Thursday, June 21, 2018

rail trip

weekly news:
i got the dry flax papers out of the blotters
stacking up a little pile of biggish sheets.
and hung up the felts at zone 4
before i prepared to visit toronto.
 this brick was part of one of the chimneys that rudy dismantled last winter
 lichens grow well here.
 beautiful miniature universe
 and the unused back door latch.
i still find debris that i clear away when i mow.
 7 am rainy morning trainride
 before i took the photo i thought there was a detectorist!
i got really excited.
then i looked at the picture.
 lake ontario
 and a tiny detail,
fringe made with cloth!
part of an installation
by Sally Thurlow
that wendy and i found by serendipity
and a visit to see Andrew's book after the launch at Swipe Design
i'm excited to read my copy because i really liked
and used The Inner Studio in my teaching.
just a coming together
the way this vibrant city does it.
brick and mortar
and beaver in unexpected places

text and textile are everywhere
and here, in so many languages, 
i'm ashamed i know only english.
i would have gladly learned other languages
when my mind was young and supple.
sigh,
now i listen eagerly, and enjoy without understanding.
can you imagine how wonderful 
it would be to discern
bits of the
conversations heard in passing?
or, better, to greet the speaker in their language?
after the second trip to soma 
(and the second chocolate and this time burnt honey gelato)
and one last stop at this very cool bookshop
we went back to wendy's to find the electricity was out. again.
off i went in an uber to union station
and then to brockville on the train, 
drove over the two-mile-long ogdensburg bridge
which moves, i know, because i walked it half way once,
swaying in the sky.
wendy's healing hands
resting for a while
between chocolate, talk, rolling blackouts, and love.
yes, she's wearing my shifu patch
a my kami-ito knit bracelet with roz hawker's silver amulet.
i hope she's resting today.
i am, with happy memories.
and now it's the next day
and i've planted a garden at Home,
mowed the grass at my place, 
and begun preparations for a visit i will tell you about.
eventually.

7 comments:

  1. those lichen photos are stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  2. mo, it's my old camera, resurrected!

    ReplyDelete
  3. what a beautiful journey - serendipity, kinship, lichen...life looks wonderful like this V!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi V - so much life and friendship in the post. Love the photo of Wendy's healing hands and shift patch and bracelet - a quiet and strong image. Enjoy. B

    ReplyDelete
  5. fiona and barry, thank you. it was a terrific week, with wonderful surprises everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful history and tiny universes. Want to see all bookstores on earth before I die. Toronto is a marvelous city, would love to visit it again. Lucky you. xox

    Regards,
    Corrine | twofishes@me.com

    corrine, thank you for checking in. this bookstore was all art, it could only have been better if it included artists' books, but it had plenty of wonderful choices, a couple came home with me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm intrigued by The Inner Studio and wondering how it might inform my own creative work ...

    ReplyDelete

be in touch!

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *