bit like crunch time.  Unfortunately, exhibition installation and post installation follow up often feels like finals.  Lots of headaches, but they're worth it when I get to see how children and families respond to the exhibitions.  Finally things are calming down and I'm hoping that I have the energy to write more often.  Arch spent most of the summer in NY and now he's getting ready to go back again for another 5-6 weeks.  We've also been busy with the yard work and are finally getting close to finishing our first phase of that.  More on that below.




Yard Crashing

One of the things that has been giving us a lot of satisfaction at home is working on the yard. I know I've written of the work that Archil has put into the rock garden. He's adopted so many wonderful succulents and they've rewarded him by taking root and growing. But in addition to the rock garden we've added a number of other beds with native flowering plants. We've got a whole range of drought tolerant plants along the side of the house ranging from the native Lilac to a low growing native fushia. Recently we added a couple of beds to the front yard including native ferns, Sticky Monkey Flower, and Coral Bells.

We've had many wonderful flowering plants this spring in the back. Many are a bit dwarfed by the once in a lifetime flowering of our neighbor's Agave. I have to say that is one crazy organism that flowers just once in a life time and sends a blossom cluster some 20+ feet in the air. Loads of drama as we wait week after week for it to unfurl. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end but while we wait the smallest of plants is putting out the most wonderful of flowers. Our tiny pin cushion sized cactus has put forth not one but two giant pink blooms.

We've installed a small solar fountain in our pond and I've made space for our hammock under the fruit trees. The birds and insects seem to enjoy the access to the water. We now have some lovely little "zones" to hang out.  We're working on plans for a fence which will add some much needed privacy to our much improved back yard.

It is hard to believe when I think about it how just over a year ago this was a huge patch of weeds. Now we have strawberries, raspberries, blackberries all growing wonderfully. The fruit trees are much happier now that they've been pruned. The one diseased trees is gone. Native plants are in bloom pretty much all year long. And we have melons, tomatoes, garlic, artichokes and cucumbers growing in our small garden patches.

The Miracle of Go Away Green

Perhaps the biggest miracle of all is the shack. Don't get me wrong, it is still a total tear down! But it has undergone a rather nice transformation. And it is kinda a funny story . . .

It started with the purchase of some second hand trellis. As we considered how to position those near our wine barrel planters I was harping on the bit of unpainted wood up at the roof line. Archil offered (okay I nagged until he offered) to paint it that very evening. Unfortunately, instead of using the yellow paint he used glue. Hmmm! Imagine my surprise when I came outside in the morning in looking at the shack which is now sporting a sickly yellow, brown coating, yuck! Fortunately, I had been reading a novel in which the topic of Disney's buildings were discussed and the color they use in painting them is termed "go away green." I just loved the idea of applying that same logic to the shack. Now it is sporting a brand new coat of green.  It is such a huge improvement to the back yard space that it I'm so thankful for the original mistake which precipitated the transformation.  Very funny!

Winter Rains

Those leaves that do turn are really beautiful now.  They will all fall almost as one in the beginning of December.  Fall and winter means rain and since we love our plants we're thrilled by seeing them respond to all the water.  (San Jose residents bundle up in warm coats and hats when a simple fleece or raincoat would do for almost any one from back east.)  So for us a rainy day is just one more thing to give thanks for. 


Wishing all of you the very best as you toast all the reasons you have for being thankful!

Love,

Sara, Archil, and Nye

Nye "performing" at one of San Jose's art opening
in the shadow theater Art Ark. (Nye is on the left.)

January, February, March - Oh, My!

Busy Time vs Simplicity

Sorry that it has been some time since I've posted. Can't pin down exactly what has been standing in the way, but I'm sure it is some mix of Archil's travels and my own work situation. (The exhibit I've been working on since having moved here is set to open in May -oh, my!) Suffice it to say, we've been quite busy, and it is precisely that bustling that has me thinking about simplicity lately. With all the hustling we seem to do these days it is hard to find a few moments to just stop, breathe, and write.

During the past few months we've celebrated birthdays, and the strangely early arrival of "spring" here in CA. Happy Birthday! I say to all who've passed another year marker. As my old friend Carol used to say "a birthday is far preferable to the alternative!" Best wishes for a happy and healthy to Archil, Chris, Inna, Suz, Lynn, Frank, and many more. I've come to appreciate the bits of simple advice I've received over the years. Indeed it is preferable to celebrate all days, and certainly all birthdays, for they mean we have the joy of being able to be with family and friends. In these times where so many things around us that being present during each day can seem like a moving target - yet if there were a resolution to make it should be celebrating each day.

Patience

In that same vein I've been appreciating some small facets of our lives here in CA at the new house. Many of aspects of day to day living are, after all, small gifts. Most go unnoticed and uncelebrated, but that makes them no less miraculous.

I'm always "dogging" Nye to work on being "more patient." Yet any rational adult would realize that no child is going to "get it" and suddenly become patient at age nine. Being able to wait for a cherished object is just not in the cards for a child of Nye's age.

On the other hand it is amazing how adaptable Nye and the whole family has been to our current situation. Take for example something as basic as our hot water situation. The previous owners had installed the shower faucet upside down. Not a major problem in the summer (the water maxed out as "warm") which was plenty warm enough. We had solid warm showers, baths, etc and were mostly okay with it, knowing that a simple change to the fixture would help us in the future. (Sadly we couldn't affect this change ourselves.)

Once winter came and the cooler weather those warm showers started to feel less than satisfying. Finally, after a couple of weeks of frost (and I should point out that CA houses don't have much insulation, no basements, and lovely cool tile floors) we were ready to boil water for hot baths. So in came the plumber for a little handle switch out. What an amazing thing, once the handles was "returned to its upright position." We enjoy wonderfully scalding hot showers. And, we really truly appreciate them each and every single day. It's been weeks and the sense of deep gratitude for each shower or bath is still there, yeah it is kinda silly . . . and yet it is not in that having to be patient has made us really appreciate what we waited for in a sustained way.


Deep Winter

The "colder" weather of winter has not exactly stopped us from being outdoors. We still have fun beach days with friends. Nye and I planted winter vegetables and so are continuing to enjoy the harvest of our garden - fresh snow peas, rainbow chard, radishes, and herbs. We planted raspberries and blackberries in wine barrels near the shack and a few old world artichokes in the garden. Most days unless it rains it is great to be outside with only a sweat shirt or light fleece. I think this is the reason we are so focused on the yard. We spend a huge amount of our time there.

Sometimes it rains. . . .

Sometimes there is a frost . . . .

In the morning, on occasion, the snow comes down below 2000 feet which means that there is fine sugar powder coating of snow on the mountains nearby. Which by the way, is totally cool and still a bit surreal, especially when viewed through the flowers and lemons.

Do I miss the snow back East? Yes!
Do I miss the day after the snow? No! (no slush, no gray snow, no soggy wet layers to set aside till they dry.) Yeck!


New Neighbor

We do have some new neighbors. Some more welcome than others. The squirrel is back in the attic. Stronger hardware cloth is required to keep it out as I'm sure there is or will be a nest and a mess to deal with soon.

More lovely, is the hummingbird nesting just at the edge of our driveway. We watched her as she gathers bits of fine bark and spider silk to make the nest. It is a lovely little construction project and very hard to see in the nook of the eucalyptus tree. Today for the first time we've noticed that she has chicks. Two of them. Very tiny and almost fully hidden from view. Over and over we watch as the mother hummer darts around gathering tiny insects at the avocado tree. Given her mysterious hovering I had a feeling her chicks might have hatched and that insects were a part of their diet. The hummers are still so much fun to watch and we're thrilled to see two happy healthy looking chicks so close to our house.

Our last new neighbor isn't actually new it's just recently identified - maybe. It's been almost a year long project to figure out what trees and plants we have planted in the yard. (There are still mystery plants and will likely be for some time!) But the one remaining tree which was an unknown appears to be an almond tree. Still not 100% sure but I'm sure we'll find out. Looking forward to munching on some green almonds (a thinning process, since this is looking like a bumper crop already) and hopefully some regular almonds a bit later in the year.

It's nice to see the way things are unfolding for us out here. Even if we get really busy at times it is still much more low key that life was in the city and it's hard to argue with climate and environment.

Sending along our love,

Sara, Nye, and Archil
Press Productions

aka SNAP

Giving Thanks

Traveling for the holidays tends to leave one frazzled and frayed. We're happy to be home and snug and relaxing, but I'm very happy we got a chance to celebrate the holidays back east. It was wonderful to see the family and friends we were able to visit. And of course we missed many people we would have loved to spend time with. If you're on that list, you know that the solution is to come to California! We love company and there is a standing invitation so don't be shy.

This year we're not making a long list of resolutions but trying to live up to the same simple goals:

• To remember to give thanks for all we have everyday.
• To take time to breathe and enjoy the lessons life dishes out daily.
• To tell the truth beautifully.

Oh and to continue to explore what California has to offer. We'll keep you posted here of course.

Wishing everyone an adventurous and healthy New Year!

Sara, Nye, and Archil

Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last
drink and swore his last oath.
Today, we are a pious and exemplary community.
Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient
shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.

~Mark Twain

Seasonal Turning Point

Solstice is coming and to me it seems, at times, that the rate of speed of the Earth's axis is accelerating! It's hard for me to believe that we've lived here in California close to two years. This last year has seen so many changes that at in thinking about it my head spins. Nye is nine years old! We're happily ensconced in our new old house. (Oh, yeah and with a ton of work to do! ;-)

We have so much to be thankful for - friends and family. We are also filled with hope and resolved in making the best of the year to come - we're thinking about where we would like to go personally and how we want to grow. As the year draws to a close it feels right to reflect a bit.

Usually when I sit to write on of these blogs I pick some of my favorite pictures from those that both Arch and I have taken over the preceding month or so. The images that punctuate this blog are a combination of my work and Archil's photography in the past few weeks. In reviewing our accumulated work over I realized that we have images that relate to a few important themes that have emerged in our journey here.

Explorations - Embracing the Landscape

Looking back at our adventures and day trips of the past year I realize that we take trips most weekends. Picking at random we take hikes, go on beach adventures, and embark on urban explorations. Like a gourmand, we consume the world we now inhabit. We relish the gritty streetscapes of San Jose or San Francisco. We revel in sublime crescent beaches nestled by sea cliffs building sand castles or driftwood sculptures. We hike redwoods and grasslands telling stories as we hike, looking for clues from the landscape to weave into our narratives.

This past weekend, we hiked in the chaparrals just minutes from our home. The colors and textures of hills are subtle but varied. Where we live winter is transition time from golden to green. From my drive home each day I can see the hills of Mt. Hamilton grow greener. Up close, the rivulets are verdant, the seeds set and spreading in the winds, and the grasses, so pent up from summer oppression are bursting into new leaf. Tiny birds flit around the bushes gobbling seeds, while raptors soar looking for prey. "Winter" rains transform the landscape. Immune to the gray weather overhead Acorn woodpeckers, with their impossible coloration (red head, black and white bodies with two huge spots on their wings!), sing a lilting refrain! California has a landscape that is easy to enjoy - it has both the bold and the demure!

Relishing Details

It is interesting how travel and change sharpen the senses. I think both Arch and I have noticed how getting to know a new area makes you focus on the details. I'm sure we notice things that others who have lived here for years do not. I know that each of the changes we've experienced in the past year have also helped to heighten our awareness of the world we inhabit. Many of Archil's photographs this past year document the landscape. (I'll compile them for a later blog post!) We've been enjoying the texture of our immediate surroundings. We are delighted to have landed in a neighborhood which has a rich and varied cultural heritage. It is this quality which has helped us feel at home. (Hey, we lived in Brooklyn!) Being surrounded by a varied and diverse community feels - well - right. I love to go to all the farmer's markets but I've been picking up stories and recipes from people at the neighborhood market. People are so generous and patient with my inquiries! I've come home with Chayote, Winter Melon, Raw Peanuts, Yucca, Fresh Squid, and Thai Eggplant lately. Yum!!

Finding Balance

As I reflect on this past year and look to the future the one piece of advice I'm giving myself is to "look for balance." In many ways I have much to learn from Nye. He plays, he works, he laughs, he above all else he is true to who he is - he is himself. So many of life's daily trials get in the way of that. Looking forward this is a year I'm committing to that intention. Balance is about laughing, playing hard, working hard, and being compassionate to the people and the world around us. We have a pretty good start on it, but next year I'm sure we'll improve our practice!

Season's Wishes

May joy fill your hearts,
May hope raise your spirits,
And may the love of family and friends
Carry you forward
Toward a joyful New Year!

We send you our love,

Sara, Nye and Archil

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:
if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity
would not be so welcome."
--Anne Bradstreet

November? Already?

Time flies when you're really, really, really busy.

October was a wonderful blur. We had time to be with family, friends, and to continue our adventures at home. The early part of October I spent in CT and New York. It was wonderful to be back visiting with family, but a little bittersweet that it was so brief. I was especially pleased to see how much improved Mom was. She and I had fun with both our projects and explorations. I just wish I could have gotten some time to see everyone.

The symposium that was the reason for coming to NYC in the first place was definitely a mixed bag. It was a pleasure to be welcomed back to Children's Museum of Manhattan, but the actual "Block Party" organizers needed a few lessons in event facilitation and hosting. The good news is that there were so many great colleagues from all over the country to meet and catch up that it almost made up for the completely lame host crew and their flummoxed timing. Of course they did pay for me to come back east, so . . . I should go much easier on them, right?

After the symposium I had the great pleasure of meeting three lovely young boys - Henry, Oliver, and George. They joined me in Central Park for a walk and a visit to the zoo. (All three young gentlemen were in their mothers bellies when we moved to Cali and this was my first chance to meet them.) It was of course great to get to spend time with Mingting and Abby who I haven't seen for so long as well :-)

Meanwhile back in California . . .

I spent a lot of time this fall preparing for the 01SJ festival events. Zero One or 01 is the big multimedia arts and technology biennial. Artists from around the country and in fact around the world come out to do their installations. Our museum played host to a Luke Jerram piano which myself and other colleagues decorated. We also had a small role in the signature installation called Plug-n-play which was created by the Rockwell Group Lab. Finally, since I know local Ken Eklund (game designer for massive social games like "World Without Oil") through other connections I helped do some game facilitation for Zorops, his project this year. No wonder I didn't have much time to write!

On the home front . . .

Archil has taken a near obsessive interest in crafting a succulent garden. I have to give him credit though because it looks really good. Our bear paw cactus are statue like. Stone plants, hens and chicks, and various ground covers are all wrapped up in a great canvas of rocks and pebbles scavenged from all our trips to the beach, to area parks, and of course the walk home from school. Yep sometimes that kind of focus pays off.

Halloween - Okay so this was our first time having trick or treaters. Wow! We've never lived in a place where kids came to the door before. Not in New York and not here in California. I had no idea how much candy to buy. Like so many other things we're learning about being homeowners all the time. Note to self for next year 8 bags gets you 1/3 the way through the evening . . . so maybe more like 24 bags - yikes!!!

Nye dressed as 'arry Potter this year. We purchased a great Griffendor cape at the thrift shop along with a designer label tie. Combined with his school uniform and some salvage shop glasses and a little "z" of eye liner and a brief wave of the wand and . . . on great costume! Nye and I traveled to the Naglee Park neighborhood where the folks really know how to decorate their houses for the Halloween holiday.

Finally at the end of October Nye participated in his school's walk-a-thon. This year, like last year he walked many laps. This year he completed 50 laps or 10 miles. He would have completed the last 5 laps but the staff was tired of hanging out in the rain and since he had completed close to the last mile in drizzle they awarded him the final 5 laps. Once again he was the grand prize winner.

Now we're breathlessly getting ready . . . birthday festivities here we come . . .

Sending out to all our family and friends with birthdays in November one huge and heartfelt hug and wishes for some fantastic fun on your birthday!

All our love,

Sara, Nye and Archil

Sweet September

End of Summer (kinda?)

While August signaled the end of summer vacation it by no means seems to signals the end of warm weather here in the Valley of Heart's Delight (as San Jose used to be known.) The start of September seems set to continue pattern of cool gray mornings followed by warm blue sky days. We celebrated the holiday weekend with a trip to a few favorite beaches to play in the sand, take shelter from the winds, and build sculptures. The beaches north of Santa Cruz always have more surf and wind than those south do because of the orientation of Monterey Bay. But places like Big Basin are cram packed with sailboarding maniacs plying the 6' waves on inflatable para-sails. I admire their verve! (and feel really whimpy at the same time.)

We haven't been exploring nearly as much lately in part because we've been focusing our energy on the house and the yard. Gone are the nastier bits of the shed. The very strange refrigerator unit that was once attached to the back of the house -- gone. In it's place a wobbly but sufficient summer dining area framed by a string of paper lanterns and a trough turned into an herb garden. Not much in this picture but at night it is a small and slightly festive place to have dinner. (Okay, we're aspiring to a porch but we're not quite there yet. Roof comes first.)

We had to move from our previous dining spot because of Hummingbird Alley. Those lovely little Anna's Hummers zip into the feeder and I was convinced that one of use was going to end up wearing one of the little birds in our ears! They're delightful but a little scary when they buzz your ears at at about 70mph!

An Early Apple Harvest

The nectarines are gone and now it's apple season. We have no idea what variety we have but they're delicious. We invested in a harvesting pole which is no doubt overkill but sure makes getting those sweet ones at the top of the tree much easier. I'm getting ready to start some serious baking of cobbler, crisp, apple butter, etc. Thank goodness the apples keep better than those lovely white nectarines!

In addition to our harvesting work Arch has crafted a sand box in the back yard for Nye. However, we've decided instead to turn it into a pond in part because we haven't managed to get enough sand into it to make it really work as a sand box and Nye is actually getting a bit old for a sandbox. Instead it's been taking on a life as a boat launch, mud pit, etc and I'm hoping it will settle down into something quiet and aquatic just as soon as I'm able to locate a liner and a solar pump system for it. Given all the birds in the area I think they'll probably appreciate the water/ bird bath a whole lot.

One favorite past time of Nye's is going out to our little vegetable patch and scouting out the newest changes. A few days ago it was the green tomatoes on the plants that I had given up on. Tonight it was the beginnings of corn flowers on our late season corn. We're delighted by each new change and the opportunity to experiment and discover. African Basil and Golden Sage were planted today. The basil is cold tolerant so I'm hoping for fresh pesto all winter!

One less than thrilling discovery this evening was that of a black widow spider who's made a home between the tomato pots. Now that we know she is there we'll be cautious. Live and let live for a bit I think. (Though most of you know I don't like to stumble upon spiders I do respect they're place in the natural world!) The minute I spot an egg sac she'll be out on her heals and off to live along the river banks with her young! Thank goodness both Nye and Arch are as in tuned to our new environment and as alert to new "neighbors".

We're looking forward to our future discoveries and the pleasures that come from opening the back door and exploring our yard! I'm sure most won't be poisonous ;-)

XO,

Sara, Nye and Archil