the details

I've been really enjoying writing this blog - the bits about being an unschooler, my childhood memories, and the fun things about living in this park. I went for a long walk yesterday through the neighborhood, and realized that when I am keeping this blog in mind I notice so many more little details than I might not have noticed before. Or maybe I would have noticed, but not stopped and taken the time to have a moment, or experience, or appreciation.

When I was little my Grandma got me a book called "Being a Naturalist." It had a dark green canvas-y cover, and I remember feeling reverent every time I touched it. It had big, beautiful photos of poppies and deer and forests, and suggestions on how to fully appreciate nature yourself. It talked about getting sketchbooks and colored pencils, about sitting still in one place... I know that for a little while after she gave me that book, I drew pictures of a lot of plants.

Not too long after that, I read Harriet the Spy for the first time. I was smitten. That was it. Although I had kept a journal since I was about 5 years old, this was the real beginning of Roya The Journalist. I carried a notebook around and wrote down the *specifics* of things that I saw - minute details, concrete and observable specifics.

When I was about 16 I read Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones for the first time. I slept with it underneath my pillow for a long time after that. I'd read bits and pieces throughout the day as inspiration. She talked about writing specifics, too - writing for ten minutes without stopping, and using that exercise to really notice. Not "the coffee cup" but "the 5" mug with the large flat handle that fits my hands, has cerulean glaze with a raw bottom, that I bought at the Los Feliz farmer's market on Vermont St. on a Saturday that broke the record for heat that year, and I also bought raspberries..."

It's always a balance between the little details and the big picture. I've been thinking about that a lot as I write these blog posts - the big pictures are my unschooling principles, my relationship ideals, my vision of what I want my family and home to look like, who I am as an unschooler, crafter, wife, explorer, writer. The little details are - that day I first walked into Cypress College, what's currently on my knitting needles, the taste of the loquat I found on my walk yesterday. These pictures of the bark on tree trunks - that caught my eye as I was walking up Fern Dell.