weather

weather: keeps us busy, adjusting expectations, plans, ideas

huge clouds brought rain and big winds, 

flooding even closeby, 

i was thinking of only my little stressors

the finger, 

a muscle in my back,

bloodroot then equisetum 

baby leaves, 

and a cooler but calm day today.

a happy saturday

after stretching out in the sun

and eating a yummy salad

i feel human.

soon i will have a new,

non-invasive splint for my finger, 

so i will be able to use the hand a bit better.

11K

another update: the college book art association site admin reported that it has collected over eleven thousand to help steve and des. now THAT'S community.

tornado update

here's an update on steve: red hydra. to help out, go to the college book art association and press the donate button on the top right. when you fill in the form, just say the donation is for steve miller disaster relief.
i am so happy to hear that he, his partner des, and their pets are well, and rode out the storm in their basement. the photo of their house is sad. i wonder if it can be repaired. 
steve called me once, around a decade ago, introduced himself and said "you got it". what he was referring to was the nell meldahl scholarship for p.b.i., the paper and book intensive. when it sunk in (i had replied, got what?) i ungraciously shouted "no shit!" and he replied with a grin in his voice, "no shit!" 

frustration and forgiveness

today in my inbox were two messages. one about the amazing steve miller, a teacher, a bookmaker, a printer, and a fine human being. steve is ok, but his house in tuscaloosa was in the path of one hungry tornado and has been destroyed. the other message was from an internet friend, jean betts, who is checking on me and my sick finger. 

i am frustrated, but have a plan of action regarding the finger. i am buying an amazing tiny plastic splint that will enable me to function as well as possible minus one joint, while this heals. it will be on at least six more weeks; this splint will allow me to do prep for my summer teaching gigs. this is good news indeed. my doctor gary gets it. and i will get better.


but steve, though he and his partner are safe, have lost their home. i have a tiny hurt, his is huge. and yet, they are safe. 


it's very windy here. i watched two tree branches crack in the wind. water levels are very high, rivers above flood stage. the snowmelt is adding to the rain and our rivers are flooding. right now there is bright sunshine. as this front moves through, it will chill off. things are stirring and weird, and yet i am full of hope. steve and his partner will be ok, i will be ok, but this planet, i'm not so sure. but i'm still hoping. 

greening: a good walk

there was a window of fine weather today, just after my early suppertime

so we walked, wendy and and me, not out there, but on the road.

a tiny rock book. 

my favorite shape, a flattened egg. don't know why. 

thunder storm now, mostly to the south, with wonderful lightning.

wendy is hiding 

in the safety of the bathroom

silly girl

resurgence

emergence 

resurgence

yellow unsurpassed

on clear, softest white

 dak

 dak up close

fiber richness 

 bloodroot 

flower comes first, then leaf

 bloodroot

 magic lilies

the cycle 

continuum

fern dust

feathers

star dust

fiber

soft

soft through brittle 

stems of last year

fiddleheads

emerging

some days

some days are ok, 

some aren't 

and some are gifts that surprise you when you look back

it's easter

looking

subtle but fine

 i think

 it came out

all right

the new texture 

surprised me, fiona saw it

and now i do too.
eyes keep waking up.

drying dyeing

 there was a little potful of mushrooms and water waiting for me to throw in something to dye

i was uninspired 

and exhausted

this week. 

all i could do was make paper, something i know so well 

and so  

i took a piece of lokta, 

folded it, 

clamped four quarters, 

and put it and two velvet scrunchies into the pot

the color and pattern are very subtle

but at least it's something

and i am looking for subtleties 

these days

grateful for every 

miraculous 

one

nigel's book

this book is amazing.

i don't know exactly how i discovered nigel peake's work, but the way he interprets a place, a landscape, a trip, a city, a billboard, for example, is idiosyncratic, rich, provoking, and beautiful. check out this book. i emailed him and asked if i could blog about it, and he asked me to use his photo of it. i can tell you that there's a visual feast inside. if you click on the link it will take you to his shop. his website is worth visiting, too. 

hosta up close

hosta deckles

hosta chips, perhaps?

slow pulp 

and irregular drying 

make 

ornery/lively

paper

that's beautiful

if you like that sort of thing

i do

more paper

i came home and walked wendy 

to her delight

 then made a few hosta sheets 

wet, greenish. 

i dry these on boards

they are very high shrinkage, so when they start to peel 

and they always do

(almost)

i'll bring them in the house and use blotters and weight to finish drying.

vat still hostaful

guardian of the paper mill

(not pleased by the camera)

 we went back out to check

 saw a surprise

was seen by a surprise

(besides the greening meadow)

curiosity

some papers

i've been making paper

first the amazing golden hosta (remember?) 

and this second batch is smaller

greener.

hosta

field retted

remained uncooked

gin petty writes of how ornery it is, 

always cockles, no matter how much restraint in the drying.

that's my experience also, but i don't actually mind.

much.

doctor says to inspect my finger in two weeks.

if there's no healing, it will be time for the orthopedic surgeon.

cross your fingers for me,

please.

milkweed pulped

these fibers

gathered

over the fall and winter

yes and spring

stolen from 

birds eager for 

construction 

no, i walk out 

again and again

spotting the strange bird seed pods

and the gray fiber 

that looks like my hair 

pull and break and peel off

milkweed

milkweed

round things

 yesterday i spent some time in the evening looking at 

some round things

in the meadow

 they were so beautiful

 playing with vision

focus

thought

 i moved

into indigo

and out 

into gray