Landscape

Being outside feeling the pre-storm mountain barometric pressure lushness of the last budding of spring as the final trees unfurl their leaves and the shade garden is covered with intoxicatingly fragrant lily of the valley.

almost Spring

today I saw the crocuses but I think they bloomed yesterday. And I heard the peepers for the first time though others heard them the day before.

The Earth is soft, not squishy but ready.

The warm gentleness of these new days just after daylight savings is a gift. I think it might get cool again for a bit and I am sure that we will have weird and perhaps terrible weather this season, but I am looking forward to spring.

It’s odd sometimes how the equinoxes seem the least balanced because there is such an aliveness of activity. And yet the action of sun rising or setting is somehow held for a moment timeless.

Winds howl

Fierce winds swirl around the house and come up under my feet in this old room of wide plank floors basically on the earth. It is finally cold and the second day that snow has been on the ground all season.

Sorting out direction amid the wyrrd socio-economic politics of the world beyond my grasp, causes internal discordance that even strong winds cannot clear.

Woke before dawn and lay in bed longing for peace and solace. Should have just gotten up and made coffee and a fire. Now, though it is still early, the sun is already moving high and mocking my loss of the day.

One thing at a time is so hard

.

Open the door

Today is Winter. Cold and white and quiet. And yesterday was Spring, soft and warm with birds singing.

Today we fought touching cords that shattered hearts. Must be the Imbolc season of breaking.

Today I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what we have built up or broken down with words and silence. Only that there are tears, and that beneath the snow the water flows.

Today birds flock in the branches around the Bridget shrine. They fly almost cheerily there and yet are no where else about.

Today the trees silently drop piles of snow like oversized flakes and the stream gurgles loud.

weather

The hurricane came after the earthquake which was a few days after the hailstorm and violent rain. The winds were scary, even more than those of November or February. I was up most of the night visioning a protective cocoon around the house. We had no idea of the damage all around us, just trying to keep the house dry and the kids entertained and calm. We were quite fortunate.

This week has been beautiful summer – blue skies warm but not hot, though today is muggy.Thunderstorms might come and another hurricane or flooding.

People are weary, we are exhausted, the cat has left. Wish things were normal again, though, like the riverbanks, normal may never be the same.

Summer is moving on

the season is in full swing. Weeks of no rain and a week of almost 100 degree weather and days and nights of watering the garden. Finally a day of cool rain.
Tomatoes are ripening, sunflowers have just bloomed, lilies are done, weeds are everywhere.
Berries and more berries and yet it feels like the summer is slipping by.
Something in the air reminds me that autumn is coming.

the bird freed from the woodstove

Once upon a time they lived as always in this fine house.

There was a sound, loud like a spirit, from the room and then clearly from the woodstove, empty in the heat of Summer.

It seemed to be a mouse, then thought to be a bat and the large net was gathered to trap it for release.

All but one left the room.

The animal turned out to be a small bird, obviously traumatized from its attempt to escape back up the creosote coated flue.

Held for a while outdoors, gently preened it flew away leaving a small feather.

the end.

forgotten art

odd how creativity can fall off the path. A full year's cycle and so much has past. Back once again to the peas and the fences.
funny how in an instant transformation happens- the heat of a few days stretching lilies and filling out grasses. An afternoon's quick hail storm shaking everything loose.
Fruit and seeds grow. Flowers bloom again.

what a long time it has been

The winds are howling from the northeast. Taking with it whatever is not held down and hopefully also this strange restless energy, this lost feeling of damage and cold and discomfort.
This has been a challenging time between my car accident and the “whiteout/ blackout” taking with it the roof of the building on the deck and a week of catching up time. We are almost still in a directionless stupor.
This fresh March air feels good, the rushing stream is clear, and the soft earth is greening.

But these winds are scary, loudly crashing into trees, the house, and anything in its path. Louder than trucks rumbling up the road, it is a force both ferocious and unending. Rain was sideways today and trees were swaying like running giants.
Buckets of water driving across the land - but at least it is not snow. And though there are parts of the garden still snow-covered, daffodils are popping out and before long we will be raking.
The trees are budding; we have walked in the garden, and started fixed fences.

Bryan is ready to plant peas, though the lettuce planted in the cold frame is now under water. We are secretly thinking summer and ready to balance on the precipice of longer days than nights, of hard work and harvest, tee shirts and eating outside.
Glad to be home now with the family, hope the power holds out.

Harvest Home

Many posts written but never posted. The busyness of the harvest season, summer turning to winter, processing many vegetables, raking many leaves, new jobs new schedules, ever encroaching darkness.

Our harvest was unbelievable this year- mounds of tomatoes still cover the table, concord grapes filling our bellies and the fridge, there might still be some raspberries on the vines, pumpkins big and small, beans beans and more beans! Flowers everywhere. And of course mints and morning glories gone wild- taking over everthing in thier charming way.

Apples and elderberries.

Equinox with full balance, shining summer-like as we shared our garden’s bounty. Now All Hallows Eve – having made costumes and carved pumpkins- everything's a blaze of orange. Full dark mornings and eating dinner in the post twilight blue. Hard frost has now emptied the garden (except for the ever present kale), crazy winds knocked down braches (kindling for the woodstove), and we've had our first dustings of snow.

Frost in the dawn air
Crystalline grass shining white
Lone crow surveys all.

Quickly the frost kills
All the tender herbs, flowers;
But not the strong Kale.

Bright autumn sunlight
Warms through our sweater layers.
We’re grateful for it.

Orange as far as
The eye can see: pumpkins, leaves,
Carrots, fire, sun.

The root harvest in-
Nothing left in the garden
Except you and me.

bowls

I will feed my family from my bowls.

fungii

These Catskill Mountains'
cool August thunderstorms make
mushrooms abundant.

Yoga in the Rain

We have a great yoga class here most Saturday mornings and today dawned nice and cool and with perhaps a hint of rain. But we had coffee and cleared the deck and with the humidity the bugs came and as the class progressed the sweat started down my face in Warrior 1 pose in which I am reminded the strength of the warrior and that I am strong and can hold this pose and as we rested finally on the mat the rain starts very lightly, almost indistinguishable from the sweat but nicer and cooler and fresh and we each get inside what can’t get wet while we also struggle with bow pose (”lift yourself a little higher”) and then realize that we can move to under the tree and not get wet at all. And of course during Savasana the low rumble of thunder let us know that the storm would come, which it did soon after our closing om. What an amazing class.

More Art- Bigger Kids

Working at High Meadow Arts Camp with 10-13 year olds- a whole nother ballgame.
The first week, though I had set to make art cards (which we did) the boyz had other plans (which we discussed a/k/a argued about at great length.) They wanted to make props for their Zombie film although it wasn't really about zombies (who are- as we all know -the brain sucking living dead) but really nuclear blast- mutated humans just trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world. It was all about the props though, specifically the flame thrower which was not a gun but more of a chemical blaster used for protection by the only non-mutated human left. And also some other props – the story line however kept changing as did the need for supplies and though I am the Queen of Materials it was hard to keep up with these guys.
My second week was more on schedule making masks from cardboard, paper plates, leather and whatever else I could get my hands on. Much thanks to the resourcefulness of Roberta! – she is really the Queen of Materials, I am just in awe of her bins of goodies. I had two lovely girls to balance out the boys and the conversation and music were of a decidedly different tone. But we made some really cool stuff and I hope found an appreciation for materials, adhesives and the right tools – like the perfect scissors or a good xacto knife. And as always duct tape. If anyone comes out of an art class with an appreciation of the variety of uses for duct tape, they have learned a lot.
Can’t wait to see the zombie dvd-

Garden Part One

The garden is a song of color

The flower garden is now mostly yellow with all sizes of sunflower and black eyed Susans and calendulas in bloom. Some pink roses are budding again and there is still much bee balm- pink purple and red.

Did a heavy weeding in there today - pulled up the cilantro and the arugula , long past flower, spent daisys and clover, wayward grasses, overzealous morning glories and mallow gone to seed.

upcoming schedule

And besides the open studios, we have a Nature Studies workshop this Saturday 7/19 from 11am-4pm - open to basically all ages. Drawing and painting plein d'air, flora and fauna identification and illustration and nature crafts. And then a ceramics intensive the following 2 Saturdays, also from 11am-4pm. I believe that we will add another class or two in August.

Thanks again everyone for all the support and great feedback. We made tons of art, learned stuff, and got lots of new ideas for the future.

Carnage

We left out our rod puppets (aka paper mache heads on a stick) and someone thought they were tasty! Probably a racoon critic/artist. But it sure looks macabre.

It's been a week since Masks and Puppets; I hear that some kids are walking around with their masks on, some are staying in character, and some have set up the mask display. Cool.

We are in the process of figuring out what we didn't get to, what we will do again, what we'll try and if we can do another class in August.

I also am hearing good feedback from Clay, Daisys, Rocks - thanks! and everyone your ceramics are ready to be glazed so come any Friday or Saturday afternoons. I am adding Fridays from 2-6pm as more ceramics studio time. Yay me. I've got a glaze kiln cooling now and am excited to spend my day between the ceramics studio and the garden.

"I've survived! Not for long..."

The week is over

We worked hard and made good stuff

And, I hope, had fun.

Last day, wrap it up day, finish and yet bunches of new ideas come tumbling out.

Each person had to describe the attitude and name and voice of their head before it became a rod puppet (which in retrospect resembles a club - I am sorry parents) - voices came out, grunty or hissy or no voice at all. They had many eyes or "dead" eyes or eyes that were blotchy and needed to be redone.
We painted our ceramics, with palettes of primary colors and black and white for hues and shades and got the names of the colors down - not just blue but Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, Mars Black. I rarely think of painting as hard work; I could paint for days, but sometimes you just need a large brush to get it done.

Hudson gave us the beat and the silly walks manifested. Sun or rain the masks marched.

I wish that the performance of choice wasn't usually fighting or eating each other, but hey they're young boys - I prefered the silly jokes, pizza and chicken butt banter, and audience Q&A that was in the rehearsals - but perhaps my tastes are more refined than the average kid.

And even though we didn't get enough into it, the act of putting on masks is part of a whole shamanic experience; maybe we should do more ritual and history lessons. There are a bunch more stories to read to really show the importance of these art forms. Because masks are larger than life and puppets makes us laugh or act up our act out as if we were someone or something else; we stretch ourselves beyond ourselves to an alternate character. I would like to spend more time playing these roles. I want to add some movement activities to help characters dance and perhaps we should make each child bring a daily joke . But I am really impressed with all the masks and puppets and characters that the boys created. There was a lot of art and color and energy and shapes and learning and sometimes rebellion.

Thanks to all the kids and their folks who drove daily to the boonies. Thanks for coming.

And just because this week is over doesn't mean all the creativity stops. The Urth Arts non-walls stay up all the time.