evening around here

i felt a whisper of spiderwebs

on my forearms,

a web i didn't notice

so intoxicated i was

with heady deep spring flowering.

...and then the droll

defiance of chipmunk.

spring things!

i've added a button on the shop page
(hannah did all the work)

for you to order the little book about shifu and printing,

if you wish.

hannah has it here and at the new site (which i haven't yet sorted out).

i've sent out one already

and the paypal thing is working.

(thank you, betsy!)

i seem to have emerged from a funk

a change,

a tilting,

and now, well now

i have my sea legs

for a bit.

i returned to the place i call home last night:

 and this was above the little porch.

 it was beautiful.

the night was full of frogs songs 

and the sound of a few birds, 

woodcock, my favorite.

in the night, 
for the second one running

i was awakened around 3:00

by a loud bird sound

i think.

one or two calls

and that was all.

am i dreaming owl hunts?

 and we went out this morning 
to this marsh.

found a new emergence.

 i was thinking turtle thoughts

wondering how it is to be
turtle with the thick reptilian armor

while this soft human skin was feasted

by mosquitoes.

no worries,

escape happened fast.

 no turtles.

yet. 

two events are coming up for me:

UPSTATE NEW YORK WAYZGOOSE
on june 4th,
come by the vendor tables and say HEY!

~~~

then retirement

a special wedding, then

August  20-21

I will be teaching at the Morgan Conservatory
Native Species: Ecoprinting
making prints from the Morgan's ecosystem

~~~

August 26th 

NEGBW MINI-CONFERENCE:

INSPIRED BY NATURE

Spend a weekend in Northern Maine with a community of local artists working in the field of bookbinding, book arts, paper making and calligraphy. 

at the
Cobscook Community Learning Center 
10 Commissary Point Road

Trescott, ME 04652

The CCLC is located  in Trescott Township, Maine, between the towns of Whiting and Lubec in the Cobscook Bay region of Downeast Maine. 
this is a venue 
that is beautiful, wonderful.

(i can send you a pdf of this event 
or you can contact the north east branch of the guild of bookworkers...
if i was more adept i could attach the pdf...)
sigh.
~~~

one of the things, 
including the new website,
and a collaboration with a special friend
are what i'm doing this summer.
~~~
and
~~~
November, A Map is almost sold out.
i will be taking a few to rochester with me.
i have recently been told that several universities
now have my artists books in their special collections
and you can see that information 
if you hunt under the publications at the top bar. 
PHEW!
~~~

there are spring things

it's certainly springing out there,

but it's been a bit chilly

these cattails 

are still 

sending seeds out into infinity

at the new place

the fiddleheads unfurl

and ferns of many kinds

perk up

inside an envelope

with a check for two of my books

was a little gift

for me

which made me happy.

i witnessed this nest

taken off a bad spot

for birds

very much like the nests for my new shifu books.

the fiber in here

included sheetrock tape!

and the trillium at the new place

carpets the woods.

it's spring

and i've made peace with the change.

not going

it seems like i just can't push

as hard as i used to.

i'm not going to cleveland.

i'm staying 

"to home"

staying put.

trying to get my energy

back

and harness this old gray mare 

for the next few weeks before retirement.

i am tired.

i didn't know how much,

but i am.

so with regret

i'm not going,

with joy in the staying, though.

there is a soft rain this morning.

and i've been "talking" to dear felicity

and to another dear, linda

and aimee and pam.

friends support just by their very beings.

others, some in the forms of magnificent crows

hover close.

web

daffodils on my table

soft scent of cool windy spring

indoors.

outside

the earliest tree flowers

have become baby leaves.

the woods is closing in.

hiding, 

making homes for the babies.

my babies are in their 30's now. 

and both remembered me this day.

and i remember my mom

who had the birth name of

weaver.

my legacy.

 indoors this week

i've been making samples

and shifu pages

for books.

next weekend i am going to 

cleveland

but as usual, i am not wanting the drive.

these days i only want to fly west,

drive east.

maybe some day i will drive to the ocean

hop in a boat

and sail around some!

ha!

for mothers and honorary mothers,

a happy day.

but mostly, happy spring.

(hannah is working on the new site, i'm not there yet.)