Category: California
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Dahlias: a collection of my notes & photos
From my journal, August 2023: The Dahlia Dell in full bloom (2023): From my journal, July 2023: Pictures from the Dahlia Dell in full bloom (2022), and one of the volunteer gardeners tending to it: From my journal, July 2023: Pictures of the gardener in his dahlia garden in Half Moon Bay (July 2020): Today:…
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Kneeling to kiss the ground
My creative energy shifts with the seasons. The past few months I’ve been frustrated that I can’t slow down enough or find the patience to finish anything, whether it be writing, painting, or other random projects. In my darker moments I feel as though I’ve lost my creative energy entirely. But the spring season has…
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Field Notes: Monday Sunset at Buena Vista Park
[Field notes = real-time ramblings that I’m typing out on my phone and/or scribbling in a notebook. Not edited for clarity or typos or punctuation … or any semblance of coherence, really.] I look up from the never-ending flurry of Slack messages to which I’ve been responding and notice it’s 4:42pm. Fudge!!!!! Only exactly 17…
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“Why do I have so many thoughts, they are driving me crazy.”
The latest in my series of “Little Things.” 1. I’m going to start this list with a big little thing (both physically and metaphorically) … WHALES! The most success I’ve had seeing whales was two years ago off the coast of Mendocino, and since then I’ve tried multiple times in various places but to no…
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thoughts & pictures from my morning commute
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![Sometimes life surprises you [a poem]](https://maddysquish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/img_7821-1-720x478.jpg)
Sometimes life surprises you [a poem]
Sometimes life surprises you Like on Saturdays when you’re sadand the sun is nowhere to be found, So you ride your bike down to the shoreline where– growing from the sand – are signs that say, “Jazz Quartet; Follow the signs or sounds.” So you follow the sign along the trails through the waterfront park…
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Thoughts, 6/18/21
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little things, april 2021
I. blooming flowers and a friend, reminding me: you have to start somewhere. not all things are beautiful when they first begin. II. a morning walk on a summer dayin northern californiawhich means I am wearing two jackets and a hatbut you can hear the rising sun saying to the world “watch out for me…
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![A Garbage Post [Happy Earth Day]](https://maddysquish.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/fullsizerender-4-1140x855.jpg)
A Garbage Post [Happy Earth Day]
Each year I celebrate Earth Day by going on a plog. For those unfamiliar with the term, know that Thomas was as well until his edification three years ago: In previous years I visited some combination of my favorite parks nearby our house in San Francisco: Buena Vista, Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson, Sutro, Glen Canyon,…
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Little Things / March 2021
1. In a brief moment of culinary inspiration last weekend I decided I wanted to bake some scones. I’d just had my morning coffee – so the possibilities for my day were seemingly endless and I dreamt my biggest, most wild dreams – and seen an inspiring photo of local produce from Berkeley Bowl. “What…
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The world is a beautiful place
I first read Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poetry in AP Literature my senior year of high school. I can’t remember which of his poems we read (was it “Sometime During Eternity“? “Constantly Risking Absurdity“?); since then I’ve read his poems so many times that most of the words seem familiar. When I moved to San Francisco I…
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An Odd Moment of Beauty
Thoughts at the end of a busy Wednesday: I love California. So much. I’ve lived here seven years now and still have that thought almost once a day. The only problem with California is that my twin sister and best friend lives 5,351 miles and an eight hour time difference away. This is a real…