{"id":5948,"date":"2015-02-02T22:46:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T21:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/?p=5948"},"modified":"2015-02-02T22:46:57","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T21:46:57","slug":"introspection_where_im_from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/2015\/02\/02\/introspection_where_im_from\/","title":{"rendered":"Introspection: Where I’m from"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Photographing with Heart and Vision<\/i> workshop, we did a writing exercise based on the poem Where I’m From<\/i><\/a> by George Ella Lyon.<\/p>\n

This is not the kind of thing I normally post here, and much of it will make sense to no one else but me. But as I keep reminding myself, this blog is for me, not for you.<\/p>\n

\nI am from two rooms and a kitchen in a gray concrete apartment block.
\nFrom the oak tree outside the kitchen window
\nand the chestnut tree behind the house
\nwhere you could climb as high as the third floor.<\/p>\n

I am from endless summers in Kiisa –
\nfrom the bowing peonies and fragrant lilacs,
\nfrom the kitchen garden with potatoes and strawberries,
\nfrom the grass between my bare toes.<\/p>\n

I am from oatmeal and boiled potatoes and rich rye bread,
\nfrom strawberry jam and cake batter and crumbly berry pies.<\/p>\n

I’m from white knee socks and dark blue school uniforms,
\nfrom occupation and doublespeak.
\nFrom truths that all the adults knew, but that I as a kid couldn’t make sense of.
\nFrom queueing for milk, and no cheese today,
\nfrom hoarding soap and sewing thread.<\/p>\n

I am from my father’s beard,
\nfrom the smooth tan and soft smell of my mother’s hands.<\/p>\n

I’m from crossword puzzles and crocheting with Grandma,
\nfrom hand-knitted socks and scratchy woollen hats.<\/p>\n

From distant, bemused benevolence;
\nfrom heavy expectations of greatness.
\nFrom bullying, and from accidental friends for life.<\/p>\n

I am from books, more books,
\nbooks read aloud by my mother,
\nfrom musty, silent libraries,
\nfrom walls lined with bookshelves.<\/p>\n

I am from uprooting and moving,
\nfrom a country that no longer exists,
\nfrom a family tree with half its roots torn off.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the Photographing with Heart and Vision workshop, we did a writing exercise based on the poem Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon. This is not the kind of thing I normally post here, and much of it will make sense to no one else but me. But as I keep reminding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-observing_the_self"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5948"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5951,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5948\/revisions\/5951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.toomik.net\/helen\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}