Forgot Password?

Laura Egley Taylor

Then a miracle occurs . . .

interpreter for the knee-high crowd

August 31st, 2010

papageno-

This just in from the college student (a.k.a. my 21-year-old son, Reeve): he’s been asked by his work-study boss at the choral library to dress like Mozart and go talk to local elementary school kids about classical music.

Which just cracks me up. He’ll do a great job, I know, because he’s really good with little people and he loves to talk music. But sure wish Tim and I could be there to listen in. . .

#

Photo of Reeve as Papageno in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” taken during a night of opera scenes at New Mexico State last fall.

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

Tags: , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]

21 years ago today

August 15th, 2010

r21


It takes a miracle . . .

Yes, indeed. Tim and I were a little shell-shocked today by the awareness that our son, Reeve, is now officially an adult. He turned 21 today.

We celebrated with a family road trip (Reeve’s girlfriend, Eliza, joined us) to Chaco Canyon and will continue a celebration of sorts tomorrow, as we caravan down to Las Cruces (about 4 hours south of here)—where Reeve is in school—to help him move into his new digs. . .

So. A joyous day of exploration, stunning scenery, stimulating conversation, fabulous road music, lots of laughter and reminiscences—and high-fives all around. Twenty-one. Wow.

And now, it’s on to the last-minute scurry of late-night packing . . .

Photo of our legal adult, at 4 days old.

#

#

Tags: , , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]

speaking of miracles

June 9th, 2010

summerWe have a July-August issue! Or we will shortly.The magazine was on press Tuesday night, so we’ll be getting the bound copies next week sometime.

This one feels miraculous because we had several seemingly insurmountable obstacles to overcome and, as of a week ago, still didn’t know how we were going to resolve things.

But the logjam broke on Friday, and just about the whole staff leapt into action (including our dear Fulfillment Manager Sarah Patamia, who made a mid-afternoon coffee-and-brownie run to help Melissa, Mel and me through an energy lull, then turned around and went out to buy us a fan, since it was the hottest day of the year and our air conditioning had died), working together to birth the issue.

And in other semi-miraculous happenings:

• My 20-year-old son, Reeve, who historically has been cautious (and sometimes seems to have inherited my knack for anxious imaginings), went on his first solo backpacking adventure Monday night. Stuck it out through rain and hail and mosquitoes and made it back home in one happy but exhausted piece.

• Thursday night, unable to wind down after getting home around 11 p.m. (See: anxiety regarding insurmountable obstacles, above), I went out for a walk with Reeve. Bent down to pick up a lucky quarter I saw in the street and almost couldn’t get up again. Muscle spasm. Lower back. I’ve heard about them but never experienced one. Five days later, I can almost put my shoes on without wincing. Huge perspective check. I’m very, very grateful that this was not something more serious. And thrilled to be almost back to normal. The human body is its own miracle. . .

• After one of the cooler Springs I can remember—this seems impossibly quick, but—it appears to be summer. And it’s been toasty (for Santa Fe, anyway: upper 80s, low to mid 90s), but lovely. To celebrate, Tim and Reeve carried our kitchen table out back last night for supper in the cooling evening air.

So, now I’m full of gratitude for the miraculous (or even the merely remarkable), have taken a couple of days off to restore mind and body, and am just about ready to dive back in and get to work on September–October.

#

Photo: Ah, summertime! Our oldest cat, Koufax, observes the morning from the mud room. We’ve been sleeping with the back door wide open at night; no need for screens because, miraculously, Santa Fe doesn’t have mosquitoes. (Yes, that’s a litter box, right by the back door. It’s there because, ironically, our still sort of feral kitty, Twombly, refuses to go out back.)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]

(itty bitty) kitty with vision

March 14th, 2010

*kitty-with-vision

*It feels a little like cheating to post a photo with no words as a blog entry. But what can one say that comes anywhere near the wonder one feels when encountering such a tiny, fuzzy, squeaky, wide-eyed life?

Photo: Reeve spends time with the first of our five kittens to open its eyes.

#

#

Tags: , ,

[ 3 comments ]

what I’ve missed

March 12th, 2010

spare bedCollege boy Reeve came home last night for a short visit (has a voice competition in Albuquerque today), ostensibly to see us, but I’m guessing the fact that we have two-week-old kittens here didn’t hurt.

It’s wonderful to see him, or, more accurately, to hug him. In this day and age of Skype and email and Facebook and cell phones, we’re usually in pretty close touch. But electronic communication, though immediate, and definitely a good thing, is no substitute for everyday interaction, lovely moments of low-key hangout time, and the very real physical presence of our child.

So why do they call it being in touch? . . .

Since Reeve’s room has been converted into the nursery (When mama cat Twombly, gave birth under his bed—a convenient choice, since, other than the bathroom, Reeve’s room is the only one in the house with a door—we sealed the room off to keep the other feline residents out until the kittens are bigger.), Reeve is sleeping on the fold-out futon couch in the main room where Tim and I sleep, on another fold-out futon couch. (There’s just 10 feet and a book case between the two couches, so it occurs to me this is kind of like a grownup variation on cosleeping.)

lassie-1

Anyway, this morning, I awoke to hear Brutus (our 2-year-old tabby), meowing adamantly / persistenly, and Reeve mumbling, “Brutus. No.” and “Don’t poke me!” and then, “What is it, boy? What’s that? . . . Someone’s stuck in a well!? . . .”

You can’t get that on Facebook.

#


Top photo: the spare bed/couch/futon in our front room.

Above: Can’t believe I have now actually referenced Lassie twice in this blog . . .

#

#

#

Tags: , , , , ,

[ 2 comments ]

a three sitting in a chair

January 13th, 2010

Another in the then-four-year-old (now 20!) Reeve’s Number Series: “A 3 sitting in a chair waiting for its friend Alex (It went to get some water from the stream. . .)”a-three-sitting-in-a-chair

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

Tags: , , , ,

[ 2 comments ]

old momma five

January 7th, 2010

I recently came across this scan of a drawing Reeve did when he was four. . .  a reminder of how delightfully fresh a child’s view of the world can be: “Old Momma 5 with the sun shining over her back. And a mushroom in a mushroom field.”

old-momma-five

#

Tip: Next time your child draws something, be sure to ask him or her to describe what’s happening in the drawing, and write it down somewhere on the page (or on the back). Include the date the drawing was made.

#

#

#

#

Tags: , , ,

[ 2 comments ]

college student organizational tool #11

October 21st, 2009

grouse?

The Dry Erase Board.
This weekend, Tim and I made our first parental college visit to New Mexico State to see Reeve perform in a night of opera scenes. We stayed with Reeve and his good friend and roommate, Evan, at their apartment.* I was thrilled to see on display in their living room this delightful yet efficient organizing system.

Was particularly pleased to see that while the grocery list was still blank, these boys were not without an animal of the day. Priorities in place.

In all seriousness, it was thrilling (and a real mind-bender to try to imagine the Laura and Tim of 20 years ago experiencing this) to get a glimpse of Reeve’s life, his space, the choices he’s making for himself. . .  Talk about miracles! (Sending out big high-fives to the us of 1989. . .)

#

*turning down their generous offer of the circa 1970 (a tweedy harvest orange!) thrift store hide-a-bed and opting instead for a comfy pad on the floor

Tags: , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]

Meanwhile, back at the blog. . .

September 8th, 2009

roosterLet’s see. . . Timmy has saved the life of a rooster that Paul suspects was involved in cockfighting, but Skeeter, a neighbor’s hired hand, recognized “Clementine” as a champion fighter named Dynamite who was left for dead. Once Clementine was well again, Skeeter stole him*. . .

Oh, sorry. The BLOG! Meanwhile, back at the BLOG. Yes, OK, well . . .  Blogwise, things have been quiet for a couple of months while we ironed out the technical difficulties encountered when Mothering.com was “migrated” (the official term, I’m told) to a new home. Like any good migration, different segments of the crowd arrived at their destinations at different times. And the Mothering blogs, chatty and independent and stubborn, took the long way home, finally arriving and settling in this week.

Hence, my extended “pause” in blogging.

So, now that I’m back in action, a brief status update is in order: My man Tim and I are still empty-nesters, but the bird flew home from Glasgow in mid-July for an idyllic few weeks of hanging out with friends, visiting old haunts (many of which just happened to be profferers of green chile), and working at the Santa Fe Opera. Reeve fielding He even managed to squeeze in some baseball with his parents, just like old times. Now he’s back in school, though not in Scotland this year—much, much closer: New Mexico State, which is less than 300 miles away. And in the same time zone.

In my Mothering world, since my last blog post, we’ve put out a couple of issues of the magazine, launched our new web site, and moved my office (along with those of Staff Photog/Ad Production Manager/Web Production Ace Melyssa Holik and Managing Editor Melissa Chianta) to the space that used to serve as our library and product fulfillment area. So we have lots of room now for creativity . . .

Stay tuned!

*Lassie, Season 6, Episode 27, March 13, 1960. In case you missed it.

Top photo: While taking an early-morning exploratory walk around the campus of Reeve’s new school in mid-August, Tim and I heard a rooster greeting the day, turned the corner and came across this fellow.

Bottom photo: Reeve races for the ball, just one of many poorly thrown by his mother, who, yes, sadly, throws like a girl.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]

letters home, 21st century-style

May 8th, 2009

skype-chat with ReeveI’ve found myself complaining a lot this year about how “kids today” don’t seem to know how to write email—let alone old-fashioned pen- or typewriter-to paper letters—but seem to communicate using instant messenger-type programs or social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. With Reeve in Scotland, this has come especially clear to me: he just won’t write—email messages or letters. At least not to Tim and me.

But now I may be changing my tune. The last few days, I’ve had several occasions where I wasn’t able to talk to Reeve via Skype or on the phone, but, needing to make sure he was OK, sent him short text messages via Skype’s chat function. In each case, he responded immediately, and these “chats” evolved into delightful discussions of a variety of topics, including critiques of YouTube performances we watched “together” (5,000 miles apart) as well as intellectual commentary on other shared informative links (like, well . . . Engrish.com, OK?).

In trying to relay the gist of these “chats” to Tim, I realized that I had the words right in front of me and could share what was said, verbatim. So this new (for me) way of communicating, this amalgam of letter-writing and talking on the phone has the added benefit of coming with a transcript! Something I can print out and sentimentally stash away, along with Reeve’s childhood drawings, cards, and notes from camp. . .

Above: a snippet from a discussion Reeve and I had yesterday regarding a piece of music he’s working on.

#

Tags: , , , , ,

[ Comments Off ]


.
Find us on facebook Follow us on twitter
Sign up for our newsletters Subscribe to our RSS feed




     DISCUSSIONS              JOIN NOW or SIGN IN
Help me battle the green eyed monster posted by greenmom4, Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:38:01 +0000
need to know im not the only one :-( posted by totallyhadenuff, Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:05:23 +0000
Made A Change And DH Is Loving The "New" Me posted by IwannaBanRN, Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:59:54 +0000
addicted to MDC - support thread posted by kathymuggle, Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:44:51 +0000
How do you handle criticism? posted by Snapdragon, Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:04:45 +0000

Bottom Box