www.speargrass.org

2013...

Hallo allemal. So we have not dropped of the face of the Earth. Still in the Netherlands. Europe so obviously the homeland of the forefathers of colonialism. Whoo. Nice beer and fun language and decent bikes but wow, am I going to be happy to shake the North American, Europa stink off and go to the edge of the world in my Papa's native land of Australia next year. Same fascism different pile though. The aborigines in the Northern Territories are looking like they are in the same boat (less snow) as our Nunavut residents in Canada. Wow. The outback is BIG though and there are mango trees and you can grow your own coffee and grow your own children (or let them free range a little more anyhow) so that is the (hopeful ) plan. Any musicians coming our way I can book you 3 or 4 shows in the region and over some borders  and we can host you and feed you while we are here and that could be a fun way to spend the rest of our time mired in "austerity", the collapse of the euro experiment and frothy cappuccino land. Email me at shanandmany@gmail.com if you are interested in doing or attending a show here in Maastricht or area. XO

it's me again :)

i just couldn't resist ;p

how are things going ? how is the wee baby ?
it sounds like the kids are having fun in your big backyard with the sledding !
are you enjoying your cosy home ? not long until baby comes ? so when you are having your 6th wee one, do you still get the the urge to nest before babies birth date ?

me :)

Hi Shan, its me Melissa :)

Not sure what I did to be able to post on your blog - but HI! :)

Your 'ramblings' sound great so far :D

I hope your last guitar lesson went well.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

Danyon would love to get together with Kai soon !

How was your trip to ?Holland? I hope it was everything you were hoping for.

Take care,

me :)

PS - I wont post here anymore, I just couldnt resist being a guest blogger :D
I'll send you an invite to my blog as soon as I am posting again :D

Some are Old and Some are New

Yesterday I turned 40 - my younger sister has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. The opportunity to gloat, and tease about being young still while I am now relegated to officially old. Funny, I feel young - and much younger than I did at 28, slogging through a custody trial, cyclical depression, poverty, loss of identity, and general fatigue, both mental and physical.
It has always been a tradition in my family to joke incessantly with the approaching 40 year mark - though tongue in cheek I have always disliked the implication, that 40 was where the hill started to go down and everything about you started to decline. I feel so opposite of this - I finally have a true sense of myself, I am in a strong and loving relationship. My husband is a terrific guy and father who took quite awhile for me to find; not until after the birth of my first two children. So there are a lot of years where life dragged on me, not because I was a single Mom so much, as the tiring actions and words of outsiders with widely exaggerated perceptions of who a single parent is and the assumption that life is constant hardship without the moments of joy felt by coupled families.

I am not battling with cyclical depression anymore - my body still plunges and rises from the depths of what has become apparent as a hormone swing, but I do not battle it anymore and it does not control my life. It comes a few times a year, I acknowledge its presence with a wry and knowing smile, my husband, my friend, reminds me I will come through the other side soon. I get on with life as usual and it slips silently away without much ruckus.

I am pregnant with my 6th baby and am looking forward to this life spilling out of me and into our daily, righteous, adventurous chaos. The other 5 children and and the 2 dogs, the cat and my husband and I have learned to let go and accept whatever comes. We are experienced homebirthers (birth stories and pictures to come in another future entry), home and community based learners and go with the flow travelers and neighbors. It is hard to feel "old" when you are growing new life in a verdant womb. I ovulate more than once a month - this baby was conceived the day after my period ended, proving my body isn't following the stereotype of "getting old and drying up", not yet. Because my body is feeling like doing the job of a fertile young animal, we were grateful for the vasectomy my husband chose to get this past Summer. We want the opportunity to have space to give these kids what they need and eventually foster more, when we move onto a farm one day. I also want to keep my teeth :) and though pregnancy and breastfeeding have been healthy for me overall, especially my mind, my back teeth seem to be suffering the depletion of limited resources. It rings true to me though, what Jeannine Parvati Baker says in her book Prenatal Yoga and Natural Childbirth. I cannot remember the exact wording but something to the effect of it being a shame that we get really good at pregnancy and birthing just when it is time for our bodies to stop reproducing.

I no longer think of more babies as more work; I think of them as my fuel and my purpose and my community. I have always envisioned my 40s as being a great time to have a baby - because of that gradual dawning of what really matters to me personally, the letting go of drama and battles entangled in identity, ego, and perceived illness (depression). More room to enjoy and understand the little person not as only an adjunct to myself. Life is now and kids are VERY now and I take pleasure in finding the sacred in the mundane on a daily basis. Early this morning in the bath with my toddler nursling baby, I re-read the wise words of Dr. Suess in our bath book One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - "some are black and some are blue, some are old and some are new...from there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." That is how I see age, not a problem to overcome, not a hill to descend, but a fun and funny adventure where it all exists, new and old, sacred and mundane, the easy and the challenging. I am up for it all now, even the teasing...

I am not practicing

The house is quiet. All the kids are with my husband, at the 'Y', swimming, eating granola bars, the baby probably crawling around gleefully at his feet, on the dirty floor. I have my 4th and last guitar lesson (for now) at 6 pm. I have to bus down there and I was planning on using this rare time alone to finally practice. I think my guitar teacher knows I'm a bit of lost cause. Seriously...it took me 2 weeks to get the C major scale down without pausing several times. My problem is that I have NO time to practice and all guitar players and teachers tell you, the only way to learn and sound fluent is practice practice practice. Then I get my chance and I am here in front of the computer wishing I could get out of the lesson, because I feel too pressured to practice.That is why I am not going to take any more lessons for awhile. Just focus on practicing whenever I can with no hang ups about pleasing my mostly laid back, definitely stoned guitar teacher. I mean really, that 's why I unschool any of my 5 kids that want to be unschooled. I want them to learn for their own sake, without the agitation of pleasing others and performing or producing something you have no personal interest in. Bottom line though, I am a procrastinator and I need to at least try and get through the exercises in time. I WILL go and practice now, for 30 minutes, then hop on that bus and go to the lesson prepared or not; and treat myself to hemp balls next door to the music shop whether I fall on my ass or not.

First Entry

This is me...I don't like the word blog...it sounds like blob and log...ewww.

But what the hay...let's get real...who cares and how many people are going to read this...simple meanderings, angry hot flashes, nursing tips, and funny stories about my 5 kids and pets and husband and out-laws and in-laws and sisters - old and new.

Here I am. Where are you?