things grow

Nineteen years ago today it was yet another burning day in an early-September heat wave. But I didn’t really notice because I was in an air-conditioned hospital room, pacing around restlessly and trying to have a baby. (For anyone out there who has not yet had a baby and thinks they might like to try someday, my number one piece of advice is: Keep walking. No, I mean while you’re having the baby. Oh, never mind.)

Fortunately around the middle of the afternoon I succeeded in having the baby, with, frankly, only minimal discomfort, and as a direct result I now have a college sophomore. Yes, it is amazing, thanks for noticing. I mean, not that I actually did much of anything to bring this about–he’s been smarter and more determined than me most of his life so my primary task has been to keep out of his way and let him get on with it.

A huge amount of creating anything, I’ve found, just involves waiting while things grow. Waiting, and watching and listening, to see what shape things want to have, often gets you a lot further than jumping in and trying to wrestle things into the shape you think they ought to have. Remind me of that, the next time I have writer’s block. Or a baby.

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moonlight in the lab…
the engineering students
plot trajectories

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theater of the absurd all the roles played by the moon

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between
the spokes
of the bicycle
the rays
of the moon

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happy birthday to b.a.o.