JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

Tonight at dinner…
Abigail started a spelling game: What spells T H E?
I couldn’t resist asking again:
Me: How do you spell web?
Michaela: “D A D web”
Me: How do you spell web?
Michaela: web web web
Later Michaela said: Weblog!
Tonight Ted also spent some time with Abigail, helping her hone her emerging reading skills by deciphering email headers….”To”, “From”, [...]

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Scary
a little
this new step
you are taking
as you walk in water
it seeps into your suit
the blue and green
the smell of chlorine
cold and cool
so deep the pool
the issue is trust
the instructor
wears a whistle
and lifeguard red
from the bench I watch while
she smiles
you jump off the tile and
SPLASH
into her arms:
you and I are drenched
with fresh
new joy

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The first three tomatoes are in sight…two green tomatoes on my Stupice vine - a deer favorite - are finally tinged with red. And one little yellow orb, the fruit of the Peace Vine, is ready to be picked -it glows from a distance, like an ornament on a Christmas tree - yum!
One of [...]

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Coming home after swimming lessons this morning, I walked on the front porch (since the deck is still drying) and glanced at my fountain. Then I looked again.
A few days ago I had unplugged my rock fountain, nestled inside a green water bowl by my front door. It didn’t seem to be running right, [...]

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Yesterday I happened to be on the Seattle side of the Sound, so I decided I should stop by one of the large Asian grocery stores. When we lived in Cupertino, California, we were spolied by the three large Chinese grocery stores within walking distance of our home! I still remember the first time we [...]

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Again I read another Seattle Times review and put a book on hold at the library - this time it was Douglas Coupland’s latest novel, Hey Nostradamus!
What I was hoping to find in this novel was an exploration of faith in the face of suffering. Ever since my baby brother had [...]

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In our local paper on Saturday, there was a front page article about two brothers, ages 8 and 11, who have a dahlia stand on the island. I had driven past it many times but I did not know who Zack and Eli were. If you come visit me on the island, I will [...]

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Sunday morning singing
We want to know You
Looking through the window
I see sun
shining on the maple tree
liquid light flowing through the large leaves
glowing green
with glory
I glimpse the beauty
of translucency

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Michaela has always been an articulate child, constructing sentences - complete with conjuctions - at an early age. Words are her friends and she has lots of them.
So I am surprised when, from time to time, she shrieks instead of speaking. I’ll be in one room of the house, and from the hallway or even [...]

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Deer have been eating at our convenient outdoor cafe. Tiny tree frogs have been seeking shelter on our shady porches. We disturbed them when walking on the deck and found them hiding in the fountain by the front door, green face sticking out among the stones. Last night I noticed swallows sleeping, snuggled together, in [...]

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