K is for....

Kyla - Sam's girlfriend and one of my "girls"

knitting - my Aunt Virginia taught me to knit when I was, hmmm, probably about 12 or so. I remember working on a mitten. Not mittens. A mitten. One mitten. I remember dropping stitches every row and coming down the stairs from my grandmother's home above to find my aunt in the kitchen baking, or sitting in her chair with her own knitting, the tangled mess I'd made of it held out for her to fix. I realize now the enormity of her patience. I think it helped that she had only sons during a era where boys did boy things and girls did girl things and neither the twain shall meet and I, her niece, represented her only opportunity to pass on skills that she couldn't pass on to a daughter.

For most of my life my desire to knit has ebbed and flowed with the seasons, usually hitting my peak need to "knit something" about October, when the air turned crisp and leaves start to dance in the wind. For all that, I doubt I've finished many projects through to completion and I've mainly been content to work with just basic patterns.

The last few years I've tried to have a knitting project going throughout the year and if I can find that proverbial "extra time" in my life, I'd love to take on some more complex projects.

kitchen - I've spent a lot of time in my kitchen. I've been a damn good cook in my day. Although, you wouldn't know it to see the state of my kitchen presently. I made potato salad today and found myself looking through my cabinets for a pot to boil the potatoes in with the sense of being in someone else's kitchen. "Oh, here they are!" Has it really been that long since I've used my pots and pans!? Later, looking in the utensil drawer for a spatula to scrape the last of the mayo out of the jar for the potato salad, I realized that I used to have a jug on the counter with all the wooden spoons and spatulas in it. The jug, spoons, and spatulas had taken a dive off the counter behind the stove months ago and not only had I not retrieved them, I'd forgotten they were still back there!

But let's get back to the "good ol' days" when I had pans big enough to roast a small elephant in and I was cooking daily for a family of seven. I can cook a range of foods - Midwestern comfort food, California fresh cuisine, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, vegetarian.....
I've also canned, dried, kneaded homemade bread dough, even whipped up a few cosmetics, herbal tinctures, and handmade soaps.

My kitchen is currently decorated with dozens of kitchen witches, perched or abroad her broom, ready at a moment's notice to swoop down and help brew up a magic pot of chicken soup or a sympathetic cuppa tea.

kids - five of my own. Plus nieces, nephews, assorted friend's children, neighborhood children, children's friends, group and activity kids. Kids are free thinkers. Kids have wonderful unbounded energy. Kids keep you on your toes. They're entertainment. They're life's teachers. They're zen in motion. Kids give you an excuse to learn something new, watch a corny movie, make silly faces, dress up, bake cookies, act silly. Kids are just plain ol' fun. (okay, I don't have rose colored glasses - they're not fun all the time!)

kettle - I love my water kettle. For years I've had a wonderful speckled black and white kettle and I was heartbroken when it finally needed to be replaced. It took a long time to find a replacement. My current kettle is shiny black enamel on iron and after a year or so she's finally starting to grow on me.

keepsakes - I admit it, I have a lot of them. They're hard for me to part with. I have reduced a bit. I no longer have every single picture, every single school sheet, every single letter ever written by someone I love. But I have a lot of them. And photos. And theatre ticket stubs. And maps of places we've been. And little shells and rocks and mementos and.....

knowledge - I have a thirst for it and never enough time to learn everything I want to know

kites - when I think of kites, I think of my father. He loved to fly kites.

kind - It's more important to be kind, then right. Isn't that a saying? Well, if it isn't, it should be.

karma - I believe in free will, but I also believe in karma. It's a balance in my mind, interacting. Like the nature/nurture argument, I don't think it's an either/or issue but more to what degree does each side factor into the equation. Karma can be a harsh but fair teacher. It can teach us lessons we need to learn. If we do, learn that is, hopefully we'll live our lives with the idea that it's always better to err on the side of good karma credit. And although it might not be very nice for me to admit it, on occasion it can be fun to watch someone else's karma come back and bite them in the ass.

kelp - I am utterly fascinated with kelp forests. Just ask Cindy or Deirdre, who couldn't tear me away from the swaying kelp at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I even like the kelp that washes up on the beach. I like to drag it in the sand and make long lines down the beach, swing it around in the air, tie it and twist it into designs, take photos of it all shiny and green, jump on the kelp balls and listen to the satisfying pop.

ketchup - I'm not actually a big ketchup fan myself, but I have had both siblings and children who's entire cuisine centered around the spiritual consumption of this sweet red condiment.

key - I like keys. Especially old ones. But any key, really. I have never been able to throw away a key, no matter how long I've had it, how unknown it's purpose has become, how unlikely it is I'll ever need it again. Not only do I like the physical shape and feel of a key, I like the symbolism of a key. The key to a mystery. The key to the city. The key point in the argument. The key to my heart. Keys can unlock everything from a spice cabinet to someone's soul.

knead - I used to love to knead bread dough. There's something very relaxing and mantra like about kneading dough. It's a form of meditation. We were gifted with a bread making machine a few years back and although we used it a lot in the beginning, the bread that came out of it never quite had the same "essence" as hand kneaded bread. I wish I was organized enough to find time to make my own bread again on a regular basis.

kitsch - I confess, I like the stuff. Not all of it, good heavens no! But some of it. Maybe it strikes a nostalgic spot in me. Sometimes I dream of having a home completely kitsch-free. But when, on occasion, I've actually found myself in a house that has been de-kitsch-ified, it leaves me feeling cold and unwelcomed.

kiss - kissing is nice. Not just romantic kissing, although that's great of course. But also kissing a soft baby head, or getting a slobbery baby kiss in return (more like being attacked by a sentient suction cup, really), or a happy-to-see-you puppy kiss, or a teenager-who-kisses-his-mom-in-public kiss, or kissing your lucky charm, or your own pillow after a long absence, or blowing kisses goodbye from afar

knight - and if you read that with the correct pronunciation - "kaniggit" - then you understand the reference.

kin - my kin is spread out all over and although we're not the closest family on the planet, our relationships range from deep to fond, and there's really no one who is seriously alienated or any has intense animosity towards one another amongst us. At least as far as I know. We might have eccentrics, but we don't have the type of dysfunctional issues that ruin lives either. Well, at least not anymore. Sigh. Okay, let's just say, for the most part, generally, I love my family.

know-it-all - Ahem. I have been called one on occasion.

kittens - I've certainly had more then my share of these adorable little demons