Author Archives: janishaag

Hose in hand, early eveningwatering the feast of greenery my garden goddess neighborhas coaxed into fullness along the driveway, when I seea slender, lime green insect hightail it up the vertical blackpost. I belay the shower, peer closely at the … Continue reading →

(For the conservation team of toad-raisers at the San Francisco Zoo) With faces that perhaps only other toadscould love, 118 Yosemite toads recentlyhopped into a remote meadow where their ancestors once thrived—each settleroutfitted with a nifty amphibian antennasnugly attached. Their … Continue reading →

Great Aunt Jan got to feed Henrytiny bits of avocado off her saladthe other day, lunching with Henry’s second cousin and hisgrandma, his seven tiny teethbarely grazing my finger, which, his grandma (my sister)tells me, is unusual, given thathe can … Continue reading →

You feel your bare feeton that rug, walking towardcushions that will cradle you,pillows that will prop you upjust the way you like, to cozy inwith a book off the shelf. OK, two books. Maybe three. The clear light of outsidewarms … Continue reading →

You are a guest. Leave this earth a little more beautiful,a little more human, a little more lovable, a little more fragrant,for those unknown guests who will be following you. —Osho ••• Strip the bed before you leave.Sweep. Turn out … Continue reading →

As I pause to make the turnon the labyrinth, I look upat the grand oak that watchesover this space with its brethren, spellbound, as I often am,by the graceful curves of its limbs,by its rooted dancer’s body. I want to … Continue reading →

Or maybe more of a why not?Not allowing excuses, worries,baseless what ifs? to leap liketiny toads into the mind, instead admiring the weeamphibians and their webbedfeet, seeing their slick-spotted,leafy green selves as delights,kind-spirited visitors, not asintruders to be shooed away. … Continue reading →

(for Mom, Dorothy/Darlene Haag, on her 93rd birthday) No matter how tired I find myself on a Momday,I follow her into Curves, take up a positionon an apparatus designed to exercise a specific body part. She’s already ahead of me,settling … Continue reading →

(for the artist known as Ememem of Lyon, France) He heals asphalt fractures—potholes, cracks in sidewalkand asphalt— the anonymous Frenchstreet artist who calls himselfthe pavement surgeon, using all manner of tile tomosaic everything from delicatefissures to deep crevices, stealthily ornamentingcrater-sized … Continue reading →

A lousy thing to have everyfourth of July, this silly sensitivityto loud, unexpected noise, especially fireworks/crackers/ridiculously booming boom-boomsor the simple sound of a popping balloon, and yes, earplugs canhelp a bit, but they don’t stopthe heartleap and the startled jump. … Continue reading →