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A photo posted by Zoe Krylova (@zoekrylova) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:43pm PST

music monday

it's december. the last month of the year. sensing a call to step into this month with more intention. so easy to slip into auto pilot these busy days. so easy to speed past all the details. there is the destination, but the landscape of the journey makes the story. so many details in that landscape.

this evening i found myself reflecting on a musical year. every year brings new music into my life and as this year approaches its close i find myself thinking about its soundtrack. details in the landscape of 2014.

on december mondays i hope to share some of my favorite music from this past year.

lately i have been enjoying j mascis newest album, "tied to a star." i love it that so many musicians of my generation continue to be powerful and passionate. i feel less old when the rock programming of the local university station is playing the work of musicians my age! i once saw a very loud dinosaur jr in a seattle tavern and am loving the new contrast to that memory in mascis solo career. as aptly stated in a rolling stone article, "mascis is now as skilled at quiet as he is with loud." 

one evening i was in twisted branch tea bazaar, beloved local chill zone, when i heard  sharon van etten for the first time. thus a new obsession was born. she can trill snark in the sweetest of tones! i saw her perform at the jefferson in october and was definitely one of the top shows of the year. her live voice is incredibly mesmerizing and she sure can hold a note. 

another awesome show i caught at the jefferson was  phosphorescent, a singer who has had me under his spell for some time. i'm a sucker for troubadours of jaded lyrics, psychedelic reverb, and sparkling cowboy boots. his latest album, muchacho, is definitely a master work of songwriting.

sorry for the brevity, but i started this post a bit too late in the night! more favorites to come next monday!

a little bit of skye

anyone who is a friend of mine on social media knows all about our new dog, skye, as the postings for the last three weeks have been naught else. 

and three weeks it will be exactly, tomorrow, on thanksgiving, from when we adopted her from the atlantic region central border collie rescue.

we are indeed very thankful to have this amazing kindred spirit and gentle soul join us. 

this is the first time we met skye. amazing with tristan and tashi and so very, very happy to make our acquaintance. it was love at first sight. she has her paw on tristan's lap here, letting us know that we are to be her humans.

and this is adoption day. we picked her up at her foster mom's workplace in charlottesville, and drove home with a new baby. we were all smiles.

we don't know much of her back story. she is not quite two, possibly a pure red border collie, or maybe has a little bit of something else mixed in. she is recovering from a leg injury that likely resulted from a car. she is not supposed to run just yet, but this girl sure wants to bound and sprint in the great out of doors! that is our biggest challenge, encouraging her to take it easy when we are out in nature.

and she now makes ours a house of three pets. luna and loki cat were a little put out, but frankly, are taking it so very much better than i could have ever imagined. the cats co-exist in the same room as her,  cautiously slip past her, and sometimes tell her who is boss. skye is totally passive around them, but for an occasion or two when she seems to want to play. the cats are not quite ready for that!

this girl gets us out the door, rain, shine, or sleet, at 6:30 am, at 12:30am, and many times in between! i have listened to the immense silence of the night, gazed at the brightest of stars, listened to birds in the brush, and awakened to a cold blast of dawn in the throat, while walking our new dog. i am so grateful for this link to nature.

we love snuggling with her and brushing her thick auburn coat. she is comfortable when our eyes lock with her icy blue orbs and likes to give us lots of kisses. she is beyond sweet and such a welcome friend. 

and she is a super-model, yes. we have joined charlottesville's downtown mall dog culture and can't seem to get very far before someone is crooning over her and setting up their tripod!

she is a nearby comfort  in the home and a great mate on the trail. 

we welcome skye, and look forward to all the new places she'll lead us!

Festy Festivities

in a stroke of radio-ticket-give-away luck, dan and i won passes to the saturday festy. 

we purchased a pass for tashi (tristan was free) and on a cool, rainy, gray saturday, 

we headed toward some inner sunshine. destination: one hour south.

i loved how contained it was, so family friendly and manageable. 

the all day fire pit was a great feature.

two stages, music switching between them, great stuff throughout. 

one of my favorites was the shook twins. 

tristan was inspired by the wall climbers. 

and gave it a try himself. several times over.

such a stunning setting, the blue ridge mountains. 

with bubbles 

these guys were fantastic: noam pikelny & stuart duncan. 

paper bird on the southern stage was magical. 

i was way in the back hanging out with tristan among the refurbished pallets, 

and then in the kids area, but the sound was great everywhere.

tristan was having fun, but put on his sad face as soon as i aimed the camera at him.

next up on the main stage, anders osborne.

twilight set in while i waited for my harvest wrap from the South Fork Food Truck. 

it sure was tasty. 

and then the infamous string dusters kicked in and tashi and i hula hooped for hours. 

hula hooping with one's teenage daughter is a peak parenting experience, i must say.

we drove home in the dark, damp night, the light inside a little brighter.

Secret Reading Series 7 (and an outtake)

Secret Reading Series   :::   Nightshift 7

I love music and seeing musicians perform. I admire those that can deliver their words thus. 

Sometimes when I write a poem that I'm satisfied with I want to run out and read it at an open mic. Even though I nearly die whenever I have to speak out loud in front of a group of people.

In cities past I used to run out and read freshly written poems. Open mics often satisfied that inspired longing to share the words, whether with strangers, or community. Reading in front of people broke the isolation. It made me feel more rock & roll. 

So as a way of meeting that urge now, I bring you the Secret Reading Series. 

Secret Reading Series 7 from Zoe Krylova on Vimeo.

And an outtake!

Outtake: Secret Reading Series 7 from Zoe Krylova on Vimeo.

fall fiber festival and montpelier sheep dog trials

i've been hearing about the fall fiber festival for years and we finally managed to 

make our way there this past weekend. 

what a paradise of wooly animals, knitting supplies, colorful yarns, and border collies! 

there was an informal picnic gathering of tristan's waldorf kindergarten, so we enjoyed some noms while watching the very entertaining herding dogs do what they love most. 

this is our border collie:

this is someone else's:

it was a beautiful autumn day full of family, friends, and fibers!

and tashi drove the whole 28 miles home from the festival. my heart stopped only twice. 

once out of nervousness and another time because my girl is so grown up!

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Secret Reading Series 6

Secret Reading Series   :::   Nightshift 6

I love music and seeing musicians perform. I admire those that can deliver their words thus. 

Sometimes when I write a poem that I'm satisfied with I want to run out and read it at an open mic. Even though I nearly die whenever I have to speak out loud in front of a group of people.

In cities past I used to run out and read freshly written poems. Open mics often satisfied that inspired longing to share the words, whether with strangers, or community. Reading in front of people broke the isolation. It made me feel more rock & roll. 

So as a way of meeting that urge now, I bring you the Secret Reading Series. 

Secret Reading Series 6 from Zoe Krylova on Vimeo.

leaf turning

the blog posts have become so few and far between. 

i find that amidst processing photos and trying to come up with the right words, i sometimes spend several hours pouring over a single entry. those are hours i simply don’t have any more.

this blog has been a place to share my domestic world and my community. crafts with children. light filled corners of my home. baked goods fresh out of the oven. thrifting finds. play dates. travels and travails. the seasons. thoughts on the peacefulness, and sometimes the struggles, of a family life. 

but those long daunting and delicious days of parenting have diminished as my five year old boy comes home five days a week tired and titillated by kindergarten, and my sixteen year old girl curls up on the couch with her head deep in text books & online assignments & formulas & figures.

my job fulfills some of my creative inclinations. as product photographer i am learning things about light and settings and photoshop i've never had opportunity (or real interest) in prior. as social media coordinator i find myself stimulated by engaging content having to do with art, animals, conversation, and reuse. there is repeated opportunity to turn a phrase and bring my writing skills to the page. and if i am going to learn about marketing at least it is through an original and awesome product designed by artists. 

my doula work is something that keeps my heart open, involves me in the most nourishing aspects of life, and keeps my hands on the true pulse of creation. i am so grateful for and honored by each experience that comes my way in the realm of childbirth and healing work.

but how to make this blog an active creative outlet again? how to do it so it remains thoughtful and honest when days are so filled to the brim? perhaps some of what i have mentioned will work itself into themes, brief though the content may be. 

kids on two opposite ends of the school spectrum. a new career unfolding. continued healing and birth work. a secret reading series. trying to find peaceful moments in the tumult of activity. 

as the leaves  begin to change and the acorns knock, 

may a fresh perspective and tune ring out from these pages!

(all the photos but for the family photo were  conveniently taken with my phone!)