Wednesday, April 25, 2012

NIGHT BIRDS


NIGHTINGALES
Sing at night as well as during the day.
The nightingale is an important symbol for poets , and has taken on a number of symbolic connotations. Homer evokes the Nightingale in the Odyssey:

Nightingale Song:
LISTEN
and my poem 
NIGHTBIRDS


There must be trillions of us,
all with the same inclination to wake,
wandering through nights,
mulling over events, making plans,
thinking, panning for gold
within the special silence of cities
that never truly sleep, only keep on
differently rhythmic than daytime's pace.

Long lines of refugees
seeking safety this wide world round,
soldiers shouldering their assignments,
whole armies of cleaners cleaning,
watchers watching,
 service workers servicing,
doctors and nurses toiling at their tasks 
trying to save what is broken,
taxi drivers on regular fourteen hour shifts
shifting aching bones,
 train and bus personnel
taking us where we want to be,
truckers hauling all the things we think we need 
back and forth
crossing every land route.

Look, pilots are soaring above us.
Ships plod through the waters that surround us.
Listen, can you hear the hum
as enormous energies transfer 
from factories doing twenty-four-seven
just to keep from sinking under
 tidal floods of economic collapse?
The ice is melting.

Amazing
that some still find the energy for poetry,
 for dance, for art and play.
Astounding
that this has been so for all recorded time;
people caring for one another,
responding to beauty,
loving their lives.

 Life wants to live.

Doesn't it take your breath away? 
Doesn't it send shivers right through you?  
Isn't it almost unbearable 
to let it all in,
make room for everything,
for everyone.

Remember,
leave space in between,
for what we can not see is so vast,
"infinity" is insufficiently descriptive.

Here is where silence is a useful practice,
'surrender' becomes 'skillful means',
and happiness-
the habit that might be chosen.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

PROCESSING THE WORK



OAK DYE CONTINUED

Day #3
Strained plant material
Liquid left
 Drat!
Not enough for complete submersion
 Straining cumin
 Add some
 I'll turn bundles daily
 Now,
remove tongs and reheat
and, so it goes.
Results in a few weeks.



Monday, April 23, 2012

RIPENING



The Dye Bath
DAY #1
Sunday
DAY #2
 Monday
Also ripening
Cumin
Reference:
Where This Began

"Silent Retreat"
Ten line drawings 
to be worn as tags by ten  participants

Click on this last image to test out the new method
Nancy Erisman outlined for me so that the shots can be enlarged.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

EARTH DAY EVENING


14 Minutes


MOTHER EARTH
(link might just be sound without picture)
Neal Young Sings for Farm Aid
5 Minutes


SWEET DREAMS
Some Lovely Art Images today from Laura




DYEDAY


What I did last night after supper:

Assembled Ingredients
black walnuts, variety of plant debris,
cotton sheeting-copper wire-pennies-tin cans
 Made Bundles
two tin cans together wrapped in copper wire
bundle #1
 attaching the rusty iron ring to one tin can
 bundle #2 almost ready
wrapping pennies
 like this
bundle #3
 three bundles ready when brew is ripe
Prepared The Brew
 plant debris dried and saved
 stinky, moldy once used black walnuts
brew begun
Slightly Nasty Odor
added two sprigs of red Eucalyptus
to sweeten the air for sensitive neighbors.
I might throw in some cumin in the end,
split the brew to two pots,
one with, and one without.
Then weeks of waiting for the surprise.


Saturday, April 21, 2012

REDISCOVERED



Spring Cleaning
While searching for a line drawing of two of my cats
to send off for inclusion with a prose poem of mine
for a chapbook being produced by my writing group,
I've been getting into long neglected boxes and portfolios,
using the floor to sort and organize,
and discovering a few forgotten gems
in the process

Sacred Things
This is a small print of the larger color pencil original  of 1996, which I'm still looking for!
(two close up details of this one on my picture blog today)
 
Jack's Little Orange Dog
The original water color and ink
(5X8 inches) 
I'm fond of the odd angle.
I still own the little china dog, a gift from J.C. Carruthers (deceased)

More to come as the search and  sorting continues

POST SCRIPT AT 6:30PM
FOUND 2!!
pencil with some ink outlines-both are of "Little Mary" and "Una"
wrapped around the heat pipe in the kitchen from 2000

Photographed hastily cutting off some of the line,
but they will be scanned more carefully by the editor

Enough Spring Cleaning for Today
Now
to Prairie Home Companion and supper.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012


"Worlds on worlds are rolling ever / From creation to decay, / 
Like the bubbles on a river / Sparkling, bursting, borne away."

Percy Bysshe Shelley
 "We are pupils of the animals in the most important things: the spider for spinning and mending, the swallow for building,
and the songsters, swan and nightingale, for singing,
by way of imitation."
We are pupils of all mammals
that we might develop survival technique;
of fish for learning to swim again, of reptiles
for slithering and shape shifting,
 of clouds for acclimating to constant change,
 of the stars from whence we came.

Notes
Russell, Bertrand (1972). A History of Western Philosophy, 
Simon & Schuster.





Wednesday, April 18, 2012

OF STONES

 
 
Fossils
by Ms. 
Thoughts about stones--not pillows,
nor feathers--wait--just one feather:
the way the wind sways or billows
it flies, or lands in hands together
where stitches could fashion new
form from all the forms that grow. 
Then what the fox and raven knew:
that seed to form to stone we go,
that what we reap is what we sew,
will reappear--will show, will show.
by Dana Falconberrry
 
The Petoskey Stone
A rock and a fossil, often pebble-shaped, composed of a fossilized coral, Hexagonaria percarinata.  Formed during the Devonian period 350 million years ago,
they can still be found in Michigan every


Speaking of Stones
Jude Hill is getting the Feather Quilt together,
and is planning to add
She will post a tutorial for them soon
so stay tuned to her blog



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

ANANDA




In these troubled and contentious times,
my thoughts turn back to the memory of a place called Ananda
Ananda is one of two female forms of the male Indian name, Anand. Although in practice it is often encountered as a female name, there are also many examples of it being used in lieu of Anand as a male name, for example, in the case of Ānanda,
a disciple of Buddha.

The root for the name Ananda is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Bliss' and as such, Ananda's meaning can be said to be
'great joy' or 'great happiness'.


Click on the Sanskrit to Visit Ananda



Monday, April 16, 2012

WHOSE GOING WHERE?



Click on the Pale Links to Access Sites
Trouble getting blogger to hold the colors I choose for links.
It's either them or it's me or my programs. Hey Ho!

WHO?
Embroidery, Dress, 19th Century
HERES WHERE:
SLIDE SHOW

With Musical Accompaniment




Sunday, April 15, 2012

PRAYING




The Next Generation

 You might recall that I visited The Butterfly Conservatory in Massachusetts. While there, I purchased this egg case
housed in a sealed plastic container.
The instructions say keep it in the fridge till the 15th of April,
then transfer it to a room temperature location and wait.

Approximately 100-300 babies will hatch in May (4-6 weeks). 
It's extremely important to take the container outside to the garden quickly and sprinkle them around, because overcrowded babies will begin to eat each other if you don't.
Yikes!
and
Be sure to see the exquisite flower Mantis's



Saturday, April 14, 2012

LOOK TO THE RAINBOW



The 1947 Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow
ran for 725 performances. 
Several revivals and 1968 film version followed.
Another Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009
 until January 17, 2010.

Click On Image For Each Film Clip
 The Beginning

The Finale