Sunday, July 24, 2016

waiting summer

paper arc of safety
the beautiful north country wasn't really waiting for me,
though it seemed like it was.
instead, it was just doing what it does so well,
being beautiful.
being, now, summer.
deep in july and hot and dry and growing.
i went for a visit to toronto last week.
to see, amongst other things,
the magic feather cloth
friends wendy, hiroko, and dorothy;
 gifts were exchanged,
gratitude.
even joy, perhaps?
 these amazing women came 
to have a most entertaining lunch at the gardiner museum
and rich conversation after.
to be IN the city
and IN refuge IN the city.
my shifu thinking met up with wood worked beautifully
(below in some iphone play)
 there was also a treat for me
the magic feather cloth
briefly installed
by val, 
who left me instructions:
 i didn't mess with the cave,
only 
touched the cloth.
 followed a featherstone path
 to find the grief book 
(velma's book of grief
my shifu and handmade paper book).
doing its job.
 there were many instructions to attend to
and i have a new last name.
and i am waiting
for 
poem.
(val loves india, too!)
sometimes wendy's kids write poems,
(my grampians texture students remember me reading one to them)
val wrote,
thank you val, 
i love reading your words!
these words
 carried me to the textile museum
to see the works of hands
and i had to sit at this old leclerc
and would have wound it forward, gone to work weaving,
but the yarn was tight 
woven right up to the beater
kids delighted, but instead i talked about how this one was prepared
for patterning.
my feet played treadle dancing and my hands
wanted to wind warp formard.
these mirror pieces came home with me.
from sartaj's shop kinna sohna
and this scarf
of a million running stitches.

and now, back home.
all is well.
the soil is pretty dry, the birds still singing most babies fledged.
there was a medium sized four-legged
out last night at the new place.
bobcat? coyote? fox?
i was above, moonlit, a brief movement through the light
the one approached the porch,
a roof and many feet in the way.
i think a bobcat, but this morning, nothing to give that one away,
not even a scent for my uneducated nose.




my city time 
above
my country time
below


the gift of "black caps" 
these black raspberries had gone a little too far
in the fridge
while i was in toronto.
so i made a rich rich ink
thinking of my son ian and his friend nate
who made some once and left it
in the fridge for years.
 and ants got in 
and into the raisins
the honey
the sugar
and cornstarch.
but mostly the honeycombs.
 a huge cleaning ensued
including heat and beeswax and cloth and honey and dead ants.
even a dead honeybee.
 (ant trap added for a brief time)
because i lost quite a bit.
up front and center:
soma chocolate from toronto
wattle seed from australia.
delicious!
and quite a bit of gelatin
for sizing paper.
ian and hannnah will see this cupboard
and be shocked by the tidiness!

20 comments:

  1. OH, VELMA! You must know how envious I am of your visit with our friends. Gosh I wish I were there with you all!!!! Your cache is marvelous, as is the 'cloth'!

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  2. marianne, (sp correct?) the four of us had a marvelous time, 5 and a half hours of bliss, except when a waiter dripped on hiroko, but she is a good sport and the stain isn't bad... your name was mentioned once i believe.

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  3. black raspberry arc-de-triumph (and a shared moment of india lurrrrve) ---- what a beautiful post xxxxxx

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  4. You TOUCHED Jude's FEATHER CLOTH!!!!!!! Oh my how lucky you are--you were staying at Wendy Golden Levitts???....and what a gorgeous post and such beautiful treasures. Too bad about the lost things at home but oh so worth it for the trip.

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  5. ronnie, why thank you. so glad you got to spend time with india, i bet your head is almost bursting!
    michelle, yep, and i touched it, but just barely. didn't want to disturb val's cave. ants are fellow creatures that don't bother me much, they're just looking for food. now ticks...

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  6. wonderful post, full of wonder, too bad about the ants - I had to deal with an invasion just before I went to Japan, fortunately they didn't take over while I was away. Are those what we call blackberries in the Northwest? Fantastic colour.

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  7. jean, thank you. it was quite an amazing few days! the raspberries are black ones, wild. we have blackberries that grow a bit differently, too, and they come along about the same time as blueberries. the local folks also call these blackcaps. they're mostly done now, it's been a huge crop.

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  8. so good to see the cloth again. I laughed out loud at the note. dorothy caldwell was the fist name i held close when i started to find folks through the internet. Sounds like your visit was marvelous.

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  9. jude, of course you laughed. you'd like dorothy. we were so happy talking, thinking.

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  10. Wow. Moving post, much beauty. Helene H

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  11. helene, thank you for letting me know.

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  12. Your colors came out beautiful! Glad you had a GREAT trip and made it back safe!

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  13. jess, thank you for the compliment and the gladness! via rail is a treat, i love going to brockville, boarding and settleing in. the new seats aren't nearly as nice as the old ones, though.

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  14. what a great, interesting post....to see the magicfeathercloth reading about the adventures at Wendy's!

    thankthankthank you!

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  15. yvette,you're very welcome, thank you for visiting.

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  16. Funny, the ways in which we can gather
    in person
    on paper
    and on screens
    I'm liking the deep magic working here

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  17. we have gathered a time or two, india, and the magic was deep.

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  18. Grinning Big…at the thought of all of you together, the feather cloth in action, the notes & poems, and the gorgeous blackcap color. Thank you for sharing!

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  19. Wow, what a brillinat post, you are having a wonderful adventure into this new expansive time in your life!

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  20. hazel, i did sorta want to keep it close and private, but how could i?!
    mo, feeling thankful, indeed

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