November 3rd

Orion hangs high
as cold darkness surrounds me
this November morn.

But light is just a breath away
as the deep blues of the night recede
and the first and the last of the colors are revealed.

November Runs

The best part of a November morning run is seeing the bald eagles.  There's a 1/3 mile stretch that I always see them at, as the northern lakes freeze and they migrate through.  This morning,  I heard two of them chattering back and forth before I even rounded the bend and saw them.   There were two sitting on a branch chattering like two old women.  And a third in the next tree over.  Then further down,  another eagle flew off low over the lake.   Magical.

Moon thru the Clouds

Solar Eclipse

Well this girl didn't see the solar eclipse today,  but I did walk out to my garden at 1:06pm and picked the beautiful Valencia tomatoes.   They're one of my favs and as pretty as the eclipse, right?

Fathers Day with Dad 2017

I was so fortunate to be able to spend Fathers Day with my dad.  We took him to the farm he grew up on and walked the land he used to run around as a boy.  It was a pretty special day.

The Miracle of Life

Geraldine made a nest in our flower pot down on the dock.   Yesterday,  we were blessed to see new life as 10 ducklings hatched.  It really is incredible to see them come out of their shell.   When they pushed themselves out, their necks were like a newborn baby.   But soon,  they were moving around.   They launched this morning,  but only 7 of the 10 made it thru to the launch.  Still a miracle. Hope to see them again

100 Days + 9 beads

Well, here you go 100 days + 9 beads later; The Singing Lights

Gratitude 3

Mrs. Mallard  04.23.2017

Magnolia on Night Sky 04.18.2017

Day 90 of The 100 Day Project

10 more days.    Wow. 

Grateful 2

I am grateful for:
The chorus of frogs that started last Friday.
The lost female wood duck at our front door.
This day.
Saturday with our grandson, blowing out eggs & dying them wirh onion skins.
My wonderful husband.
The 7 wood ducks swimming in the cove.
My morning runs.
The beautiful April snowfall last Monday.
The chickadee nesting in the birdhouse.
The magnolia tree against the night sky.
The stories & music of David Wilcox.
The circle of life. 

Day 80 of 100 Day Project

Not sure I'll be done in another 20 days.   My better half tells me that I should have the Creator in the middle of the piece.  So I'll  lay it out and think about that.   My original thought was to have the Creator on the left so my guess is I'll keep it that way,  but...

Day 70 of 100 Day Project

More to come later.

Grateful 1

I just read an article that stated a person should write 5 things a week that they are thankful for.  Being grateful creates happiness.   So here goes. On Monday, I was out for a quiet morning run.  I've been missing running outside and finally the trails were clear and I was well enough over my cold to run outdoors.  As I was on my return, just past the Lafayette drive, I heard a thumping noise above me.   I looked up and saw and heard the thumping wings of a pair of low flying swans.  They were big and it made me appreciate the effort they expend to fly. 

04.01.2017  Postscript to Grateful1
A beautiful full fox ran across the road near the minister's house on Wednesday morning while on my run. It's tail was full and flying.
The health of my parents, my husband, and all my extended family.
The beautiful warm sunshine today.
Getting my garden planted; beets, radishes, carrots, peas, kale, and swiss chard.

Day 60 of 100 Day Project

I need to start on some of the detail work but I'm still felting.  I'll probably finish the main form of the tree today.   Then, the eagle, the river, and the crewel work.   Still not sure how this is going to look at the end, but I'm moving forward.  The coloring of the coyote looks pretty good.   I decided to nix the fox, the Moose, and the rabbit.  I was thinking about animals that were important to the Native American Indians, so Bear, Bison, Beaver, Coyote, and Eagle have made the cut.

Day 50 of the 100 Day Project

Well, things are starting to come together a little more.  I worked on the Buffalo and the Bear first because those two animals were important to the Native American Indian culture. I didn't even think about the buffalo until recently, but it's an important addition.   The cub on the bears back was inspired when I went online to look at pics of bears to see what kind of tail they have.  I ran across this charming pic and it reminded me of the little cub that hung over the raft while my dad, my brother, & I were in our waders fishing for salmon in Alaska in 1996.  So I added the little guy.  I'm not sure if the cow moose will be part of the  piece.  That remains to be seen.   I also made a red blanket but that may or may not make the cut.  My original thought was to have it hang over the Creator's arm but I'm not digging that.   I decided to add a border so I'd have a little more room for the animals.   And I have the cream rope edging may be braided and used or may not make the cut.  This piece has been a little more challenging than last year's piece as I did not have a clear vision on what this was gong to be when I started and I still don't.   But that's the creative process.  Btw, Full Moon was this morning.

Day 40 of 100 Day Project

I have been working on the basic shapes of the animals, as well as tweaking the creator.  The Buffalo and Bear were made out of a very coarse wool with actual hay bits in.   I needle felted and then wet felted it to take it down.  I'll most likely add some additional felt with color and of course some beadwork.

Day 30 of The 100 Day Project

Well, the bear is gone, for now. I ended up with an old man creator.   I actually had the face look a little more non descript earlier, as it had looked like it could be either a man or a woman and I liked that.   Somehow when I was messing with it, it transformed into a man's face.   I think it's the nose, so I may try to work it back to  either being a man or a woman.   Next I'll be working on the water, the staff, and some animals.   I'm not quite sure how that will shake out as i don't have the vision yet, but each 10 days is a journey, one step at a time.  Speaking of one step, this first pic I took I didn't notice that the one foot was askew.  While it's a little extreme, I may go with that.

The Singing Lights

Here is the Apache story of The Singing Lights, as told by Tony Duncan, an Apache flutist and hoop dancer..  It is a beautiful story of the creation of the stars.  Check out Tony's Native flute music and his hoop dancing at www.tonyduncanproductions.com

"There was just the Sun and the Moon and they were trading places. The Sun would come up, illuminating all the life, bringing light to all the earth.  And when it got tired, it would set to the west and Grandmother Moon would come up, Light of Beauty, Light of Wisdom and throw a beautiful light over Mother Earth.  At that time, they would go back and forth, trading responsibility for lighting the Earth.  Grandmother Moon became tired after many, many times until she was a small tiny sliver.  She was really tired and it was at that time when all the Earth was stark and  there was darkness.  All the little animals could just barely see and they started to bump into each other.  They started to lose their trail home. They got lost and they lost their arrows for the hunting for their families.  They would miss because they weren't able to see their target.  So this got all the animals very concerned.  They weren't able to provide for their families.   Many of them became lost and they lost their different family members.  They'd have to wait for the Sun to come up to find them.  

It was at that time, that all those little animals started to pray. They all met right next to a steam and they got down on their knees and prayed to the Creator.   And the Creator came down and stood before then and said thank you for coming into prayer and he asked them what they needed.   They told him that at the time when Grandmother Moon would become tired, that they would lose their trail and that their arrows wouldn't hit.  So the Creator, being very wise, had this staff that he walked with.  He put that staff into the water and started to swirl that water around and as he touched the staff into the water, all one little pebbles, those stones that are on the bottom of that stream, began to glow beautiful colors of yellow, green, purple, blue, and red.  The stones got brighter and brighter - very, very bright.   All the little animals of the night put their hands over their eyes, as it was so bright for them. Pretty soon, he lifted his staff out of the water, put it into the sand, reached into the water, and picked up all those stones that were glowing.  They were blessed by the hand of the Creator. He showed all those little animals these were going to be the helpers of Grandmother Moon.  When she becomes tired, these little singing lights will sing beautiful songs.  They will be so very beautiful.  But they're going to be so far off, that you'll only be able to see them with a twinkle with your eyes.   So he showed all those little animals these bright beautiful lights.  Then he threw then up into the sky, painting all those images of all the animals in the night sky.   

They say when Grandmother Moon becomes tired now, you see the beautiful stars and if you're very quiet you can still hear the songs of the stars."  

Day 20 of 100 Day Project

Well my project has taken a few different turns.  I wet felted the base after laying the layers of color onto the indigo base.  While wet felting usually creates a very different result than what is laid out, I think by having a needle felted base, or allowed me a little more control.  I loved the result.

I decided to use the Apache story i heard a year ago as a theme, a opposed to animals in a winter forest.  I was thinking of making the yellow bear the creator, but thought the yellow may be too vibrant against the night sky. So I thought of doing the base in brown and adding the yellow on top of the base in order to tone it down a bit.   I cut out paper bears to get the scale right and then felted for several days.  The result was a bust.  I wanted a 3D bear and while I can use the bear. He won't be making an appearance in this project.  So I was back to square one.  How to make the creator.   I thought I'd try to make a nondescript figure with a robe, but that looked like Sasquatch, so he's out too.   I did remember seeing a beautiful piece at a home of a neighbor of a friend of mine.   I think it was needlepoint and while I don't recall exactly, I believe it was a woman's profile in the night sky.   So I made a man.   Hmm,  maybe he should become a she.  This is rough and may transform into something different, but this is what I have so far.  I think I'll still need a yellow bear somewhere, but we'll see.  This is always a journey with a different outcome than I envision at the beginning.   I'll do another post with the beautiful Apache story soon.  It deserves it's own post.

Day 10 of the 100 Day Project

While this pic was taken on Day 12, not Day 10, not much has changed, other than it got a tad larger.  The theme for this year's project is "When Dreams & Darkness Meet".  Before I knew the theme, I decided to do a scene of a gathering of animals in a winter forest at night. I wanted to do a beautiful night sky, snow laden trees and animals.   However, the other day, we were in Chimayo, NM.  It is a very small village with an old beautiful authentic chapel.  It's also a little artist's haven, about 20 miles from Sante Fe.  There are numerous studios at artists homes that one can visit.    We ran across a carver/bronze sculptor's studio named Marco Oviedo.  http://www.oviedoart.us/AboutMarco.html

There was one piece that hit me.   It was a golden/umber bear with a fish in one hand and a heart in the palm of his other hand.   Marco's wife came over told us the piece was entitled  "Equinox" and spun the near around and there was a bald eagle on the other side.  The two animals represented night and day. Between the two hearts of the animal was a bronze mocassin with the symbol of the Spider Woman.  She is in the Creation story of a number of Native American tribes.  While the stories may vary from one tribe to another, here is one that found.   http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheSpiderWomanandtheTwins-Hopi.html

After seeing the golden bear, I am mighty tempted to make him the main element of my piece.   But now I'm not so sure.   I recall hearing  story last year while in AZ about the creation of the night sky.   I taped the account, so I think tonight, I'll listen to it again and make a decision as how to proceed.  Perhaps it will be a blending of the two forms of inspiration. 

January

The Green Man

January.  I pulled up the meaning of January and according to Wikipiedia, January in Latin is Ianuarius and is named after the Latin word for door (ianua), since January is the opening of the door to the New Year.  Somewhat related to that thought is the following;  I happened to catch a few minutes of an interview with a local author on the radio while I was driving to the Arboretum the November morning the MN Herb Society decorated the holiday tree. The interview was with author, Shelley DeWees.  She had written a book on 19^th century women authors titled “Not Just Jane”.  As I was pulling into the Arboretum, the author commented   “You can only look out the window thru a frame”.  Shelley was speaking about how an author’s life experiences influence their writing, even if their writing is fictional.  However, the statement caused me to pause and reflect and when I parked the car, I jotted the phrase down.  After all, it is the frame that makes the view interesting.  It brings to mind a day in April this past year.  We were at a service at the Basilica in Downtown Minneapolis and the day was particularly dreary.  But as the doors were opened after the service, the surprise and beauty of the white snow in contrast with the dark somber lighting of the Basilica was magnificient.  It wasn’t necessarily the view outside, but the beautiful framing of the view that made it a scene to be remembered.  Whether one is pondering the year ahead, looking thru a camera lens, or just looking out your kitchen window, the frame is just as important as the view.  The past and present coexist.   

I received an email in December from Sivertson's Gallery in Grand Marais.  Many of you know it well as a hot spot on the North Shore.  The email was titled "The Celebration of Light".   That phrase hit me, as we are celebrating the yin & yang of darkness & light right now.  Darkness pulled at the light thru the Solstice and now, light will be pulling at the darkness during these January days, the days of the Door to the New Year.  And that gives me hope.  

There are many little Celebrations of Light that give me hope.  We fill our homes with candlelight and the dancing flames of fires to chase away the darkness of these Winter nights.  The Winter skies light up with color as the sun both rises and sets.  The fresh snow creates a glitter of a million diamonds on the open fields.  The moonlight lies still on our slumbering Winter gardens.  And during the morning and the late afternoon hours, the beautiful hues of the blue shadows fall elongated on the snow.  While it’s cold outside, these scenes remind us of the beauty of the austere landscape of this season.  And they remind me that while it is Winter, a season that many of us wish was shortened or didn’t exist at all, the light is coming.  We can have hope for the sun and hope for life that it will bring.   So, sit back with a cup of tea and a good book and enjoy this season of rest.  Enjoy the herbs and veggies from your garden that you dried or put up last fall.  And remember, “You can only look out the window thru a frame”

The long blue shadows

Lie upon crystallized snow

As frost frames my view.

A haiku that I formulated while on an early winter run – my brain has to do something during my runs

 

 

Winter Wonderland

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.