goodbye

panniecakes!
panniecakes!
that's what we do around here.
it's true.
my daughters and i have been known to show connoisseurship regarding griddler cakes,
and as such, no ordinary flat flapjack will do.
that's the truth.
so,
before we bounced off to Bread & Puppet for the grasshopper rebellion circus,
we had to power up with some serious syrup-slathered stuff.
and we did.
dudes!
we hadn't been to glover, vt in a few years.
it was worth revisiting.
and we were met by all the worthy active participants from the studio, too-
nate and i were there, with harvest and maple.
dylan was there, with his friend, ally.
todd and kara were there.
ian and chantal showed up, too.
that's pretty cool, if you ask me.
we had a time, we saw the sights, the show was entertaining, and draining,
but the weather was lovely and the drive was smooth.
that's a good day.
but back to brekkie-
pancakes are where it's at.
i've listed the details for my patented oatmeal coconut jauns so many times over the years.
i'll skip it, and you can search it, if you really need it-
but LOOK at what i'm on, bro:

bloobs!
chocolate chips!!
strawberries!!!
bananas!!!!
real maple mutha-ucking syrup!!!!!
i want all the things.
i need all the things.
i had all the things.
and they were all expert.
good times with good people.
a powerful presentation fo art and ideas,
handmade and homemade and homegrown and grassroots and full of attention and intention.
good food to power us throughout.
made the same , with the same dedicated dopeness infused everywhere.
that's Folk Life, man.
...and it's good for you.
***********
goodbye.
ugh.
my least favorite part of any hello, really-
it stands for 'god be with ye'....
did you know that?
it's a linguistic transition, man.
god be with ye eventually became goodbye.
i felt that it was NOT good when i said bye to my beautiful babies yesterday-
i also felt like whatever god was on duty at that moment was not watching, either.
so, i dunno what kind of words i'd rather have used-
so long? it will be.
fare well? i hope so.
take care? please.
it just hit hard, neighbors- waving away to two grown women;
girls, still, in some ways, but not at all, really-

yeah!!
everything expert.
we had a homemade sushi night, even.
and they did most of it, and it was all F*ing headed to eleven too.
they're impressive,
even if they're sometimes just this side of underexpressive around their big mouthed big poppa.
it's cool.
we can't all be the loudest at once, can we?
and then, yesterday afternoon,
we parted ways, again.
and it was awful, as always,
and the long drive back in traffic was an ordeal in empty feelings, too.
yuck.
maybe i got teary-eyed.
maybe there's a big, seething, swirling raging stormswept whirlpool of feelings flowing
around inside my cast-iron overwrought cage, kids.
i'm not sayin' that' what's up.
but i'm not NOT sayin' it either.
the transition from little to big,
from home to away,
from dependent to independent-
it all unfolded and unfurled right in front of my face.
i am grateful for the time we share.
i am greedy for more of it.
these two teens are the team i joined decades ago,
that i'm still and forever and always going to represent-
we three from the spearhead for all that follows,
and it's all really happening,
the grown-up growing, the growing pains, the painful goodbyes...
and the gods of the north and the gods of the churches and the gods of the old and the new,
all looking down and being with us.
we're not wealthy enough to pick and choose which ones,
so we'll say goodsbye if we've gotta, but i'm not one to let it rest at that.
what's next is anybody's guess, but the foundations have been laid,
so we're gonna have to all build SOMETHIN', it seems;
never quiet, never soft.....