Life is Education, Ongoing.

Deep down we all hug something.  The great forest hugs its silence.  The sea and the air hug the spilled cries of sea birds.   

Emily Carr, "Klee Wyck."

Somebody has been busy in the woodshed.  When I brought in wood yesterday, I uncovered this cache of figs, perfectly dried.  They even smell good!  Somebody knows how to dry figs and to stash them in the cedar and eucalyptus wood. 

I am learning to use my camera.  Today I went out to the garden with the settings on something different than the usual "A" for automatic-camera-does-all-the-figuring.  I am not interested in fiddling much with the images.  As I told my son this evening, I am "old school" in that I do the composition in the view finder.  Really, I do my best work with black and white.  The digital is certainly a leap into techno-reality that I hadn't considered doing.  Of course to him, "old school" means long boards or something. 

This is an embarrassing story:  we were in the car, parents in the front, boys in the back, maybe a girl in there, too(this when the boys were...11 & 13? approx ten years ago).  I was driving, paying some attention to the S. Fitch Mountain road, because it could be treacherous or I might run over a squirrel, when I heard a snippet of conversation from the back seat, "I like cranberries..."  YOU DO????  I practically yelled, and went into a discourse on how excited I was because cranberries are REALLY good for you, and and and...  "It's a band, Mom."

Isn't this gorgeous?  Borage.  Beautiful Borage, blooming in the late afternoon light.  Mmm. This may be my favorite blue, today.  The sky was blue, but not this blue.  This will hold me over until Morning Glory Blue.

Lucinda Williams sings one of my favorite blue songs, "Am I too Blue for You?"

Luna's whole name is Bloo Luna.

Nighty night.

xoxoLC

Chamomile turns her face

One day I walked upon a strip of land that belonged to nothing.      

from "Klee Wyck," by Emily CarrChamomile

turns her face to the sun

center of this solar universe

she turns to life and light

dances through vineyard

white petals, yellow center

glad colors with new green

pushes a song of calm

spring caught quickly

Chamomile is the first

to blink bright scent

before riots of mustard

or vineyard clean-up

gentle morning, Chamomile looks

East, expects the rising sun

opens her face, shows

her yellow optimism

young love, tender and untested

offered up to the altar

of forever, Chamomile

braided into long, sunlit hair

LPC

26feb09

Cleaning Off My Desk... pleasehelpmeee,I'mfalliiiing....

Our mind is meant for comforting us, not for tormenting us... Rev. Chris Micheals

So the obvious is:  think airborne!  Think fun!  Think yaaaah-hooooo!

And Thank Goodness Laura does NOT photograph her writing desk, area, or even the room! On the other hand, perhaps I could do exactly that, and embarrass myself into cleaning it all up immediately!

Maybe later I will post a gorgeous photo of my neat and tidy study & write & publish area.  For now, I go forth with enthusiasm.  He he he.

Thanks for all your prayers.

xoxoLC

Contrasts

Imagine being a beetle looking for a plant under which to burrow, or a Western Blue Bird looking for a flying bug, OR imagine drinking wine made from grapes grown in this arid, sterile environment.  Mmmmm.  Good?  Imagine Bacchus celebrating the harvest, or even the trimming of the vine, here at this corner of parched-earth.

Further up the very same road, lives this vineyard.  Old Vines thriving in a jungle of Life! Mustard blooming with Fava, peas, oats, vetch, all creating a beautiful tangle of nutrition and energy for the grape vines.  None of these vines are marked with plastic tape for destruction because of the dreaded root mite.  Nothing is sprayed, not even the roadside.  This is an organic vineyard, farmed with sustainability practices.  Even the seasonal creek on this ranch is being restored to its wildness.

Let me add, the vineyards on this ranch are beautiful.  There are Blue Birds, wood peckers, ravens, crows, sparrows, wild ducks and geese, bugs, plants, deer, and more, living and supporting one another.  And I know, from experience; the wine that comes from this verdant collaboration is sublime.

I have been "off" my computer, radio, TV, magazines, books and most-any-reading material since Monday of last week.  My Goodness!  What perils awaited me when I let go of that batch of distractions!  Yes.  Quite quickly I went slightly berserk:  wildly creative, massively emotional.  Even went to cleaning, which for me is usually last-last-last resort.

An amazing awareness is coming from this experience, namely that I read everything within 47 miles of me, and that I waste some (he he he) time with this activity.  By practicing the "word deprivation" for these days, I have noticed that when I focus on the task/person at hand, my attention is much more clear.  Much.

Which ever so gently brings one to... what we put our attention upon, flourishes.  My intention was to paint the lemons, and the painting veered to Chartres Cathedral and the Beautiful Madonna within, where I experienced an earth-affirming, feminine epiphany.  Whether or not She makes it as an image known and recognised in the painting, She informs, guides and celebrates through my creative activity.

And the rain continues to fall and to heal.  All Is Well.

xoxoLC

Joyjoyjoyjoyjoyjoyjoy!

xoxoLuna

I Love the Rain!

In a dark time, the eye begins to see.  Theodore RoethkeLeaning over the fresh, rain filled ditch, the movement is quick, the sound gurgles; so busy.

Already the pair of Mallards have found the new pond.  Ah yes, a swim in the vineya'd, dawlin'!

Mmmm, I am in love with all things wet!

And I hear that more is on the way, and that our S.Californian friends may wash off the edge of the continent.  Hopefully not.  Good news to see our little river rushing, the pussy willows furring up, and the ravens doing whoop-dee-doos, in pairs!

Okay, here is the challenge of the week, ala "The Artist's Way"... reading deprivation!  Eeek! This caused a riot among us!  What about checking my email, for business, of course!  I was thinking, O NO!  What will Facebook do without moi?  My Bloggess!  Now what?

First off, I have charged up the camera battery.  It occurred to me that I can, for a week, post only images.  Some one this morning offered, "You can write, just don't read it!"  I have a painting started (O, I love red!), I just began a new sketch book, there are huge puddles around in which to splash with Luna, there are grandkidlets to embrace, already I have a big pot of bubbling chai.  Ms. Cameron suggests: repot some plants, write to old friends, sort closets, wash the dog, make curtains, LISTEN to music, knit(he he he... she knows not to whom she speaks!), watercolor, work out, meditate...  you know, get INto my life!

This is the time.  This is right where I am.  This is IT!

Here is one line from this chapter, entitled "Recovering a Sense of Integrity": "...in my experience, I had many times wriggled out of reading for a week due to procrastination.  As blocked creatives, we can be very creative at wriggling out of things.  ...the nasty bottom line is this: sooner or later, if your are not reading, you will run out of work and be forced to play."

Think of the freedom on this horizon.  Is email really connecting me to my loved ones?  Is Facebook real?  Can one text the Goddess?  The answer is, YES.  Yes to all of the questions. And so much more.  There are times when my beloved computer sucks hours out of my day, especially when I am reading fabulous blogs, or visiting the Elephant Sanctuary, or funniest dog videos.

So this will be interesting.  Yep.  No reading.  Shudder, this feels like how I feel when I am headed into a "Silent Retreat" which amounts to abject terror.   Calm down, it isn't that bad.

xoxoLC

Frogs a' courtin' and various sundry muttering

The rain falls, the seasonal pond fills, the run-off runs off

and the frogs are ecstatic.Starting a painting, or a poem can be hair-raising.  Or maybe as easy as onetwothree.