in a week of STILL blog appearances on some pages (star tribune), and in some blogs (french by design, SfGirlByBay, wit & delight), that i have only previously admired from afar, i have to say, i received some attention from a couple of unexpected quarters that surprised and moved me as much as all the rest. this afternoon, my 80-something neighbor stopped by, after reading my feature in the minneapolis star tribune, and he was concerned that i might be having trouble finding still blog subjects this late in the winter. so he dropped off a handful of black walnut shells, and worn oak fragments, to supplement my diminishing late-winter gatherings. then, about an hour later, gayle and denise, who clean our house every two weeks, arrived with a surprise in a ziploc bag. gayle’s ancient and beloved horse had lost a molar in the midst of a tooth cleaning, and her first thought, to my utter delight, was that maybe mary jo would be interested in seeing this tooth, with its black cavity and its eroded roots. women bond over lots of superfluous things. shopping. cell phones. shoes. margaritas. but i’d trade all that for more women who will bond with me over the shed molar of their favorite horse.

horse tooth beside and joseph’s recently lost twelve-year-old molar